While the rapid adoption of advanced metering in the smart grid infrastructure has been a key driver of market for semiconductor chips based on the IEEE (News - Alert) standard 802.15.4, home networking for entertainment based on ZigBee Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE) has also been propelling the consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 based IC for more than twelve months.

ZigBee Alliance, a group that maintains and publishes 802.15.4 based ZigBee standards, jointly developed the ZigBee RF4CE specs for RF remote control of consumer products like TVs, set-top boxes, with the RF4CE consortium. It promises many advantages over existing remote control solutions, including better communications with enhanced reliability, improved performance and flexibility, interoperability, and no line-of-sight barrier.

Consequently, the consumption of ICs for implementing IEEE802.15.4 specs in a variety of wireless home area networks (HANs) and personal area networks (PANs) in expected to grow significantly in next couple of years. According to ABI Research’s (News - Alert) latest study, the market for IEEE 802.15.4 based ICs will grow to over $1.1 billion in 2016. This is substantially higher as compared to just $90 million in 2010.

Although, few analysts have raised some concerns around the mass deployment of 802.15.4 chips ahead of IP support and the emerging ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0 standard, recent announcement by ZigBee to migrate its specs to IP-based solutions should dispel such concerns, according to ABI.

Currently, the Smart Energy version 2.0 is under development in co-operation with a number of other standards development groups. It will offer IP-based control for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and HAN networks. According to ZigBee Alliance, version 2.0 will not replace ZigBee Smart Energy version 1, rather it will offer utilities and energy service providers another choice when creating their AMI and HANs.

As per ABI research, initial products based on 802.15.4 specs are still driven by P2P deployments using proprietary software stacks, but the transition to standard software implementations is well underway. The ABI study predicts that by the end of the forecast period, ZigBee solutions based on the standards will dominate the wireless market.

According to ABI, chip shipments will continue to grow rapidly as 802.15.4 technology reaches maturity and price point that enables wireless sensor networks (WSN) to expand into areas beyond AMI and home entertainment. New emerging markets for 802.15.4 chips include building automation, traffic monitoring, smart parking, and flood alert systems within the smart city concept.

In a statement, said Kelvin Chan, ABI industry analyst, said, “Standard WSN protocols based on IEEE 802.15.4 will face a confluence of challenges from existing wireless technologies such as low power Wi-Fi, low energy Bluetooth, and a more recent addition, low energy DECT (News - Alert), as these technologies look to capitalize on their installed base and ubiquity stature, especially in the HAN environment, to penetrate the smart energy market segment.”