ZDO

ZDO, short for Zigbee Device Object, is a component of the Zigbee protocol stack that provides device- and network-management services. It is commonly implemented as endpoint 0 on a Zigbee device and exposes a set of management operations used by higher layers to discover devices, determine capabilities, and establish communications within a Zigbee network.

Key functions of the Zigbee Device Object include discovery of other devices and their endpoints (Active Endpoints), retrieval of device descriptors (Node Descriptor, Power Descriptor) and endpoint descriptors (Simple Descriptor), and handling addressing operations such as IEEE address discovery and short network address assignment. ZDO coordinates join and rejoin processes and facilitates binding between devices and clusters, enabling control relationships across the network.

Architecturally, ZDO sits at the application layer and communicates with the network (NWK) layer to manage addressing, routing, and network formation. It is identified by the universal endpoint 0, and many Zigbee stacks expose a set of Zigbee Device Profile (ZDP) commands that implement its management functions.

In practice, ZDO enables devices such as lights or sensors to announce themselves, discover which clusters they support, and establish bindings to control endpoints. It is defined by the Zigbee Specification and is present in all Zigbee-certified devices, making it a central coordination point for network operations.

Related topics include Zigbee, the Zigbee Alliance, and the Zigbee Device Profile, which together define the standard interfaces and behaviors that ZDO implements.