Smart Dust & Its Applications

By PANKAJ SHARMA

OUTLINE
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. INTRODUCTION ARCHITECTURE MANUFACTURING COMM. INTERFACE SENSOR NETWORKS APPLICATIONS THE DARK SIDE RESEARCH AREAS CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
Technology developed at UCLA Berkeley college of Engg. Small wireless devices designed to monitor all types of physical quantities such as:
Temperature Humidity Motion Light Levels Pollution etc.

Commercial name coined for dust size smart sensors.

INTRODUCTION
RECEIVER

POWER SUPPLY

PROCESSOR TRANSMITTER

Level of Integration: Integrates

Transducers

SENSORS Processors Memories Solar powered Batteries Communication Interfaces on a single micro miniscule silicon chip.

Uses MEMS technology for its fabrication

INTRODUCTION : Questions
What Are Sensors?
A device that responds to a physical stimulus for eg. Heat Light, sound, pressure, motion, flow etc and produces a measurable Corresponding electrical signal is called a sensor.

What Are Smart Sensors?

Sensors which not only have the capability to respond to a physical stimulus but also the ability to decide whether the data is useful or not.

INTRODUCTION : Questions
Why Smart Sensors? Smart Sensors
Programmable Decision Making Capability Self Calibrating Plug-n-Play Operation Sophisticated & Complex sensor systems are easy to design

Traditional Sensors
Not Programmable No processing power Custom Calibration Custom design Very difficult with traditional methods

INTRODUCTION : Questions
Why Smart Sensors?
Smart Sensors
Distributed Measurements Possible

Traditional Sensors
Only Lumped measurements possible

Low Cost & Wide Availability Relatively High Cost Less Maintenance Cost Requires skilled Professionals for repair job

ARCHITECTURE

Thin Film Battery

Size = 1x1x1mm^3 Storage = 1 Joule Material = Lithium ion Low o/p resistance for sub milli-amp current

Power Capacitor

Size = 0.25x0.25x0.25mm^3 Capacity = 1 micro joule Material = Ceramic Used to provide high current when needed for eg. For laser pulses

Solar Cell

Size = 1x1x0.1mm^3 Generation Cap. = 1 joule/day/mm Material = Photosensitive compounds Used to power the smart dust unit

Controller

Size = 1x1x0.1mm^3 Uses CMOS technology Analog cum digital controller Gives the dust mote the decision making capability

Sensors

Size = 0.5x0.5x0.1mm^3 Incorporates many sensors on one interface Micromachining techniques used for fabrication

Passive Transmitter
Interrogating Laser Beam

Called Corner Cube Retro-reflector (CCR) Size = 0.5x0.5x0.1mm^3 Range =1Km Speed = 100kbps Modulates interrogating laser beam with the help of movable mirrors & transmits it

Active Transmitter

Size = 1x0.5x0.1mm^3 Range = 10Km Speed = 10Mbps Uses laser diode to produce carrier beam.

Receiver

Size = 1x0.5x0.1mm^3 Consists of photodetector and receiver circuitry Demodulates the incoming signal and separates the useful information from carrier & noise

MANUFACTURING:
Introduction to MEMS
These dust size particles are fabricated using MEMS technology. MEMS devices dates way back to 1958
1st application was a Strain Gauge Uses silicon as base material and etching techniques to generate pattern therein

MANUFACTURING:
Introduction to MEMS Combines two Technologies
IC fabrication Technology Micromachining Technology

IC Fabrication :- used to etch electronic circuits on the silicon substrate Micromachining :-used to etch mechanical patterns on the silicon substrate

MANUFACTURING: Fabrication Process

MEMS Generic Process

MANUFACTURING:
Includes Two Types of Micromachining Processes
1. BULK MICROMACHINING 2. SURFACE MICROMACHINING

MANUFACTURING:
1. Bulk Micromachining
Wet chemicals are used to etch the pattern on silicon substrate. Etchants used: Non Acidic: Potassium hydroxide (KOH) Tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) Ethylene Diamene Pyrocatechol (EDP) Hydroflouric Acidic Nitric Acid

Acidic:-

MANUFACTURING:
1. Bulk Micromachining Process involves:1. Depositing masking Layers of:1. Silicon nitride or 2. Silicon dioxide or any 3. Metal like Au, Ti, etc. 2. Patterning these using Lithography

MANUFACTURING:
1. Bulk Micromachining
Pressure sensors & Accelerometers are fabricated using these technologies. These devices include fabrication of peizoresistors on one side of wafer and machining on the other side to form diaphragm or suspended mass in the case of pressure sensor or accelerometers respectively.

