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Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

 EECE 285 - Group Project
Spring 2005 - Section 201 - Group 21

Short Range Wireless Communications Systems
in Public Places: Opportunities and Implications

O. Kirby * N. Matni * N. Rilloma * R. Sandhu * N. Soofi * N. Silvanovich

Supervisor: Prof. Dave Michelson
EECE 361 EECE 285 students will work with UBC's Radio Science Lab, the Neil Squire Foundation, and ICORD at Vancouver Hospital to determine how best to use and deploy short range wireless systems in the 10,000 square metre, $46 million spinal cord research facility that ICORD will build in two years.  Issues include: technologies, applications, coverage and reliability, coexistence and security, and software and accessibility.


PROJECT RATIONALE
For many years, researchers have predicted a trend towards an increasing number of embedded computers connecting to surrounding devices and the Internet through wireless links.  Proponents of  pervasive (or ubiquitous) computing believe that it will revolutionize building automation, sustainability, personal security, and access to information.  For many years, the concept of pervasive computing was an abstract one; the technologies required to implement it were either too primitive or simply didn't exist.  In the past few years,  however, many of the enabling technologies have caught up.  For example, the development of standards for short-range wireless communications by IEEE 802 and other industry groups will play an important role in making it possible to realize pervasive computing environments. 

As ICORD prepares to build a 10,000 square metre, $46 million facility for spinal cord research at Vancouver Hospital, they believe that the time is right to conduct a pilot project concerning the use of wireless technologies in a major research building.  The pilot project differs from earlier studies in that: (1) it considers the potential role of all the major short-range wireless standards that have been proposed or ratified, (2) it accounts for deployment issues such as coverage, reliability, and coexistence, and (3) it considers the role of pervasive computing in assisting the disabled.  Given the scale of the project, the amount of money being spent, and the novelty of the issues, ICORD prefers not to treat this as a routine deployment of information technology.  Instead, they want to carefully consider the long-term implications of deploying technology in certain manners in order to avoid making bad decisions that they will regret later on. 

REPORT OUTLINE AND TASKS

This web document will be updated frequently throughout the course of the project.



 
1. Introduction
 Keywords: intelligent buildings, pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing, assistive technology, accessibility, IEEE 802           
Context and opportunity
Previous work and its limitations
Objectives and Approach


2. Survey of Wireless Technologies
 Keywords: RFID, PAN, WLAN, UWB, WUSB, IEEE 802, ZigBee, Bluetooth
RFID
Personal Area Networks
 		Bluetooth - IEEE 802.15.1
Wireless USB - IEEE 802.15.3
ZigBee - IEEE 802.15.4
Wireless Local Area Networks
 		IEEE 802.11
Other


3.  Potential Applications of Short-Range Wireless in Public Places
 		Keywords: intelligent buildings, pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing, assistive technology, accessibility, IEEE 802, M2M   
Network Access
Device Interconnect
Remote Control
Accessibility
SCADA




4. Coverage and Reliability
 Keywords: path loss, shadowing




5.  Coexistence and Security
 Keywords: interference, throughput




6. Conclusions and Recommendations






http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~prop/eece285/index.html
Last modified: 16 Jan 2005

Comments?  Suggestions?
Please contact Dave Michelson, davem@ece.ubc.ca