If you’re familiar with ZigBee, you’ve no doubt seen a picture of the stack with IEEE 802.15.4 at the bottom, ZigBee in the middle, and applications and profiles sitting on top. This article looks at the top bit of the stack, and at how ZigBee profiles make it easier for you to create your own interoperable applications.

One of the ways interoperability is achieved is through application profiles. These profiles are defined by the ZigBee Alliance, and provide a description of the devices supported for a specific application together with the messaging scheme used by those devices for communication–in effect, defining the type, shape and features of the network.

More here.