What is smart dust and as its distribution changes the world around us
The new generation of smartdust devices ("smart dust") will open an opportunity for wireless data collection in real time that will lead to change of ideas of the engineering systems, health care, interaction with the environment. As there were such devices and that so far constrains their development – in the material of the journalist Leonid Chernyak prepared especially for TAdviser.
In the early nineties of the XX century joint efforts of the American defense agency DARPA and Rand Corporation company created the first self-contained informing mote units (a mote, a particle) by the size about a matchbox. They consisted of the sensors removing these or those indicators of the environment, the computer, transmitter and feed arrangement (from network, batteries or solar cells).
These mote intended only for the military and prospecting purposes, but already 5-7 years later, as a result of the "touch revolution" which began then, similar devices of civil appointment appeared. Then the modern name of smartdust technology (smart dust) was born, and its separate component is still called mote. mote which left from under control of intelligence agencies thought for the various purposes, for example, for control of difficult engineering constructions, first of all the bridges degrading in use under the influence of external factors (rainfall, wind, temperature, vibration, the salt causing corrosion). Perhaps, due to the lack of such control there was a bridge failure in Genoa in August, 2018. Glaciers, the woods, volcanoes, the ocean and all the rest need permanent monitoring.
Began experimental copies of mote two-thousand looked approximately as shown in the drawing the device is lower. It is made at Berkeley university, an academic center of the new movement. Professor Kirs Pister famous for the works in the field of micro electromechanical devices and the founder of Dust Networks company became the leader of the direction. The enthusiasm of creators and Left-wing radical mood, traditional for Berkeley, generated a slogan: "Sensors of the whole world – integrate!" Analysts became interested in an innovation and Gartner, without deliberating, placed smartdust on starting position in the curve of hype in 2003 with perspective on implementation in 10 years
And to think was about what. The idea of smart dust is so obvious, so difficult in implementation. Not casually next time the smartdust technology appeared on a gartnerovsky curve only in 2013. But since 2015 it was located every year in the most starting point with more than ten-year perspective on achievement of technology of a maturity. The insufficient readiness of network and communication technologies remained a basic reason of repeated rollback on a former position.
Until recently very specific "dusty networks" remained are absolutely original. They were created in a lead over other types of networks, but not because of aspiration to originality at all. It was the compulsory measure as conforming to their requirements in the market was not.
As starting point for approach to mote network serves the fact that by determination the power of the transmitter of each single device it is insignificant is small. As a result for creation of network the wireless Multi-hop technology which cornerstone the chained principle is was selected, namely, each of nodes serves as a repeater for the others. The topology of full-mesh guarantees reliability and fault tolerance. In network data transmission is performed under own (proprietary) TSMP protocol (Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol) developed by Dust Networks company, and further via the gateway the network is connected to the Internet. For the company numbering fifty workers, this achievement.
In one and a half decades the mote sizes were reduced to several cubic millimeters, and cost - to $10 and below. But it is still not enough for mass distribution of smartdust as there is an issue of communication. The situation can essentially change with the advent of technologies of mobile communication Bluetooth of fifth generation 5.0 and 5G. In this case need for hotel network disappears, and each mote can be connected directly to the Internet.
The new generation of smartdust will open an opportunity for wireless data collection in real time that will lead to change of our ideas of the engineering systems, health care, interaction with the environment. Billions if not trillions of the devices capable to data transmission and to interaction on a feedback are able to transfer the most different available physical and chemical indicators of the environment on requests. Devices can receive a power supply from batteries, draw energy from the environment (vibrations, light). They can be bred in any most hard-to-reach spots. There are bases to believe that smartdust as the comprehensive phenomenon, will absorb Internet of Things (IoT), the character of the Fourth industrial revolution over time.
By analogy with WWW (World Wide Web) it is possible to tell that means of smartdust the world turns into uniform Real World Web. So far it is difficult to imagine life where knowledge is boundless where we will learn everything from the trivial message about need of replacement of a toothbrush before obtaining authentic data on all other engineering and natural objects.
However the effect of the Big brother described by James Orwell in the novel "1984" threatens the peace of full information disclosure. Usually remember this danger, speaking about social networks, Big Data and in many other cases of contact of people with different forms of tracking them. Therefore preserving of private space (privacy) will become one of the main tasks of future smartdust technologies.
After 2013 the wave of creation of the startups, still modest on the scales, preparing a field for the participation in smartdust rose. The most part from them did not rise to the system Dust Networks level, going some other way, and setting for itself the limited tasks allowing to justify investments made in them. For example Koto Air (Slovenia), QwikSense (Holland), Wynd Technologies and Birdi (both USA) offer systems for control of an atmosphere status in houses, educational institutions and hospitals. The American CivicSmart is management of the parking.
It is obvious that these companies do procurement on the future, solving private problems, they latently develop the sensors expected connection on communication channels of fifth generation. But there are also companies with more serious purposes, among them there are Cubeworks (USA), releasing the subminiature sensors and the Cubisens platform for collection of information and data storage.
The CubeWorks sensor consists of four components placed on one crystal:
- ARM Cortex M0 processor and memory of 4 Kb
- Charger
- Radio transmitter
- Sensor
Energy consumption in a ready mode makes 8 nW. By transfer it increases, but the charger giving 10 nW from 1 square millimeter in the conditions of room lighting, in combination with the battery provide beyond all bounds the long period of work.
Large vendors show attention to smartdust, first of all IBM too. The corporation traditionally developed a subject of pervasive computing, logically close to smartdust. However now it is probably developed towards smartdust.
The blue giant does everything not quickly. The popular wisdom says that IBM begins to master a market segment only if it more than one billion. Probably so far corporation waiting, but it is explicit on start.
The key moment for smartdust - the cheap and productive processor. It can be made on condition of mass production therefore as preparation for the future at the Think 2018 conference the corporation announced the smallest computer in the world. Its size - 1 sq. mm. Despite diminutiveness, on power it is comparable with Intel 8086. And in this square millimeter, in addition to the processor and memory, there is a photo cell feeding the device and the built-in pair the photo diode/photodetector providing optic communication with the outside world. Device cost at mass production is less than 10 cents.
Successors of this computer, but keeping in contact on a radio channel will be able to become basis for future smartdust devices. And until then the independent computer optically coupled can perform function of the tag certifying authenticity of goods. It is impossible to forge it, and it is possible to consider data by means of the smartphone. Mass production of such tags will become a backlog for smartdust in the near future.
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