ZOI

Zigbee® PRO Software Community

What is ZOI

The ZBOSS Open Initiative (ZOI) is a community of companies with a shared understanding of the value of a common, Zigbee® PRO software platform to overcome, together, the challenges around interoperability, security, testing, and optimization of Zigbee®-enabled products and solutions.

Achieving lasting interoperability across the vast smart device ecosystem from dozens of different manufacturers is a constant challenge. ZOI addresses this challenge by creating a shared platform, utilized and maintained by chipset vendors and consumer product companies from across the ecosystem. This greatly reduces issues of interoperability, simplifies development for manufacturers, and lowers R&D costs for ZOI members.

About ZBOSS and DSR Corporation

ZBOSS is a hardware agnostic, cross-platform, high-performance Zigbee® software protocol stack developed by DSR Corporation. DSR Corporation is an original pioneer of the IoT market, with a proven track record and broad expertise in the wireless industry and beyond. DSR’s Zigbee portfolio stretches back to 2009 and has resulted in substantial amount of Zigbee and wireless-related problem-solving experience around the globe.

ZBOSS features cross-platform support, multi-tasking, fixed memory footprint, OS-less configuration, and an easy-to-use API. It is an official Zigbee® stack for Nordic Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor, and also supports multiple SoCs, MCUs, and transceivers from Texas Instruments, Qorvo, ARM, Telink, UBEC, Microchip, and other chip vendors. Moreover, multiple Zigbee® 3.0 certified products are powered by ZBOSS. Over 200 smart devices from more than 40 vendors have been tested, successfully, for interoperability with ZBOSS.

ZOI members get access to DSR Corporation’s market-proven ZBOSS stack code base, along with all of the necessary tools and support to make integrating the stack with new chips and consumer products simple. This joint effort allows for the development of a unified software platform for Zigbee®-enabled smart devices and makes it the most interoperable Zigbee software stack solution on the market.

By accessing ZBOSS source code, chipset vendors and consumer product companies will be able to make any necessary changes to the stack to speed up the product development process and make it more streamlined and effective.

The main goal of the Initiative is to provide IoT market players with a proven, reliable, and highly interoperable Zigbee® software protocol stack, required development tools, and infrastructure to establish a solid ground for effective collaboration on the unified Zigbee® PRO software platform.

The "Tech"

Zigbee Networking Layer

  • Zigbee® PRO 2023 (CSA Golden Unit)
  • Zigbee® PRO 2023 (r23) regional SubGHz (CSA Golden Unit)
  • Zigbee® PRO 2017 (r22)(CSA Certified)
  • Zigbee® PRO 2017 (r22) SubGHz
  • Zigbee® PRO 2017 (r22) regional SubGHz (evaluation version)

Profiles and Feature Sets

  • Zigbee® 3.0 (provided with multiple Zigbee® 3.0 certified devices)
  • Smart Energy 1.4
  • Work With All Hubs (WWAH) (passed internal and test harness testing)
  • Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL) v8
  • OS-less, Linux, Zephyr, and Real-time OS support
  • Touchlink
  • Zigbee Sub-GHz
  • Zigbee Direct
  • Zigbee PRO 2023 Security Enhancements - Dynamic Link Key, Device Interview, Trust Center Swapout & More

Development Tools

  • Network Simulator
  • ZBOSS Development Tools
  • Test Suite for automated testing (test driver and verification framework)
  • Continuous Integration (CI) Infrastructure (Docker based)
  • MAC and Zigbee PRO Certification Tests
  • Regression Test Suite
  • Smart Energy 1.4 Certification Tests
  • Samples

Why Join

Semiconductor Manufacturers

  • Get access to a time-proven Zigbee® stack source code base and insight into the implementation details
  • Focus on serving your customers with great hardware, rather than focusing on standards compliance, as stack maintenance is now a community directive
  • Take advantage of simplified licensing mechanisms, exclusive to members
  • Vote and influence the direction of the Zigbee® feature set development
  • Access a stack core that is always up-to-date according to the latest Zigbee standards
  • Enable new hardware platforms and get them Zigbee PRO certified, with no limits
  • Enable your customers to quickly build Zigbee Direct-enabled products
  • Contribute to ongoing development
  • Receive/submit bug reports and apply the latest fixes produced by the community
  • Receive extensive support from the DSR ZOI team

