Introduction to Wearable devices, wireless personal networks, wireless communications and mobile devices
1. Introduction
This project consists of a series of exercises all of them with a common pattern, wearable devices.
In order to answer these questions we have generally used different sources of information, from the Internet, online libraries, etc.
2 Wearables
Body computers (Wearable in English) are devices designed to be worn on top, being incorporated into clothing or accessories used habitually. Currently there are several types on the market of devices and each one is intended to develop specific functionalities. They represent a new way of receiving, obtaining and managing information.
Among the best-known devices we find: watches (SmartWatch), glasses, contact lenses, clothing or textiles (e-textiles, smart textiles, smart fabrics) and jewelry such as rings, bracelets or pendants. There are also other types of wearable devices that are more invasive for people, which are incorporated into the skin by implanting a microchip or small tattoos.
[1] - Wearable devices have been in fashion for some time and we hear about them. It is proposed to read the articles of the blog and look for characteristics about some current smartwatch device on the market. Place special emphasis on products related to the well-being and health of people (for example bioharness-3 ). After doing an intensive search in the current market of smartwatch products I have decided to analyze the following products:
- Smarwatch 3 from Sony is a quite competitive device that we can find on Amazon for 100 euros. The reason why I have chosen this smartWatch is its characteristics, despite the fact that different media mention that there are various problems regarding the user experience and design, it does not prevent its hardware characteristics from standing out in comparison with its competition without having an exorbitant price. That said, we find a device that uses an Android Wear system (Android Wear is the operating system for body devices (wearables) based on Android that Google presented to society on 18 March 2014. The system itself is intended to be used in smart watches, smart bands, and any other wearable device that may arise in the future as an operating system.) and, therefore, all the applications for this system oriented toward health such as:
- Cardiograph from Macropinch: Application that measures the rhythm of our pulses using devices with heart-rate sensors.
- Runtastic Sleep Better: With this application to manage your sleeping hours you will be able to optimize them. It records the quality of your sleep, monitors your dreams, improves your habits when going to sleep and waking up better every morning. You will be able to take notes on how your sleep routine evolves to know how you respond to the amount of rest that you devote each day.
- Time to quit smoke: Smoking is one of the habits that most affects your health. It is useless to have a flawless diet and be a habitual athlete. If you smoke that will harm you. This health app will help you progressively leave this bad habit.
- Gear 2: It is an application from Samsung that is used to control our diet and also plans training sessions.
- Following this philosophy the second device analyzed is Huawei [6] .This device differs from the previous one in the number of sensors that it has stored. In this case the device itself already incorporates heart sensors or G.P.S. The functionality of the sensors is very important because for example it can measure the heart rate in a training session, store a pulse history, detect possible anomalies or warn in case of emergency the nearest contact persons that we want. The GPS functionality is also very important for people with alzheimer's. Apart from applications such as GEAR 2 that use it to measure the performance of physical training sessions or applications such as Google Maps to indicate the route that we must use, another purpose may be to locate lost people. For example, if a relative with frequent memory losses wants to maintain some independence, with a Smartwatch he or she can go shopping or to the doctor without fear of getting lost. How would it work? When the user moves a certain distance away from a delimited area it simply warns the competent people or authorities of his or her current position so that they would go to look for him or her immediately.
- Look for information about pervasive computing and explain very briefly (5 lines) the idea behind this concept.Pervasive Computing (Ubiquitous Computing in Spanish) can be understood as the integration of computing with the person's environment, that is, an incorporation of microprocessors into the objects that people use habitually so that they can communicate information and interpret it. Among the technologies used are computers that can be worn (such as clothing, wearable), smart houses and buildings.
3. Wireless personal area networks (WPAN)
The IEEE 802.15 working group defines the standards relating to WPAN. Go to the web resource and indicate 3 active working groups. Additionally list the most used WPAN technologies and describe for three of them an example of application. (very briefly). Among the works that we find in IEEE 802.15 we find the following groups: - Working group 8: PHY and MAC mechanisms are defined for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). PAC is optimized for fully distributed peer-to-peer communication infrastructures.
- Working group 10: This group works on generating a recommended practice for routing packets in dynamic change 802.15.4 wireless networks.
- Working group 7: This group works to adapt ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths and visible light to the technologies that now exist on the market and adds options such as optical camera communications, LED-ID and LiFi.
The most used WPAN technologies are: - Bluetooth: connection between the mobile device and the automobile
- Zigbee: home automation, such as window control.
- Infrared: infrared as for example to carry out communications between devices.
