ZigBee Alliance Unifies Its Wireless Standards Into Single 3.0 Spec

The ZigBee Alliance has unified its various wireless standards into a single spec that will be called ZigBee 3.0, the alliance said in an announcement Tuesday. ZigBee 3.0 "will provide interoperability among the widest range of smart devices," it said. It enables interoperability among devices for home automation, connected lighting, energy efficiency and other markets, "so more diverse, fully interoperable solutions can be delivered by product developers and service providers," it said. All device types, commands and functions defined in current ZigBee PRO-based standards are available to developers in the new standard, it said. ZigBee 3.0 is undergoing testing. A draft standard is available to alliance members and is expected to be ratified in Q4 2015, it said. ZigBee 3.0 demonstrations are planned for CES, it said.