DASH7
Encyclopedia
DASH7 is an open source wireless sensor network
Wireless sensor network
A wireless sensor network consists of spatially distributed autonomous sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion or pollutants and to cooperatively pass their data through the network to a main location. The more modern...

ing standard for wireless sensor networking, which operates in the 433 MHz unlicensed ISM band. DASH7 provides multi-year battery life
Battery life
Battery life can refer to*How long a mobile device can work on a single charge of a rechargeable battery.*Battery lifetime degrading of battery quality over time....

, range of up to 2 km, low latency for connecting with moving things, a very small open source protocol stack
Protocol stack
The protocol stack is an implementation of a computer networking protocol suite. The terms are often used interchangeably. Strictly speaking, the suite is the definition of the protocols, and the stack is the software implementation of them....

, AES 128-bit public key encryption support, and data transfer of up to 200 kbit/s. DASH7 is the name of the technology promoted by the non-profit consortium called the DASH7 Alliance
DASH7 Alliance
OverviewThe DASH7 Alliance is the body responsible for overseeing the development of the ISO 18000-7 standard for wireless sensor networking, as well as interoperability certification of DASH7 devices and the licensing of DASH7 trademarks...

.

International Standard

DASH7 follows the ISO/IEC 18000-7 open standard
Open standard
An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was designed . There is no single definition and interpretations vary with usage....

 for the license-free 433 MHz ISM band
ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....

 air interface for wireless communications. 433 MHz is available for use worldwide. The wireless networking technology was originally created for military use and has been re-purposed for mainly commercial applications in place of proprietary protocols like ZigBee
ZigBee
ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...

 or Z-Wave
Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a proprietary wireless communications protocol designed for home automation, specifically to remote control applications in residential and light commercial environments...

.

History

In January 2009, the U.S. Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 announced the largest RFID award in history, a $429 million contract for DASH7 devices, to four prime contractors: Savi Technology
Savi Technology
Savi Technology is a US-based company that provides real-time RFID solutions for managing and securing global supply chain assets. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, Savi has offices in Mountain View, CA, Lexington, KY, Singapore, London, UK, and Melbourne, Australia...

, Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Unisys
Unisys
Unisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...

 and Systems & Processes Engineering Corp. (SPEC).

In March 2009, the DASH7 Alliance
DASH7 Alliance
OverviewThe DASH7 Alliance is the body responsible for overseeing the development of the ISO 18000-7 standard for wireless sensor networking, as well as interoperability certification of DASH7 devices and the licensing of DASH7 trademarks...

, a non-profit industry consortium to promote interoperability among DASH7-compliant devices, was announced, and as of July 2010 has more than fifty participants in twenty-three countries. Similar to what the WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

 Alliance does for IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...

, the the DASH7 Alliance is doing for the ISO 18000-7 standard for wireless sensor networking.

Technical summary

Note that "Range" is highly dependent on many factors including the transmitter's output power, such that higher power transmitters will be able to communicate at further distances at the immediate cost of increased power consumption. In addition, "Range" is also effected by the communication data-rate, such that higher data-rates (e.g. 200-250Kbps) will yield a lower communication distance than 10Kbps. Lower data-rates are more immune to channel-noise, thus effectively increasing signal-to-noise ratio and receiver sensitivity, as a result.
The "Average Power Draw" also depends heavily on the communication duty cycle, i.e how often the radio and micro-controller wake-up to send a packet. In addition to duty cycle, the average power draw is almost entirely dependent on the silicon-chip manufacturer's implementation, and has nothing to do with the choice of frequency (i.e. 433MHz or 2.4 GHz). For example, CC2530 consumes 29mA at +1dBm transmit power, JN5148 consumes 15mA at +3dBm, and ATmega128RFA1 14.5mA at 3.5dBm. Sleep currents of the micro-controller with RAM retention is also equally important. How often you consume energy is application dependent.

DASH7 contrasts with existing wireless data technologies like ZigBee
ZigBee
ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...

:
Technology Global standard used Frequencies used Globally available frequency(ies)? Rain Penetration Location Granularity Range Average power draw Average latency Device cost Multi-hop capabilities Sensor and Security support Interference from 802.11n Maximum bit rate
DASH7 ISO/IEC 18000-7 433.92 MHz Yes Higher 1 meter 1,000 m Lower with remote wake-ups 2 seconds worst case $10+ 2-Hops Yes No 200 kbit/s
ZigBee
ZigBee
ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...

IEEE 802.15.4 (partial) 2.4 GHz, 915 MHz, 868 MHz 2.4 GHz – yes; 915 MHz – no; 868 MHz – no Lower 10+ meters 30–500 m Higher with synchronous listening varies from seconds to potentially minutes $10+ Yes Yes Yes 250 kbit/s

433.92 MHz

DASH7 utilizes the 433.92 MHz frequency, which is globally available and license-free. 433.92 MHz is ideal for wireless sensor
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...

 networking applications since it penetrates concrete and water, but also has the ability to transmit/receive over very long ranges without requiring a large power draw on a battery. The low input current of typical tag configurations allows for battery powering on coin cell or thin film
Thin film
A thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a nanometer to several micrometers in thickness. Electronic semiconductor devices and optical coatings are the main applications benefiting from thin film construction....

 batteries for up to 10 years.