Consumer Products Vendors

  • Gain the freedom to choose your hardware. The application framework and API are the same across new platforms. Keep your application as-is!
  • Secure your investment into product development by getting control over all of the software layers, from MAC all the way up to the Zigbee application framework
  • Take advantage of simplified licensing mechanisms, exclusive to members
  • Have a platform-agnostic software solution, avoid being “married” to any hardware vendor or stuck in a bad platform agreement
  • Enable your products to support Zigbee Direct functionalites
  • Debug and improve your Zigbee® products at any level of development
  • Drive Zigbee network development by contributing new ideas, feature requests, and hot fixes to the stack
  • Receive/submit bug reports and apply the latest fixes produced by the community
  • Receive extensive support from the DSR ZOI team

Service Providers

  • Understand the wireless stack solution from within, in order to build more efficient services on top
  • Be more proactive by having access to the source code, giving your support team the insight they need to address customer requests
  • Build custom services and speed up your reaction time

Test Houses

  • Get the inside scoop on the latest Zigbee implementations
  • Model software implementations more accurately and conduct more in-depth certification/testing
  • Access test tools used by software development companies
  • Get a head start on planning for new releases and standards

ZOI is NOT Open-Source

ZOI provides members with royalty-free access to market-proven Zigbee wireless stack source code; rather than open-sourcing the software to the general public. ZOI’s “member-source” approach ensures continued investment into, and collaboration on, the ZBOSS stack, meaning ZOI members are always in front of the newest Zigbee releases and are able to contribute to stack enhancements directly; getting to market faster and with a better product. In addition to membership fees being re-invested into stack maintenance and development, ZOI allows members to determine the direction of the stack. In this way, ZOI addresses the need for a robust, well-maintained, royalty-free Zigbee stack, in a market where a full-featured, open-source option doesn’t exist.

Who should consider joining

If you are developing products with Zigbee, ZOI is for you. The ZBOSS Open Initiative is by far the most cost-effective and most efficient way to start up and maintain Zigbee development for your company.

Companies looking to have a future-proof Zigbee stack solution with a low cost of maintenance should also consider ZOI. The member-source approach reduces the need for in-house stack maintenance and ZBOSS’s platform interoperability protects you from chip shortages and predatory vendor agreements.

Semiconductor Vendors icon
Semiconductor Vendors
Consumer Product Manufacturers and Product Companies icon
Consumer Product Manufacturers and Product Companies
Service Providers icon
Service Providers
Test Houses icon
Test Houses

What's Included

Gain access to in-development versions of ZBOSS and have a certifiable stack as soon as new Zigbee features are introduced. Hit the market in step with all of the biggest players!

1
Convenient development tools based on Atlassian's Bitbucket, Jira, and Confluence
2
Complete ZBOSS source code for certified Zigbee® PRO r22 and r23 2.4 GHz and support for SubGHz
3
Zigbee® 3.0 and Smart Energy E1.4 profile
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Works With All Hubs (WWAH) feature set
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Network simulator that works as a virtual platform for running ZBOSS
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nRF52x Zephyr support
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MAC and Zigbee PRO certification tests
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Test suite for automated testing and Continuous Integration framework
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Enhanced security & connectivity features included in Zigbee PRO R23
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Support for Zigbee Direct implementation including SDKs, services and applications
11
Zigbee SubGHz functionality

ZBOSS Features

  • Hardware-agnostic
  • Cross-platform: use OS layer for minimum effort porting
  • Linux, Windows, RTOS, bare metal support
  • Flexibility: 2.4 GHz and SubGHz radio support
  • Fixed memory footprint: does not use dynamic memory allocation, resulting in predictable memory budgeting
  • Optimized memory usage: for use on target devices with low RAM capacity
  • Easy-to-use API: inter-layers API uses primitives similar to the ones defined in the Zigbee® and 802.15 standards
  • Certified by the Connectivity Standards Alliance: Zigbee 3.0 r21, r22 and r23

Membership Levels

ZOI encourages all members to contribute to the ZBOSS source code quality and evolution, regardless of membership level. In the same vein, suggestions for new feature development are also acceptable from any member of the initiative.

The ultimate effect and prioritization of the aforementioned contributions will depend on the membership of that particular ZOI member. The more senior the membership level adopted, the greater the access that is provided, and the more influence that member has within the ZOI community.

Core

The Core level implies the top level of engagement, where the member appears on the cutting edge of ZBOSS stack development and takes part in the steering committee, influencing the direction of feature development. The position allows taking part in feature development of the most recent revision(s) of Zigbee specification, as well as stabilization and certification activities in the context of already adopted revisions.