Look for information about RFID systems based on ISM technology and others based on UHF technology. Indicate one difference between the two systems. (Maximum length: half a page)RFID (acronym for Radio Frequency IDentification) is a system of remote data storage and recovery that uses devices called labels, cards, transponders or RFID tags. The fundamental purpose of this technology is to transmit the identity of an object (similar to a unique serial number) by means of radio waves. RFID use the free-use ISM frequency bands ("Industrial, Scientific and Medical") for UHF, as happens with other technologies (WiFi, Bluetooth). However, there is a worldwide compatibility problem, since all countries can establish their own rules for the allocation of frequencies for RFID tags, that is, an RFID technology in Spain does not necessarily have to work in Australia. The international unification of the frequencies to be used or the development of "multiband" readers and tags will be necessary so that the technology can be used all over the world without compatibility problems. It is true that the UHF bands (which are designated for radio frequencies with a range between 300 MHz and 3 GHz) are much more standardized and therefore do not have as many problems as the rest included in the ISM frequencies. Their uses are, for example, television broadcasting, cellular telephones, satellite communication and very widespread personal radio services.
4. Wireless communications
Select a type of wireless communication for each type of application. Briefly explain your answers. Applications: - Turn the mobile phone into a graphics tablet.
Bluetooth. A graphic designer who uses the mobile phone as a graphics tablet has to be close to the screen while using it, that is, the distance will be minimal between the two objects ( < 1m). This fact favors the technology being more oriented to portability between devices rather than to the distance itself. Also cost and consumption allow us to choose it as the most useful system. - Payment system from the mobile phone to replace payment with a credit card in a physical store.
NFC. The connection will be made at less than 20 cm of distance and the technology that we use has to be compatible with the payment method as with the device that we use (currently new mobile phones come incorporated with this technology). - Application to indicate the position (latitude, longitude), in an area without 3G or 4G coverage.
Communication via satellite with the global positioning system (GPS). This system is a system that allows determining anywhere in the world the position of an object (a person, a vehicle) with a precision of up to centimeters (if differential GPS is used), although the usual thing is a few meters of precision - Text chat system. A WWAN technology that allows the connection of distant networks and users to our chat application. More exactly I do not think a first-generation system would fail since text really does not occupy a large volume of space.
- Videoconference system A WWAN technology that allows the connection of distant networks and users to our chat application. More exactly a third-generation system since in this way a greater number of devices could access the system with a quite adequate speed.
- Connect a SmartWatch with the mobile phone
Bluetooth. A graphic designer who uses the mobile phone as a graphics tablet has to be close to the screen while using it, that is, the distance will be minimal between the two objects ( < 1m). This fact favors the technology being more oriented to portability between devices rather than to the distance itself. Also cost and consumption allow us to choose it as the most useful system.
Read the following article about VLC (Visible Light Communications) link and briefly describe (maximum 5 lines) in what way geopositioning could be achieved in indoor spaces with this technology VLC (Visible light communication) is a data communication medium that uses visible light between 400 and 800 THz (from 780 to 375 nm). This set of technologies is becoming the best tool for indoor positioning. To perform this function a VLC technology needs to be implemented with an algorithm that interprets the images generated by the system and of course a reference lighting system (for example an LED (LED, light-emitting diode)) as a communication path. VLC can be used in buildings, subway systems and even in hospitals where radio frequency is prohibited. In comparison with conventional lighting devices, such as incandescent and fluorescent lamps, LED is more advantageous taking into account the long life expectancy, high tolerance to environmental risks and low operating voltage, low energy consumption and rated heat dissipation lighting.
5. Mobile devices
- One of the most important characteristics of a mobile device is the ROM. Briefly explain what its main function is and look for information about how to update the ROM on an Android device. Read-only memory, also known as ROM (acronym in English for read-only memory), is a means of storage used in computers and electronic devices, which allows only the reading of information and not its writing, regardless of the presence or absence of an energy source. The data stored in the ROM cannot be modified, or at least not quickly or easily. Of course the Rom is what will have our Android operating system stored and, therefore, we will not have to store or modify its contents. To update an Android system its ROM there are two different methods:
- By means of automatic updates that Google provides for the devices. It simply launches a message to users warning them of the existence of an operating system update to be installed and that when the mobile phone is restarted it will be carried out.
- Another option is simply to install a new one. For that we have to have the device in root mode, make a backup and install the new Rom.
With our downloaded ROM the installation is done through the recovery or directly from the ROM Manager. It is quite simple and you always have to tell it to do a complete wipe and to clean the Dalvik Cache.
- Indicate the main types of batteries that exist for mobile devices. On the other hand, there are commercial devices that incorporate battery charging systems in a wireless way. Indicate some device that offers this functionality and briefly describe its operation (Maximum length: half a page). A battery is a container of chemicals that transmits electrons and that has two poles, one positive and another negative. The batteries that are currently used for medical devices are:
- Lithium batteries: they are the most recent on the mobile telephone market and the only ones that are used currently.
- Ni-MH batteries: the unusual technology of Ni-MH allows the storage of much more energy. Typically, it manages to store around 30% more energy than a Ni-Cd of equal size. They have currently fallen into disuse.
- Ni-Cd batteries: these batteries are completely obsolete. These batteries lose duration time as they are charged.