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Helpful Technology and the
Internet Of Things
Robert Poor <[email protected]>NBT Group
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Smart versus Helpful
• smart: CLEVER “mentally quick and resourceful but often lacking in depth and soundness”
• helpful: USEFUL “serviceable for an end or purpose”
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Helpful Technology
• Connectivity is more important than local processing power.
• Embedded Wireless Networking– Cost– Technology– Standards
• Commercial Results• Areas for further research
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Bob Lucky’s Hierarchy
Wisdom
Knowledge
Information
Data
Signal
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The Internet Of Things150M CPUs
7.5B embedded microcontrollers
“The overarching promise driving [low rate, low power wireless systems] is low cost, self-installing wireless technology that links devices, systems and human operators and runs ostensibly on common batteries for months or even years.” [WDRG 2003]
Units manufactured in 2001 (projected)Source: DARPA / Tennenhouse 2000
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Wireless Embedded Networking
• Moore’s Law: The cost of silicon-based systems decreases exponentially with time.
• Result: Wireless Embedded Networks will continue to become cheaper due to reduced silicon costs.
• Metcalfe’s Law: The value of connecting to a network increases as the square of the number of connections.
• Result: Wireless Embedded Networks will continue to become more valuable as they grow.
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Cost of Computing: $/MIPS
$0.01
$0.10
$1.00
$10.00
$100.00
$1,000.00
$10,000.00
$100,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$10,000,000.00
$100,000,000.00
$1,000,000,000.00
1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009
Source: Hans P Moravec, http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm
Vanishing Cost of Processing
10x reduction every 7.5 years(2x reduction every 27 months)
10x reduction every 4 years(2x reduction every 15 months)
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Mesh Technology
95%
95%
40%
A
C
B
Star Architecture: 40% reliable at node B
In a Star Architecture, link reliability is limited by SNR between each node and its Access Point.
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Mesh Technology
95%
95%
40%
A
C
B95%
Mesh Architecture: 94% reliable at node B
In a Mesh Architecture, nodes cooperatively route messages, resulting in increased reliability.
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Mesh Technology
95%
95%
40%
A
C
B95%
95%
Mesh Architecture: 99.4% reliable at node B
In a Mesh Architecture, nodes cooperatively route messages, resulting in increased reliability.
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Standards• IEEE 802.15.4: low-rate (250 Kbits/sec),
2.4GHz DSSS. Multiply sourced (Chipcon, Ember, FreeScale, others).
• ZigBee: Defines compatible profiles on top of 802.15.4 for specific applications. Over 150 member companies. See www.zigbee.org.
• WINA: Wireless Industrial Network Alliance. Best practices for Industrial Applications. See www.wina.org.
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Some Commercial Products
Nuri Telecom: AIMIR Automatic Meter Reading
Eaton Corporation: Home Heartbeat Home Awareness
Philips Lighting: Wireless Lighting Control
Raymarine: S1000 Wireless Autopilot System
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Selected Research Topics• Alternative power sources, including
energy scavenger systems.• Ranging Systems based on Ultra-
WideBand (UWB) and other technologies
• Smart Radio and efficient spectrum usage.
• High-level software interfaces: connecting to the Enterprise
• What is the “TCP/IP” for the Internet Of Things?
