Pervasive Computing

Parts of the slides are extracted from those of Prof

s. Mark Weiser, Deborah Estrin, Akbar Sayeed,
Jack Stankovic, Mani Srivastava, Esa Tuulari, Qio
ng Luo, Chung-Ta King, and so on.
The Trends in Computing Technology

1970s

1990s

Late 1990s

Now and Tomorrow ?

Pervasive Computing Era
 What is pervasive computing?
• An environment in which people interact wi
th embedded (and mostly invisible) compu
ters (processors) and in which networked
devices are aware of their surroundings an
d peers and are able to provide services or
use services from peers effectively
 What is pervasive computing?
• Several terms that share a common vision

– Pervasive Computing
– Ubiquitous Computing
– Ambient Intelligence
– Wearable Computing
– Context Awareness
– ...
 Pervasive Computing
Environments

Network
camera
Handheld
Devices Berkeley
Motes
Laptops

Pervasive computing devices communicate and take actions.

 Goals of Pervasive (Ubiquitous)
Computing
• Ultimate goal:
– Invisible technology
– Integration of virtual and physical worlds
– Throughout desks, rooms, buildings, and life
– Take the data out of environment, leaving
behind just an enhanced ability to act
 Pervasive Computing Phase I
• Phase I
– Smart, ubiquitous I/O devices: tabs, pads, and boards
– Hundreds of computers per person, but casual, low-
intensity use
– Many, many “displays”: audio, visual, environmental
– Wireless networks
– Location-based, context-aware services

• Using a computer should be as refreshing as a

walk in the woods
 Smart Objects
• Real world objects are
enriched with information
processing capabilities
• Embedded processors
– in everyday objects
– small, cheap, lightweight
• Communication capability
– wired or wireless
– spontaneous networking
and interaction
• Sensors and actuators
 Smart Objects (cont.)
• Can remember pertinent events
– They have a memory
• Show context-sensitive behavior
– They may have sensors
– Location/situation/context
awareness
• Are responsive/proactive
– Communicate with environment
– Networked with other smart objects
Smart Objects (cont.)
 Pervasive (Ubiquitous)
Computing Vision
“In the 21st century the technology revolution will move
into the everyday, the small and the invisible…”
“The most profound technologies are those that disapp
ear. They weave themselves into the fabrics of every
day life until they are indistinguishable from it.”
Mark Weiser (1952 –1999), XEROX PARC

 Small, cheap, mobile processors and sensors

in almost all everyday objects
on your body (“wearable computing”)
embedded in environment (“ambient intelligence”)
Pervasive Computing Enablers
• Moore’s Law of IC Technologies

• Communication Technologies

• Material Technologies

• Sensors/Actuators
 First Enabler: Moore‘s Law
• Processing speed and storage capacity
double every 18 months
– “cheaper, smaller, faster”
• Exponential increase
– will probably go on for the next 10 years at the
same rate
 Generalized Moore’s Law
• Most important
Problems:
technology parameters
• increasing cost
double every 1–3 years:
• energy
– computation cycles
– memory, magnetic disks
– bandwidth
• Consequence:
– scaling down
 2nd Enabler: Communication
• Bandwidth of single fibers ~10 Gb/s
– 2002: ~20 Tb/s with wavelength multiplex
– Powerline
– coffee maker “automatically” connected to the Internet
• Wireless
– mobile phone: GSM, GPRS, 3G
– wireless LAN (> 10 Mb/s)
– Bluetooth
• Room networks, body area networks
• Internet-on-a-chip
 Ubiquitous Information

PAN: Personal area network

 Body Area Networks
• Very low current (some nA), some kb/s thr
ough the human body
• Possible applications:
– Car recognize driver
– Pay when touching
the door of a bus
– Phone configures itself
when it is touched
 Spontaneous Networking
• Objects in an open, distributed, dynamic
world find each other and form a transitory
community
– Devices recognize that
they “belong together”
 3rd Enabler: New Materials
• Important: whole eras named after materials
– e.g., “Stone Age”, “Iron Age”, “Pottery Age”, etc.

