Multi data rate signaling based on IEEE 802.15.4

The IEEE 802.15.4 standard was brought up for the use in wireless personal area networks (WPANs) and is widely known as ZigBee. It employs spread spectrum techniques to obtain a robust transmission at comparatively low data rates of up to 250 kbit/s. In order to better match a certain transmission environment, different spreading factors could be used to obtain additional data rate modes. This approach appears to be a feasible extension to IEEE 802.15.4 allowing the coverage of a wider range of the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR). However, a signaling scheme must be added to distinguish the additional modes from the native ZigBee mode. This scheme should also allow the operation of extended devices without interfering native ZigBee devices. Based on the structure of an IEEE 802.15.4 frame a method is presented that will allow extending the specified frame structure to a multi data rate system without interfering IEEE 802.15.4 compliant devices.