MANUFACTURING:
1. Bulk Micromachining
Pressure Sensor:
Peizo-electric material

Accelerometer:

MANUFACTURING:
2. Surface Micromachining
More advanced technique to make Novel structures on surface of silicon wafer Involves deposition of certain layers and patterning these using Lithographic And etching techniques.

MANUFACTURING:
2. Surface Micromachining
Mainly Three layers are employed:
i. Electrical layer: Conducts electrical signals to and from MEMS structure.

ii. Structural layer: Forms The mechanical Body of MEMS. iii. Sacrificial layer: Serve the purpose of releasing the structural layers.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
System Design Options:
Must support half- or full-duplex, bi-directional communication between a central transceiver and up to 1000 dust motes.

The downlink (central transceiver to dust motes) must broadcast to all of the dust motes at a bit rate of several kbps. The uplink (dust motes to central transceiver) must permit each of 1000 dust motes to convey about 1 kb of data within 1 s, an aggregate throughput of 1 Mbps.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
System Design Options:
Options for uplink multiplexing include time-, frequency-, code- and space-division multiplexing. The central transceiver must be able to resolve the position of each dust mote with an angular resolution of the order of 1/100 of the field of view. The link should operate over a range of at least several hundred meters.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
System Design Options:
The dust mote transceiver must occupy a volume of the order of 1 mm^3, and consume an average power not exceeding 1 mW.

If possible, the uplink and downlink should afford a low probability of interception

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE: Types

1) Radio Frequency Transmission (RFT)
Time Division MUX (TDMA) Frequency Division MUX (FDMA) Code Division MUX (CDMA) Space Division MUX (SDMA)

2) Free Space Optical Transmission (FSOT)

Passive Transmission Active Transmission

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
Why FSOT is preferred?
Pitfalls of RFT:
Problems with TDMA: Requires each dust mote to coordinate its transmission with all the other dust motes.

Problems with FDMA: requires accurate control of the dust-mote oscillator frequency

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
Why FSOT is preferred?
Pitfalls of RFT: Problems with CDMA:
Requires high-speed digital circuitry to operate for a relatively extended time interval, potentially consuming excessive power.

In order to avoid coordination between dust motes, both FDMA and CDMA require individual dust motes to be preprogrammed with unique frequencies or codes

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
Why FSOT is preferred?
Pitfalls of RFT:
Problems with SDMA: In SDMA, the central transceiver employs an antenna array to separate transmissions from different dust motes. Given the limited size of the central transceiver it would be difficult for SDMA to achieve the required spatial resolution.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
Why FSOT is preferred?
Advantages of FSOT
Free-space optical transmission at visible or near-infrared wavelengths (400-1600 nm) represents an attractive alternative for the downlink and uplink. In downlinking: A single laser transmitter can broadcast an on off-keyed signal to the collection of dust motes. Each dust mote would be equipped with a very simple receiver consisting of a band pass optical filter, a photodiode, a preamplifier and a slicer. This receiver would involve only low-speed base-band electronics, making it far simpler than its RF counterpart.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
Why FSOT is preferred?
Advantages of FSOT
In uplinking: optics offers two alternatives for transmission. Active laser-diode-based transmitter Involves modulation of internally generated laser beam
Optically passive transmitter consisting of a corner-cube retro-reflector (CCR). Involves modulation of external interrogating beam.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE Lens

Which One To Prefer?
Active Transmitter:
Consumes a lot of power to generate the laser beam Laser Diode

Adjustable Mirror

Passive Transmitter:
Involves a corner cube retroreflector to modulate the interrogating beam from the central receiver. Requires a lot less power than its active counterpart.

COMMUNICATION INTERFACE
System Realization

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

Consists of a Network backbone on which many nodes reside. Nodes are classified as:
Sensor nodes:- tend to send data to the network Controller nodes:- tend to gather data from the network

There can be more than one controller node. Virtual network via internet can also be setup

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

Networked Smart Dust Sensors

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

Controller Nodes:
Consists of:
Processor Memory Network Interface I/O devices to communicate with the users

Used to:
Collect information from sensor nodes Program the sensor nodes Provide feedback to the user

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

Advantages of Sensor Networks:
Plug-n-Play operation possible No new wires to be routed to accommodate new nodes Traditional sensors have varying gains, offsets, hysteresis, etc. which must be compensated for elsewhere in the system. A smart sensor node would store the physical attributes of the transducer and would compensate for non idealities locally in the processor.

