Speckled Computing: An Overview www'specknet'org

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Speckled Computing An Overview(www.specknet.org)

• D.K. Arvind
• Institute for Computing Systems Architecture
• School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
• (dka_at_inf.ed.ac.uk)

2nd Speckled Computing Workshop 2-3 Sept. 2004
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To realise programmable semiconductor specks
which can sense, compute, and network wirelessly.

• All specks communicate wirelessly (via radio or
  laser)
• Each speck has limited range of wireless
  communication (few cms)
• Each speck has limited size (lt 5X5 mm) and
  limited power
• No control over the density, size/type of the
  surface applied, possible interferences/stability,
  specks placement

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Specks, Specknets and Speckled Computing

• Each autonomous speck with renewable power
  source
• Thousands of specks collaborate as a
  programmable computational network the specknet
• Sensory data is processed collaboratively and
  information extracted in situ - fine-grained
  distributed computation
• Encapsulation of sensing, processing and wireless
  networking generic technology for pervasive
  computing

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Specknet the first (last) millimeter of the WWW

• Speckled Computing in Healthcare remote
  monitoring of CHD patients in collaboration with
  clinicians at Western General Hospital
• Tangible Interfaces for Digital Media objects
  sprayed with specks or speckled are sensitised
  post hoc both as computational resources and as
  props for interactions with the computational
  resources
• Specknets for Safety Applications in homes,
  offices (distributed fire alarm) and automobiles
  (smart air bags, driver workload monitoring, auto
  blackbox)

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Multidisciplinary consortium
Programmable Networks
Demonstrators
Radio
Distributed Computing
Photonics
Solar Cells
Processor
Sensors
Digital Signal Processing
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Overview
Programming Environment (C9)
Demonstrators (C10)
SPECKNET ARCHITECTURE
Networking Protocols (C8)
Distributed Computing Harness (C7)
Physical Layer Communications (C6)
Photonics (C1)

Processor (C3)
Radio (C2)
Energy Source (C4)
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• Quarter credit-card sized prototype to provide a
  rapid development platform for networking,
  programming and application RD in Speckled
  Computing

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ProSpeckz - Programmable Speck over Zigbee Radio

• Overall System View for ProSpeckz

PSoC
Application
Lightweight RTOS
Specknet Network Protocol
Specknet MAC
802.15.4 Radio
ProSpeckz Hardware
ProSpeckz Firmware/Software
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ProSpeckz II - Specifications

• Single quarter-credit-cardsized board.
• Cypress CY8C2764 PSoC 8-bit12MHz
  microcontroller with256 bytes RAM, 16K Flash,12
  analogue and 8 digitalprogrammable peripheral
  blocks.
• Chipcon CC2420 2.4GHz, IEEE 802.15.4 RF
  transceiver, providing 250kbps data rate with
  programmable power output, 16 available channels.
• Runs from 3V lithium button cell or 3.6V Varta
  Mempac, with power consumption between 300?A
  (deep sleep) and 24.5mA (PSoC active radio
  receiving).

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ProSpeckz II Existing Applications

• Distributed fire safety system
• Proximity-aware speaking objects/toys
• Museum visitor movement and interaction tracking
• Autonomous control of small vehicles
• Relative position detection in 2D plane
• Smart Jewellery

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ProSpeckz III Stackable Design

• ProSpeckz III Components
• Sensor board Cypress CY8C2764 PSoC, sensors for
  light/sound/temperature and expansion ports.
• Radio board Chipcon CC2420 2.4GHz IEEE 802.15.4
  RF transceiver and antenna.
• CPU board 60MHz Atmel AT91 with ARM7TDMI core,
  256KB on-board SRAM and 2MB Flash.
• Memory board 2MB additional SRAM and
  SecureDigital card interface.
• FPGA board Xilinx XC3S200 Spartan-III (200k
  gates), with 8-bit ADC/DAC and daughterboard
  connection for prototype RF circuits.
• Power board (not shown) provides 3V and 1.8V
  supplies from one or two 3V lithium button cells
  or 3.6V Varta Mempac, or runs and charges from
  external DC power.

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ProSpeckz 3 The Stackable Platform

• A stackable and inter-changeable development
  platform that provides developers the ability to
  customise individual units of the ProSpeckz 3

• Provides wireless communications via Zigbee
  radio.
• On-board antenna that allow ranges from 30cm to
  20m
• A 60Mhz processing core of the ProSpeckz 3
• ARM 7 CPU with 2Mb of Flash and 256Kb of RAM
• Provides additional storage for the ProSpeckz 3
• 2Mb of SRAM and an interface to an SD card
• Provides sensory capabilities to the ProSpeckz 3
• Onboard temperature/light/sound sensor and PSoC
• Provides the ability to develop soft processors /
  baseband
• Xilinx Spartan with 200k gates
• Allows the ProSpeckz 3 to be powered by lithium
  coin cells

Radio Board
CPU Board
Memory Board
Sensor Board
FPGA Board
Power Board

• Each unit above can be mixed-and matched into a
  hardware stack to provide for a unique
  development platform for the various layers.

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Status

• 4-year, 1.32M SHEFC Research Development Grant,
  start-date Oct. 2003
• Shortlisted for 2.96 M EPSRC Basic Technology
  Research Programme Dec. 2004
• 1st Workshop Jan. 04 2nd Workshop Sep. 2-3
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• Research Advisory Board and Consortium Agreement
• Industrial Partnership Programme
• Appointed Mrs Charmaine Wilson Admin Secretary
• 10 PhD students, 2 RAs in place
• 6 PhD students, 2 RAs to be appointed in Q4 2004

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Model for Collaboration

• Industrial Partnership Programme
• Beyond the envelope research
• Pre-competitive several industrial partners
• Financial support for PhD studentships
• Equipment grant
• Body swap Internships, Secondment, Sabbatical
• Industrial Affiliate Programme
• Annual subscription
• White papers, biannual workshops
• Interested? Email dka_at_inf.ed.ac.uk