Mindteck readies ZigBee applications 

BANGALORE: 'Digital homes' can soon become the order of the day, with ZigBee a
short-range wireless technology. Home automation will be one of the biggest

drivers for ZigBee-based

applications, according to PA

Ananthanarayanan, Group CEO, Mindteck. With this, digital products can be

controlled on a single remote, from anywhere in the house, without the

requirement of 'line-of-sight' as in present day remote controls.






ZigBee is a device to device communication technology with a specification for
wireless personal area networks ( WPANs) operating at 868 MHz, 902-928 MHz, and

2.4 GHz.






The low power, low data rate wireless technology is touted to be ideal for the
home automation products such as remote sensors, building automation,

industrial, medical and residential control and monitoring applications.






Mindteck, a $32 million Indian company with a focus on embedded systems is
developing ZigBee based applications for several US based clients. The company,

which also provides consulting services, expects a growth rate of 70 per cent in

2006-07 from the embedded systems division, said Ananthanarayanan.






The 600-strong company plans to add another 250 people by March 2007.





Mindteck is one of the few companies in the world that has developed a complete protocol of ZigBee stack,  said Shankar Velayudhan, chief technology officer, Mindteck. The company has two competency centers in India. While the Bangalore center works on stack development, the Kolkata center churns out ZigBee based applications.





The application for an automatic energy meter reading developed for a US client
(name withheld) by Mindteck is undergoing beta. The technology behind this is a

ZigBee module inserted into an electronic meter of an apartment building.

Information is passed onto a central gateway, which is then transferred to the

billing center via a GPRS cell phone network.






Inventory management in electronic manufacturing plants can say goodbye to wires
by using ZigBee, proves Mindteck. The wireless ZigBee module inserted into bins

containing electronic parts acts as load sensors and sends off an alert to a

central computer when the load dips beyond a certain level.






Another project the company is working on involves measuring liquid pressure in
large pumps. This helps predicting and preventing pump failures, says Velayudhan.

"A small accelerometer with a ZigBee radio module can be inserted anywhere

on the pump." It can be also used to measure the level of liquids such as

oil levels in an oil tank and transmit the information to central computers.

This prevents manual intervention,” he adds.






This is not the end of it, criminals on parole better watch out for with ZigBee
enabled 'collars' a step beyond the restricted area will have the authorities

alerted. Applications for such 'collars' are being developed by Mindteck for an

FBI supplier.






Is ZigBee a mirage?





However fascinating this low power, low data rate wireles technology seems to
be, there has been a delay in translating the technology into applications and

end products. The ZigBee Alliance (a consortium of semiconductor companies and

ZigBee design companies working on setting standards) had said that 2005 will

have ZigBee based products out in the market. "Yes, there has been a delay

by about a year," agrees Velayudhan.






The standards took a little longer to develop and chips took time to reach the
market, hence it has moved to 2006, he said.






As of now, the radio modem chips are available and certain semi-conductor
companies are working on integrating the SoC(System-on-chip) design.






ZigBee modules that can be integrated into readymade products are available, he
adds. Velayudhan expects some of the end-OEMs to soon announce products in the

market.






On an optimistic note, Velayudhan states, "ZigBee is already on the
mainstream path. The standardisation issues have been resolved and the market is

adopting it at a furious space." He backs this statement by late entrant

Texas Instruments's recent acquisition of Chipcon, a ZigBee player.