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

THE IEEE 1451 PROTOCOL
It is an open standard that gives sensors makers a way
to interface to different types of field buses A standard transducer interface module (STIM) described by the standard includes:

sensor interface signal conditioning and conversion calibration linearization and basic communication rules

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

TEDS the Heart of IEEE 1451 Protocol
TEDS stands for Transducer Electronic Data Sheet.
Contains Technical information that: identifies the sensor specifies the sensors analog interface and describes the sensors use

TEDS resides in the sensor in an inexpensive memory component, typically an EEPROM,

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

TEDS
Consists of four fields:
Basic TEDS Standard TEDS Calibration TEDS User area

Contents vary according to the type of sensor

DISTRIBUTED SENSOR NETWORKS

Advantages of IEEE 1451
Maximum Compatibility Simple Adoption Quicker, more automated system setup Improved diagnostics and troubleshooting Reduced downtime for sensor repair and replacement Improved sensor data management, bookkeeping, and inventory management Automated use of calibration data

APPLICATIONS
Military Applications
Battlefield surveillance Detection Classification & Tracking of enemy vehicles. Eg. DARPA SensIT Project

APPLICATIONS
Dust Particles can be spread by Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs)

Data can be collected by sending the same aircraft over that area

APPLICATIONS
VIRTUAL KEYBOARD
Glue some dust motes to your fingertips Accelerometers will sense the orientation and motion of each of your fingertips, and talk to the computer in your watch

Then :
Sculpt 3D shapes in virtual clay Play the piano Gesture in sign language and have the computer to translate Combined with a MEMS augmented-reality heads-up display, your entire computer I/O would be invisible to the people around you. Couple that with wireless access and you need never be bored in a meeting again! Surf the web while the boss rambles on and on.

APPLICATIONS
INVENTORY CONTROL
The carton talks to the box The box talks to the palette The palette talks to the truck The truck talks to the warehouse and the truck and the warehouse talk to the internet.

Know where your products are and what shape they're in any time, anywhere.

APPLICATIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS
Habitat Monitoring
Eg ZebraNet(Princeton)

Weather sensing
Estuarine environmental and observation & forecasting system (EEOFS)

APPLICATIONS
ROAD WEATHER OBSERVATION

The Overlapping Environmental Observation & Transportation Surveillance system

APPLICATIONS
HEALTH APPLICATIONS Tele-monitoring human Psychological Data Tracking and monitoring of doctors and patients inside the hospitals.

Personal health monitor application running on a PDA receives and analyzes data from a number of sensors (e.g., ECG, EMG, blood pressure, pulse oxymeter)
Glucose level Monitors.

Cancer detectors and general health monitors.

APPLICATIONS
BIOMEDICAL SENSORS

APPLICATIONS
INTERFACES FOR QUADRIPLEGICS
Put motes "on a quadriplegic's face, to monitor blinking & facial twitches-and send them as commands to a wheelchair/computer/other device

AUTOMOBILES
Accelerometers find the biggest use in automobiles, mainly in airbag safety systems to detect the collision impact and inflate the airbags to protect the passengers. Measurement of Tyre pressure and its treading even during motion.

THE DARK SIDE

PRIVACY GOING PUBLIC
As the technology is becoming smaller & smaller personal information has been under a lot of threat So some privacy laws should be implemented before implementing this technology commercially.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
A lot of you might be worried about inhaling a dust mote Dont worry, even if intel stopped producing Pentium products and produced only dust motes, we won,t produce too many to bother anyone.

RESEARCH AREAS
Efficient data conversion within the smart sensor node is a fundamental key to its success.
One may attempt to devise a small, efficient instruction set with which to program nodes for a wide variety of functions.

Plug and play functionality requires a standard interface that communicates a node's identity and capabilities. The upcoming IEEE 1451 standard provides a basic communications link for sensor nodes, but provides no methods specific to programming a node's data processing resources
One may design a standard interface that standardizes the dynamic programming of sensor nodes.

RESEARCH AREAS
Other areas of research Designing Tiny Operating systems Designing CAD tools for developing such applications Design tools to monitor sensor networks And many areas which are creeping in your mind

CONCLUSION
With the base technology of manufacturing ICs already available in our country and just by employing a little extra on micro-fabrication technology the Indian firms like BEL, SCL and other semiconductors giants can take the initiative to conquer the world markets in this sector and take India into a dominating position as in the IT sector. The employment of smart dust would mean better measurement data, therefore a better control of various industrial and non industrial parameters, and thereby enhancing the standard of life in general.

SMART DUST: A CHALLENGE TO OUR GENERATION

THANK YOU
PANKAJ SHARMA

QUERIES