SYBIL C ANIYAN

ROLL NO:56
MCA B5
 Overview
 What is Smart Dust?
History
Smart Dust Components
Smart Dust Networking
Applications
Attributes
Limitations
Delivery and Interrogation
Conclusion

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 What is Smart Dust?
 “SMART DUST” is an autonomous sensing, computing,
communication and power source in a cubic millimeter
 Small devices that can collect information from on-board
sensors and transmit it over a wireless network that
automatically sets itself up
 Also called “Motes”
 Possible sensors include temperature, relative humidity,
illumination, acceleration, magnetic field, pressure, chemical
vapors, camera, microphone, …
 These “motes” have memories, microprocessor,
radio receiver and transmitter
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History

Conceived by Dr. Kris Pister of UC Berkeley

Funded by DARPA (Dept. of Defense) Kris Pister

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 The Generations of Smart Dust
Motes

 Clever Dust

 Golem Dust with Deputy Dust

 Golem Dust

 Daft Dust

 Flashy Dust
Smart Dust Components

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Contd…
Thick film battery: 1mm^3, 1 J storage
Power capacitor: 0.25mm^3, 1uJ storage
Solar cell: 1x1x0.1mm^3, 0.1mW generation
CMOS controller: 1x1x0.1mm^3
Sensor: 0.5x0.5x0.1mm^3
Passive CCR comm: 0.5x0.5x0.1mm^3, 10kbps, 1uW,
1km
Active laser comm: 1x0.5x0.1mm^3, 1Mbps, 10mW,
10km
Total volume: < 1.5 mm^3
Total mass: < 5 mgm
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Smart Dust Networking
A collection of motes is dispersed in an environment
 Motes use wireless communications to relay information to a
base station (gateway) over distances of 15-50 m.

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 How the communication occurs?
The smart dust mote is run by a microcontroller that not only
determines the task performed by the mote, but consists of
the power to the various components of the system to
conserve energy. Periodically the micro controller gets a
reading from one of the sensors, which measure one of a
number of physical or chemical stimuli and store it in
memory. It also turns on optical receiver to see if anyone is
trying to communicate with it. This communication may
include new programs or messages from other motes. In
response to a message or upon its own initiative, the
microcontroller will use the corner cube retro reflector(CCR)
or laser to transmit sensor data or a message to a base
station or another mote.
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Contd…
The primary constraint in the design of the Smart Dust motes
is volume, which in turn puts a severe constraint on energy
since we do not have much room for batteries or large solar
cells. Thus, the motes must operate efficiently and conserve
energy whenever possible. Most of the time, the majority of
the mote is powered off with only a clock and a few timers
running. When a timer expires, it powers up a part of the
mote to carry out a job, then powers off. A few of the timers
control the sensors that measure one of a number of physical
or chemical stimuli such as temperature, ambient light,
vibration, acceleration, or air pressure.

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Contd…
When one of these timers expires, it powers up the
corresponding sensor, takes a sample, and converts it to a
digital word. If the data is interesting, it may either be stored
directly in the SRAM or the microcontroller is powered up to
perform more complex operations with it. When this task is
complete, everything is again powered down and the timer
begins counting again.

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It can be in 3 ways

 Radio-Frequency Communications

 Optical Communication: passive dust mode transmitters

Optical Communication: active dust mode transmitters

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 Radio-Frequency Communications

 Radio frequency communication is one of the well-

developed communication systems.
 It is based on the generation, propagation and detection of
electromagnetic waves with a frequency range from tens
of kHz to hundreds of GHz.
 It could be used to function as both the uplink and the
downlink.
 Radio-Frequency Communications
 Pros
Long range
Line-of-sight path not required
Not severely affected by rain, fog or atmospheric
turbulence
 Cons
Antenna may be too large for dust motes
Requires modulator, demodulator, filtering (power
consumption)
Requires complex multiplexing scheme (TDMA,
FDMA, CDMA)
 Optical Communication
(Passive Dust Mote Transmitters)
M o d u l a t e d D o w n l i n k D a ta o r
U n m o d u la t e d I n t e r r o g a t io n
B e a m fo r U p l i n k

Lens P h o to -
d e te c to r
D o w n lin k
Laser D o w n lin k
D a ta I n
D a ta O u t

S ig n a l S e le c t io n U p l in k
a n d P ro c e s s in g D a ta In
C C D C o rn er-C ub e
Im a g e L e n s R e t r o r e f l e c to r
S e n so r M o d u la t e d R e f le c t e d
A rray B e a m fo r U p l i n k
D u s t M o te
U p lin k U p li n k
D a ta . . . D a ta
O u t1 O u tN
B a s e -S ta t io n T r a n s c e iv e r

Attractive communication option for uplink and downlink

 Corner Cube Reflector (CCR)
Top View of the Interrogator
Quarter-wave
Filter Polarizing Plate
Beamsplitter

CCD Camera Lens

0.25% reflectance
on each surface

Frequency-Doubled Beam
YAG Green Laser Expander 45o mirror
Contd...
Dust
M o te
Base
S t a t io n
T ra n s ce iv e r

Dust
T r a n s m i t t e r R a d ia n t I n t e n s it y M o te
R e c e i v e r L i g h t C o ll e c t i o n A r e a

