Lots of interesting apps combining ZigBee mesh and Wi-Fi, including parking meters with credit card verification and CMOS camera to capture still images of license plate. 'Could even text/email the user with receipt or reminders as charges accumulate.
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ZigBee --- Client-Server Architecture
With IPv6 & web services architecture, integrated into the end-sensors greatly reduces the time and cost of implementation. ZigBee's architect is based on Client-Server requiring yet another device and gateway.
Certainly, IP connectivity
Certainly, IP connectivity direct to the end device is desirable. However, the real issue is getting the sensor data to the enterprise application. The enterprise application may use SOAP, REST, or some other architecture. Most of these require far more flash, ram, cpu and bandwidth than are available on the sensor devices, so at some point in the architecture a gateway-type device is required to translate the sensor data into a form usable to the enterprise applications.
Zigbee is doing this today. 6LoWPAN is doing this today and will do this in the future.
The real benefits to 6loWPAN are not the absence of a gateway, but in the more esoteric issues of things like auto address assignment, network management, routing, etc.