• Recent: semiconductors, fibers

– information and communication technologies

• Organic semiconductors
– change the external appearance of computers
• “Plastic” laser
– Opto-electronics, flexible displays,…
• ...
 Smart Paper, Electronic Ink
• Electronic ink
– micro capsules, white on one
side and black on the other
– oriented by electrical field
– substrate could be an array of
plastic transistors
• Potentially high contrast, low
energy, flexible
• Interactive: writable with
magnetic pen
 Interactive Map
• Foldable and rollable

You are
here!
Smart Clothing
• Conductive textiles and inks
– print electrically active patterns
directly onto fabrics
• Sensors based on fabric
– e.g., monitor pulse, blood press
ure, body temperature
• Invisible collar microphones
• Kidswear
– game console on the sleeve?
– integrated GPS-driven locators?
– integrated small cameras (to ke
ep the parents calm)?
 Smart Glasses
• By 2009, computers will disappear. Visual
information will be written directly onto our
retinas by devices in
our eyeglasses and
contact lenses
-- Raymond Kurzweil
 4th Enabler: Sensors/Actuators
• Miniaturized cameras, microphones,...
• Fingerprint sensor
• Radio sensors
• RFID
• Infrared
• Location sensors
– e.g., GPS
• ...
 Example: Radio Sensors
• No external power supply
– energy from the
actuation process
– piezoelectric and
pyroelectric materials
transform changes in
pressure or temperature
into energy
• RF signal is transmitted via an antenna (20 m distance)
• Applications: temperature surveillance, remote control
(e.g., wireless light switch),...
 RFIDs (“Smart Labels”)
• Identify objects from distance
– small IC with RF-transponder
• Wireless energy supply
– ~1m
– magnetic field (induction)
• ROM or EEPROM (writeable)
– ~100 Byte
• Cost ~$0.1 ... $1
– consumable and disposable
• Flexible tags
– laminated with paper
Lego
Making Lego
Smart:
Robot command
Explorer (Hitachi
H8 CPU, 32KB
RAM, IR)
Lego Mindstorms
 Putting Them Altogether
• Progress in
– computing speed
 Enables new
applications
– communication bandwidth
–
 “Post-PC era”
material sciences
business
– sensor techniques opportunities
– computer science concepts  Challenges for
– miniaturization computer scientists,
– energy and battery e.g., infrastructure
– display technologies
– ...
 Example Projects
• ETH Zurich The Smart Its Project

• HP Cooltown project

• AT&T Sentient System

• Berkeley’s Wireless Sensor Network

• Intel Mote/RFID Project

 Idea: Making Objects Smart
The Smart Its Project
• Vision: make everyday objects
as smart, interconnected
information artifacts
– by attaching “Smart-Its”
• Smart labels
– Atmel microcontroller:
(ETH Zurich)
4 MIPS, 128 kB flash
 Magnifying Glass
• An object as a web link
– e.g., by displaying a dynamically generated h
omepage
– Contents may depend
on circumstances, e.g.,
context and privileges
– possibly mediated by
different name resolvers
– HP Cooltown project
 Smart Environment, Dumb
Object
• A context-sensitive cookbook with RFID

RFID
 Can be Context-Aware
• Properties of the ingredients
– Check whether there is enough of an ingredient
– Prefer ingredients with earlier best-before date
• Properties of the kitchen
– Check whether required tools and spices are
available
• Preferences and abilities of the cook
– Prefers Asian dishes
– Expert in vegetarian dishes
 AT&T Sentient System
Timeline-based context storage

Location tracking

Position monitoring
 Berkeley’s Wireless Sensor
Network
• MICA Motes, sensors, and TinyOS:
 Berkeley’s Wireless Sensor
Network (Cont.)
• Sensor nodes
– Computing – MCU (micro-controller unit )
– Sensing
• Heat, light, sound, magnetism, etc.
– Wireless communication
• Sensor networks
– Consist of several thousands of sensor
nodes
– To retrieve information about an area of
interest
Berkley MICA-2
Intel Next Generation Mote
 Our Focus
• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
– Wireless PANs
• 802.15.4 ZigBee
• …
– Sensor nodes
• MCU Architecture
• Sensor Modules
• TinyOS
• Programming
• …
• WSN Applications
– Surveillance
• Localization and Tracking
• Habitant Monitoring
• Intrusion Detection
• …
Textbook
Q&A