Requires each dust mote to have a line-of-sight

path to the base station.
Uplink transmissions are multiplexed using
space-division multiplexing.
Contd…
 Pros
Dust motes need not radiate power, nor steer beam
Exploits asymmetry: powerful base station, low-power dust
motes
Utilizes space-division multiplexing
Only baseband electronics are required
 Cons
Requires line-of-sight path to base station
Short range (up to about 1 km)
Bit rate limited to about 10 kbps
Affected by rain, fog, atmospheric turbulence
 (Active Dust Mote Transmitter)
Beam
S te e r in g
C o llim a tin g M ir r o r ( s )
Laser Lens
D io d e

Two-axis beam steering Active dust mote

assembly transmitter

It uses an active steered onboard laser diode based

transmitter to send a collimated laser beam to a station
Contd…
D ust
M ote

Base
S t a t io n
T ra n sc e iv er
Dust
M o te
T r a n s m i t t e r R a d ia n t I n t e n s i t y
D ust
R e c e i v e r L i g h t C o ll e c t i o n A r e a M ote

It consist of a laser diode, collimating mirror and beam

steering mirrors for the communication.
It is suitable for peer to peer communication.
Contd…
 Pros
Longer range than passive links (up to about 10 km)
Higher bit rates than passive links (up to about 1 Mbps)
With multi-hop, avoids need for every dust mote to have
line-of-sight path to base station
Utilizes space-division multiplexing
Only baseband electronics are required
 Cons
Requires protocol to steer directional transmitters
Requires higher power than passive transmitter
Affected by rain, fog, atmospheric turbulence
Applications
Out of range vibrations in industrial equipment to catch
manufacturing defects

Hospital monitoring of patient movements / monitoring the

elderly while allowing freedom of movement

Environmental monitoring

Traffic sensors in urban areas

Monitor power consumption of household appliances

Cosmetics company monitoring warehouse humidity

Measuring structural integrity of a building 22

 Some field
Applications

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 Micro-radio
 50 times smaller than a cell phone
 1,000 times less power consumption
 same frequency
 in conventional radios, transmitting half a watt can
consume three watts
 goal: transmit a few hundred microwatts with just a
milliwatt
 Monitoring Onboard Machinery
Purpose:
• Predict machinery failure

Implementation:
• 160 motes near ship’s
pumps, compressors, and
engines
• Motes look for unusual
vibration or motion
Challenge:
• Harsh marine environment

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Image Sources: www.aurora-environmental.com, www.bp.com
 Grocery Store – Energy Mgmt.

Dan Bertocchini
- Energy Manager

• Determine energy use of

equipment
• Pinpoint machines which
need repair
• Saves $ - Firm moves
one set of smart dust
between many stores

Image Sources: www.gettyimages.com, www.supervalu.com 26

Some future
applications

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 Forest Fire Detection

Implementation
• Drop smart dust from an
airplane
• Motes self-organize into a
network
Usage
• A mote that detects a fire
notifies central monitoring
station
• The mote’s location is the
approximate location of the
Image Sources: http://science.nasa.gov,
fire.
USDA Forest Service - www.fs.fed.us 28
 Spotting Pipe Corrosion

Benefits
• Inspect pipes without
crawling in tight spaces
• No need to remove
insulation to inspect
pipe
• Up to date status

Image Source: gettyimages.com 29

 Attributes

Physical attributes
o Small and lightweight
o Low power consumption
 Ad-hoc networking capabilities
o Networking functions are seamless and automatic
o Multiple networks can be in use simultaneously

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Cont………
 Data transmission capabilities
o On-board data acquisition supports many missions
o Software support for many sensor configurations
o Data can be carried through network to command
centres
 Ubiquity and redundancy in use
o Multiple motes can be available on every
device/person
o Motes can be strewn in large numbers

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Limitations

Line of sight
oDirect optical communication to BTS ideal
oMultihop possible, but limited
oIncreases bandwidth densities, but decreases connectivity
Link Directionality
oCan focus interrogation subset of “viewable” sensors
oLimits mote visibility and connectivity to a hemisphere
oInteresting connectivity, routing, and interlaced network
challenges

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Contd…
Low Throughput ( < 10 Kbps )
o Suited for data monitoring, not real-time audio
 Power Source
o RF communications circuits drain a lot of power
o Need advancement in battery technology
 Size
o Many RF communications components -> difficult to
reduce size

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Contd…

Cost
o Current motes cost between $50 - $100 each
 Intrusive probes
o A number of political, environmental, health and privacy
related questions

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Delivery and Interrogation

Delivery Systems
oManual
oMicro air vehicle
oProjectile
oWind-borne (“maple seeds”)
Interrogation
oHand-held “binoculars”
oMicro air vehicle

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Manual

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Micro Air Vehicle
Air delivery

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Battle Field

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 Smart Dust Today

CPU: Atmel
:4 kb SRAM
Radio: Chipcon
External Flash: 512kb
Powered by 2AA batteries

MICA2
$40 to $150 each (depends on purchase volume)
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 Smart Dust Today

CPU: Atmel
:4 kb SRAM
Radio: Chipcon
External Flash: 512kb
Powered by 3V lithium coin cell
MICA2DOT

$40 to $150 each (depends on purchase volume)

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 Smart Dust Tomorrow

Motes will be
tiny
Inexpensive
long lasting

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CONCLUSION
 Smart dust motes incorporate sensing, computation,
communications and power in a mm3 volume.
 Free-space optical communication offers advantages in
terms of size, power and network throughput.
 On the technology
• Software and hardware are open-source
• Many potential civilian and military applications
• Promising technology if cost goes down
 On regulatory aspects
• Investigate their impact on existing services
• Low power device