Title: Speckled Computing: An Overview www'specknet'org
1Speckled 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
2 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
3Specks, 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
4Specknet 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)
5Multidisciplinary consortium
Programmable Networks
Demonstrators
Radio
Distributed Computing
Photonics
Solar Cells
Processor
Sensors
Digital Signal Processing
6Overview
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)
7- Quarter credit-card sized prototype to provide a
rapid development platform for networking,
programming and application RD in Speckled
Computing
8ProSpeckz - 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
9ProSpeckz 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).
10ProSpeckz 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
11ProSpeckz 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.
12ProSpeckz 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.
13Status
- 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
04 - 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
14Model 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