In recent years there has been rapid development in the wireless sector due to d emand for wire free

connectivity. Most of the development was focused on high da ta rate applications like file transfer etc with new standards like Bluetooth em erging. During this time applications that required lower data rates but had some other special requirements were neglected in the sense that no open standard was avail able. Either these applications we abandoned in the wireless arena or implemented usin g proprietary standards hurting the interoperability of the system. ZigBee is a wireless standard that caters to this particular sector. Potential a pplications of ZigBee include Home Automation, Wireless Sensor Networks, Patient monitors etc. The key features of these applications and hence aims of ZigBee a re Low Cost Low Power for increased battery life Low Range Low Complexity Low Data Rates Co-Existence with other long range Wireless Networks The ZigBee standard is maintained by ZigBee Alliance is a spin off of the HomeRF group, an unsuccessful home automation related consortium. It is built upon the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol which is intended for LR-WPAN (Low R ate - Wireless Personal Area Network). In this seminar a general overview of ZigBee is followed by an analysis of how Z igBee and underlying 802.15.4 provide the aims mentioned. Also a brief compariso ns with other solutions will be done.