ESP32 is a microcontroller unit with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth units. It is used for IoT applications that need wireless connectivity. Formerly, microcontrollers in the ESP32 series had only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth supported. However, the latest series ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 also support other wireless connectivity protocols including ZigBee, Thread, and Matter.

What is ZigBee?

ZigBee is a wireless technology that is created to ensure low-cost and low-power wireless connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It uses IEEE protocol 802.15.4 for control purposes and sensing networks. The operating frequency of ZigBee is 2.4 GHz. ZigBee is also more efficient than Wi-Fi due to its mesh networking. It has wide coverage and reach.

ESP32-H Series That Can Do ZigBee

The ESP32-H2 series modules are compatible with ZigBee. ESP32-H2 is mainly used for low-power IoT devices, so IEEE 802.15.4 ZigBee and Thread are used in it for wireless connections in a wide range. It is also ‘Interoperability Certified’ which is a testament to its good quality communication. ESP32-H2 also has a matter protocol and Bluetooth LE.

ESP32-C Series That Can Do ZigBee

From the C-series, ESP32-C6 is compatible with ZigBee. Like the H2 series, it also has IEEE 802.15.4 radio that supports ZigBee and Thread. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5 are also used for enhanced connectivity.

How Will ESP32 Do ZigBee?

Espressif, the producer of ESP32, has developed the ZigBee solution through the ZigBee SDK and integration of ZigBee to ESP Rainmaker. The ZigBee SDK is a compiled library with the name (esp-zboss-lib). This library provides users with the data model API of ZigBee to develop the ZigBee stack.

The Platform Solution provided by Espressif for ZigBee consists of three main components: ZigBee Device, ZigBee Gateway, and ZigBee Remote Control Profile (RCP). The latter two components combine to form the ZigBee Gateway that coordinates with the ZigBee device.

The ZigBee device and remote-control profile are either ESP32-H2 or ESP32-C6, and the ZigBee gateway can be any microcontroller from the ESP32 series. The ZigBee gateway and remote-control profile communicate through serial communication and UART.

Furthermore, ZigBee devices can also be controlled using Espressif’s Rainmaker, which is an IoT cloud platform. This makes it easier to manage ZigBee devices and a private network space can be easily created, and the user can handle it with his private account.

Conclusion

ESP32-H2 series and ESP32-C6 series can do ZigBee by creating a ZigBee Gateway together. The Espressif has provided an SDK library to use ZigBee easily. There is also an AIoT cloud platform that can manage and control ZigBee devices remotely.