SMART DUST

Executive Summary
Prepared for:
MBA 615/ 2A
Management Information Systems
Fall 2015
Presented to:
Dr. Anne-Marie Croteau

Prepared by: Negar Dastjerdi, Aditya Gogia, Sachin War, Raffi Zaroukian

Smart dust was first invented in 1998, by Professor Dr. Kris Pister of UC Berkeley for a
project funded by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal was to
build a communication sensor system that could integrate in a one cubic millimeter package.
There were two main challenges facing the team from the beginning. Firstly, how to build a power
supply for these tiny sensors which later on were called Motes. Secondly, how to decrease the
size of the Motes to less than one cubic millimeter.
The Motes are designed to communicate with each other using radio frequency (RF)
signals. This technology allowed the designers to be able to reduce the size of the Motes
drastically and save on power consumption of each Mote. Each network of Motes has a central
monitoring station. The central station receives data from all the Motes in the network, and
communicates it back to them. As in computers, these sensors are also equipped with an
operating system which is called TinyOS. TinyOS is responsible for controlling the power
consumption of each Mote and how it communicates with other Motes.
Smart dust, or Smart mesh, is now part of the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) industry. The
industry is expected to grow to $1.8 billion by 2024. Early applications of smart dust, included
military experiments in abandoned areas, as well as scientific uses of this sensors to detect toxic
chemicals in pipes. Nowadays, Motes are in the form of micro-electromechanical systems
(MEMS) that consists of a microprocessor and several micro sensors that interact with the
surrounding. Although the global market for these sensors are estimated at $7 billion in 2010,
still the main challenges of decreasing the size, building an efficient long lasting power supply,
and cost effectiveness, prevents this technology to be mass produced.
Despite the challenges, a few companies have successfully took advantage of this
technology. British Petroleum, BP, has used a network of Motes on its 885 foot oil tanker in order
to detect vibrations which could later result in failure of equipment. Accenture Technology Labs
installed smart dust in a 30 acre vineyard to monitor humidity, wind, water, soil and air
temperature. These smart dust sensors provided the vineyards personnel with the information
needed so they could monitor and optimize the watering schedule, as well provide information
related to potential frost, disease, and pests. Both these applications of smart dust technologies,

allowed these two companies to avoid costs, save time, increase productivity, and ultimately
profits.
Dust Networks, which was founded by Dr. Pister in 2002 and was acquired later by Linear
Technology, is now providing wireless sensor networks, to various industry applications.
It is anticipated that smart dust will have wide variety of applications in various fields. Civil
engineering, inventory management, smart cities and agricultural are only a few. The cost of
smart dust implementation varies by industry. It ranges from about $1000 per Mote for nuclear
power plants to $350 per Mote in building control. However, it is anticipated that advancements
in technology will result in the average price per mote to go down below $1 in year 2020, which
will further result in wider application of this technology.
As the smart dust technology advances, issues such as privacy, security, and
environmental impact must be addressed. Broad adoption, and more importantly broad
acceptance, of this technology depends on how the industry addresses these issues. Yet, major
companies are continuing to develop on the idea of smart dust and how it will change the way
we do business in the future. The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was awarded $2Million from
DARPA to develop the technology that would allow electronics to disintegrate (to dust) on
command. This technological advancement would have all sorts of implications for the future
development and deployment of smart dust. Even more significant is the development of the
Central Nervous System for the Earth (CeNSE) by HP. In the coming decade, HP intends to
distribute over a trillion sensors, around the earth, which will be able to gather information and
communicate it to central systems, where it will be analyzed for the end user. HP is currently
working with Shell, but also envisions the day when CeNSE will also benefit governments and
society as a whole.
The development of a Smart Dust system, such as CeNSE by HP, is truly what Dr.Pister
imagined all those years ago. To have a multitude of independent, wireless, sensors, which can
gather, communicate, and analyze information, making our lives more efficient and effective.
Smart dust will change the way we do business, the way we live our lives, the way we see the
world. If the Internet is the network of the World Wide Web, than Smart Dust in the network of
the Real World Web.

References:
Press Release PARC (2014), PARC Awarded Up To $2 Million from DARPA to Develop
Vanishing Electronics (Online)
https://www.parc.com/news-release/97/parc-awarded-up-to-2-million-from-darpa-to-developvanishing-electronics.html (April 8, 2014)
Accenture (2004), New Accenture Offering Uses Sensor Technology to Help Companies Deploy
Wireless Applications, Accenture (Online)
https://newsroom.accenture.com/subjects/technology/new-accenture-offering-uses-sensortechnology-to-help-companies-deploy-wireless-applications.htm (December 1, 2004)
HP (Online), CeNSE
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/environment/cense.html#.VhMTRHxdGM_
Greg Lindsay (2010), HP Invents a "Central Nervous System for Earth" and Joins the Smarter
Planet Sweepstakes, Fast Company (Online)
http://www.fastcompany.com/1548674/hp-invents-central-nervous-system-earth-and-joinssmarter-planet-sweepstakes (February 12, 2010)
Economist (2004), In Dust We Trust, Economist, (June 12, 2004)
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