Obviously, a book is not the place to look for current prices, but at the time of this
writing, ZigBee is pretty cheap. And it looks like it is getting even less expensive
over time. A quick search for ZigBee chips (I used http://www.DigiKey.com ) yielded
inexpensive prices (see Table 1.1 ).
Most of the entries in the table are the price for a combination MCU and radio. That’s right,
a single chip solution yields prices in the $3 to $5 range, on average. One of the entries, the
Freescale MC13203, is a stand-alone radio that can be combined with any MCU or CPU.
The final two entries, the Digi International XBee and the Panasonic PAN802154, are
complete, ready-to-ship, precertified modules. Connect a couple of AA or AAA batteries
and a sensor or actuator to these boards, put it in some plastic enclosure, and ship your
product.