The document compares DASH7 and ZigBee wireless technologies. It summarizes that DASH7 has longer range, lower power consumption, and is more cost effective than ZigBee over the long term. Specifically, DASH7 has 6x the range of ZigBee at 433MHz and uses wakeup signals to achieve lower latency and power usage compared to ZigBee's scheduling mechanism. The total cost of ownership over 10 years is estimated to be 10x lower for DASH7 devices. DASH7 is also described as more standardized and suitable for a wider range of applications due to its long battery life and low device costs.

1. WHY DASH7 BEATS ZIGBEE
JP Norair
Co-chair, DASH7 Technology Working Group
10 August 2009

2. WHY DASH7 BEATS ZIGBEE
JP Norair
Click For Co-chair, DASH7 Technology Working Group
Next Slide! 10 August 2009

3. www.dash7.org
DASH7 = Long Range

4. www.dash7.org
7x
6x 433 MHz
5x
4x
3x 900 MHz
2x
2.45 GHz
1x
DASH7 = Long Range

5. www.dash7.org
7x At 433 MHz, DASH7 inherently has:
6x 433 MHz 6x the range of ZigBee
DASH7
5x 6x the penetration through obstacles
4x
6x the in-building coverage
3x 900 MHz
802.15.4
2x c/d/g
2.45 GHz
1x
ZigBee
DASH7 = Long Range

6. www.dash7.org
DASH7 = Low Power

7. www.dash7.org

8. www.dash7.org

9. www.dash7.org
DASH7 HAS RF WAKEUP
Avg:
DASH7 uses a wakeup signal to achieve low
30 - 60
latency, low power, and elegant architecture. µW
The wakeup mechanism requires little overhead
and has a latency of only 2.5 - 5 seconds.
ZigBee has no wakeup and must use an
inflexible scheduling mechanism to
Avg. achieve low power. Recalibrating the
300 - 600 scheduler is a massive power drain, and it
µW must happen whenever devices move.
Source: DASH7 Technology Whitepaper ZIGBEE DOES NOT

10. www.dash7.org
Avg:
30 - 60
µW
Avg.
300 - 600
µW

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Avg: Avg.
30 - 60 300 - 600
µW µW

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Avg: Avg.
30 - 60 300 - 600
µW µW
DASH7 = Low Power

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Avg: Avg.
30 - 60 300 - 600
µW µW
DASH7 = Low TCO
(Total Cost of Ownership)

14. www.dash7.org
DASH7 ZIGBEE
Avg: Avg.
Device Cost $ 10 Device Cost $ 10
30 - 60 300 - 600
µW Battery Life 20K Dialogs µW Battery Life 2K Dialogs
Devices Expended 4.38 Devices Expended 43.8
over 10 years use over 10 years use
Device Cost $ 43.80 Device Cost $ 438
over 10 years use over 10 years use
Labor Cost for $ 12.50 Labor Cost for $ 12.50
Replacing 1 Device Replacing 1 Device
Labor + Device $ 98.50 Labor + Device $ 985.00
Cost over 10 years Cost over 10 years

15. www.dash7.org
DASH7 ZIGBEE
Avg: Avg.
Device Cost $ 10 Device Cost $ 10
30 - 60 300 - 600
µW Battery Life 20K Dialogs µW Battery Life 2K Dialogs
Devices Expended 4.38 Devices Expended 43.8
over 10 years use over 10 years use
Device Cost $ 43.80 Device Cost $ 438
10x
over 10 years use over 10 years use
Labor Cost for $ 12.50 Labor Cost for $ 12.50
Replacing 1 Device Replacing 1 Device
Labor + Device $ 98.50 10x Labor + Device $ 985.00
Cost over 10 years Cost over 10 years
DASH7 vs. ZigBee : 10x the performance, 1/10th the cost

16. www.dash7.org
DASH7 = Efficient

17. www.dash7.org
This smart house has
wireless sensors and
control devices including:
• Water flow meters
• Electric meter
• Kitchen appliance
monitors
• Smart Theromstat
• Clothes dryer moisture
sensor
• Exhaust fan control
• Allergen sensors

18. www.dash7.org
This smart house has
wireless sensors and
control devices including:
• Water flow meters
• Electric meter
• Kitchen appliance
monitors
• Smart Theromstat
• Clothes dryer moisture
sensor
• Exhaust fan control
• Allergen sensors

19. www.dash7.org
ZigBee uses multi-hop
networking to compensate
for its short range and
poor in-building coverage.
The animation shows a
multi-hop process using:
• 6 coordinator nodes
• 7 endpoint nodes
• 50 second superframes

20. www.dash7.org
ZigBee uses multi-hop
networking to compensate Devices:
for its short range and 13
poor in-building coverage.
Transactions:
The animation shows a 26
multi-hop process using:
• 6 coordinator nodes Total Time:
• 7 endpoint nodes ~5 mins
• 50 second superframes

21. www.dash7.org
DASH7 has excellent
range and in-building
coverage, so it doesn’t
need to multi-hop.
Two redundant nodes can
thus be removed.
The animation shows a
basic collection
• 10 slave devices
• 1 master device

22. www.dash7.org
DASH7 has excellent
range and in-building Devices:
coverage, so it doesn’t 11
need to multi-hop.
Two redundant nodes can Transactions:
thus be removed. 11
The animation shows a Total Time:
basic collection < 1 min
• 10 slave devices
• 1 master device

23. www.dash7.org
DASH7 = Standardized

24. www.dash7.org
DASH7 ZigBee Comments
At 433 MHz, DASH7 is available in every major trading nation in the world. At 2.4GHz, ZigBee has
Global Spectrum the benefit of being available in all nations but at the cost of using a frequency that is crowded,
Availability unreliable, short-range, and has limited or no ability to penetrate walls, concrete or water.
DASH7 has been adopted by major customers like the U.S. Department of Defense to the tune of
Customer Adoption nearly $1 billion. ZigBee continues to fall short in terms of major customer adoption and unit
volumes, hence the growing exodus of ZigBee developers to DASH7.
Due to the existence of major customers that demand interoperability, interoperability is a major
Interoperability focus for DASH7. ZigBee remains focused on finding its first major vertical market win and
interoperability is secondary.
DASH7 is an internationally-accepted, ISO Standard. Many countries recognize ISO as the only
Recognition as an legitimate technology standards-setting body. ZigBee is a specification, not a standard, loosely based
International Standard on a US-centric IEEE standard that lacks global adoption or support
DASH7 is designed to provide long battery life and low device costs for bursty, asychronous (BLAST)
Application Suitability applications that require multi-year battery life. ZigBee’s focus is on applications that can benefit
from high data rate or sophisticated routing – weeks of battery life is considered sufficient.
Both DASH7 and ZigBee have substantial industry ecosystems however the main distinction is that
Industry Ecosystem ZigBee’s ecosystem is dated and withering while DASH7’s ecosystem is new and vibrant.

25. www.dash7.org
433 MHZ
APPROVED FOR USE
IN ALL MAJOR
TRADING NATIONS

26. www.dash7.org
www.dash7.org
End Users
Systems
FAQ’s | Whitepapers | How to Join Integrators
For more information, Academia
Software
Developers
please contact the ISO 18000-7
Licensees
DASH7 Alliance.