Core level members constitute the body of ZOI Steering Committee with ability to:

  • Define the ZOI roadmap
  • Influence ZOI task planning
  • Have a deciding say in new feature development and priorities
  • Take part in development with the ability to influence the ZBOSS prospective* version’s (successor of mainstream version) ultimate shape; such as feature implementations, architectural solutions, etc.


This level is the best fit for cutting-edge development on the most modern, and widely-used Zigbee-enabled platforms.

Observer

The Observer level's main purpose is to be able to produce custom branded SDKs/libraries based on the stable ZBOSS stack source code. This provides additional avenues for end product quality improvement or new product/service development. This level also has access to all ZBOSS versions released by ZOI member companies.

Observer level benefits beyond those of the End Developer role:

  • Issue custom branded Zigbee aware and ZBOSS based SDKs/libraries
  • Sub-license ZBOSS based SDKs/libraries in binary form to third parties.
  • Issue free annual passes for ZOI Guest members


This level is best suited for the development of mainstream Zigbee enabled platforms.

End Developer

The End Developer level of ZOI membership is for end-product production teams. This level gains access to stable ZBOSS versions as well as all ZBOSS versions releasedZBOSS software instance in binary form produced from a ZOI source code, with an assigned unique label (a.k.a. version) that has been made available to one or more target audiences. by ZOI member companies.

End Developer level benefits beyond those of the guest role:

  • Access to time-proven, quality Zigbee stack source code

  • Participate in quality improvement for the ZBOSS stable version:

    • Implement/contribute bug-fixes

    • Suggest/develop architectural solutions

  • Compile any accessible ZBOSS source code; as is, or appropriately modified.

  • Distribute the resulting binaries solely as incorporated in the Member Products

  • Certify new Zigbee platforms with CSA, based on the member's own HW or any other Zigbee compliant HW.


This level is best suited for the development and maintenance of Zigbee enabled products and solutions.

Limited End Developer

The Limited End Developer membership level positions ZOI members as an end-product production team. The access to the source code in ZOI for this membership level is limited to a single version of source code released by a particular vendor.

Limited End Developer level benefits beyond those of the Guest role:

  • Take part in quality improvements of vendor-granted ZBOSS versions:

    • Implement/contribute bug-fixes
    • Suggest/develop architectural solutions
  • Compile vendor-granted ZBOSS source code; as is, or appropriately modified.

  • Distribute the resulting binaries solely as incorporated in the Member Products.


This level is best suited for the maintenance of Zigbee enabled products and solutions.

ZOI Guest

The ZOI Guest membership level is best suited for end-product production teams. This level provides access to a specific ZOI-ZBOSS code version in READ ONLY mode. This access is restricted to a single version of source code released by a particular vendor (a Core or Observer level member who grants the guest-access pass).

Guest level benefits:

  • Analyze ZBOSS source code to better understand end product details
  • Get familiar with sample applications and ZBOSS programming best practices
  • Compile vendor-granted ZBOSS source code; as is, or appropriately modified
  • Get access to debugging information
  • Run Zigbee-enabled applications in a simulated Zigbee environment

Features

 
Core
Observer
End Developer
Limited End Developer
ZOI Guest

Get access to a single version of source code, released by a vendor

Get access to all released versions of source code

 
 

Get access to a stable version of source code

 
 
 

Get access to a prospective versionZBOSS software including Zigbee standard and its changes not ratified by CSA. of source code (only for ZA members)

 
 
 
 

Submit Pull request (wherever they have access to)

 

Submit NFD

 

Vote and prioritize NFD

 
 
 
 

Certify new platform

 
 
 

Sublicense ZOI product to a third party

 
 
 

Verification testing / Cl infrastructure / Test results access

 

Participate in Steering Committee

 

Vote in Steering Committee

 
 
 
 

Binaries use license with its product

 

Number of accounts

10
5
3
1
1

Free annual source code access passes (to a vendor branch) — customer receiving Free Annual Pass shall have a contractual commitment to a minimal shipment of 5M copies of product with ZOI software in it — like chipsets, and etc.

10
5
n/a
n/a
n/a

ZOI Community

+ 13 Chip Vendors, Product Companies & System Integrators

Contact

contact@dsr-corporation.com
1536 Cole Blvd, Suite 325 Golden, CO 80401, USA
www.dsr-zboss.comwww.dsr-iot.com

Contact Us to Join ZOI