ZigBee Network Topologies

The way that a message is routed from one network node to another depends on the network topology. A ZigBee network can adopt one of the three topologies: Star, Tree, Mesh. These are illustrated on the right and briefly described below.

Star Topology

A Star network has a central node, which is linked to all other nodes in the network. All messages travel via the central node.

Tree Topology

A Tree network has a top node with a branch/leaf structure below. To reach its destination, a message travels up the tree (as far as necessary) and then down the tree.

Mesh Topology

A Mesh network has a tree-like structure in which some leaves are directly linked. Messages can travel across the tree, when a suitable route is available.