Limiting constraints for ZigBee networks

Wireless communication has many interesting applications in the field of home and building automation. Besides proprietary solutions of different vendors, ZigBee has gained acceptance in this domain. Since in particular in building automation a high amount of nodes needs to be covered, the question about the applicability of ZigBee for large networks may arise. For this reason, this paper analyzes the constraints regarding ZigBee's network size. Furthermore, relations to other automation domains are established, where the proposed concepts can be used too. Starting with a scalable and regular network structure, the limits of ZigBee are figured out analytically. This analysis is then backed up by the results of an OMNeT++ simulation. Moreover, the simulation allows reasoning on further performance-related criteria for ZigBee networks.