Note that 433.92 MHz is the same as 13.56 multiplied by the number 32, or 2^5th power, which effectively means DASH7 radios can utilize the same antennae used by 13.56 MHz radios including Near Field Communications, FeLiCa, MiFare, and other near-field RFID protocols.

Tag-to-Tag Communications

Unlike most active RFID technologies, DASH7 supports tag-to-tag communications which, combined with the long range and signal propagation benefits of 433 MHz, makes it an easy substitute for most wireless "mesh" sensor networking technologies. DASH7 also supports sensors, encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...

, IPv6
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 is a version of the Internet Protocol . It is designed to succeed the Internet Protocol version 4...

, and other features.

BLAST networking technology

Networks based on DASH7 differ from typical wire-line and wireless networks utilizing a "session". DASH7 networks serves applications in which low power usage is essential, and data transmission is typically much slower and/or sporadic, like basic telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...

. Thus instead of replicating a wire-line "session", DASH7 was designed with the concept of BLAST:

Bursty: Data transfer is abrupt and does not include content such as video, audio, or other isochronous
Isochronous
Isochronous : From Greek iso, equal + chronos, time. It literally means regularly, or at equal time intervals. In general English language, it refers to something that occurs at a regular interval, of the same duration; as opposed to synchronous which refers to more than one thing happening at the...

 forms of data.

Light: For most applications, packet sizes are limited to 256 bytes. Transmission of multiple, consecutive packets may occur but is generally avoided if possible.

ASynchronous: DASH7's main method of communication is by command-response, which by design requires no periodic network "hand-shaking" or synchronization
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....

 between devices.

Transitive: A DASH7 system of devices is inherently mobile or transitional. Unlike other wireless technologies DASH7 is upload-centric, not download-centric, thus devices do not need to be managed extensively by fixed infrastructure (i.e. base stations).

Range

DASH7 devices today advertise read ranges of 1 kilometer or more, however ranges of up to 10 km have been tested by Savi Technology
Savi Technology
Savi Technology is a US-based company that provides real-time RFID solutions for managing and securing global supply chain assets. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, Savi has offices in Mountain View, CA, Lexington, KY, Singapore, London, UK, and Melbourne, Australia...

 and are easily achievable in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 where governmental regulations are less constrained than in the USA.

Interoperability

DASH7 devices use a single global frequency, which simplifies deployment and maintenance decisions relative to specifications using multiple frequencies. A neutral, third party testing authority also conducts conformance and interoperability testing under the DASH7 Certified program.

Commercial Applications

Similar to other networking technologies that began with defense sector (e.g. DARPA funding the Internet), DASH7 is similarly suited to a wide range of applications in development or being deployed including:
  • Building Automation, Access Control, Smart Energy . DASH7's signal propagation characteristics allow it to penetrate walls, windows, doors, and other substances that serve as impediments to other technologies operating at 2.45 GHz, for example. For smart energy and building automation applications, DASH7 networks can be deployed with far less infrastructure than competing technologies and at far lower total cost of ownership.

  • Location-Based Services DASH7 is being used today for developing new location-based services using a range of DASH7-enabled devices including smartcards, keyfobs, tickets, watches and other conventional products that can take advantage of the unique small footprint, low power, long range, and low cost of DASH7 relative to less practical and high-power wireless technologies like WiFi or Bluetooth. Using DASH7, users can "check in" to venues in ways not practical with current check-in technologies like GPS, that are power-intensive and fail indoors and in urban environments. Location-based services like Foursquare, Novitaz, or Facebook can exploit this capability in DASH7 and award loyalty points, allow users to view the Facebook or Twitter addresses of those walking past, and more.

  • Mobile advertising
    Mobile advertising
    Mobile advertising is a form of advertising via mobile phones or other mobile devices. It is a subset of mobile marketing.- Overview :...

    DASH7 is being developed for "smart" billboards and kiosks, likewise "smart" posters that can be ready from many meters (or even kilometers) away, creating new opportunities for both tracking the effectiveness of advertising spend but also creating new e-commerce opportunities. DASH7's potential to automate check-ins and check-outs provides essential infrastructure to location-based advertising and promotions

  • Automotive DASH7 is increasingly seen as the next-generation tire pressure monitoring system
    Tire pressure monitoring system
    -General:A Tire Pressure Monitoring System is a system designed to monitor the air pressure inside the pneumatic tires on various types of vehicles...

     given its operation at the same frequency (433 MHz) as nearly all proprietary TPMS systems today. DASH7-based TPMS will provide end users with more accurate tire pressure readings, resulting in greater fuel economy, reduced tire wear and tear, and greater safety. DASH7 products are also being designed and used for other automotive applications like supply chain
    Supply chain
    A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...

     visibility.

  • Logistics
    Logistics
    Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

    DASH7 is being used today for tracking the whereabouts of shipping containers, pallets, roll cages, trucks, rail cars, maritime vessels, and other supply chain assets, providing businesses with unprecedented visibility into their everyday operations. Also: cold chain management (vaccines, fresh produce, cut flowers, etc.), whereby DASH7 is used for monitoring the in-transit temperature and other environmental factors that can impact the integrity of sensitive products.


Since NATO militaries continue to deploy DASH7 infrastructure, defense suppliers (see Classes of Supply
Classes of supply
The U.S. Armed Forces divides supplies into ten Classes of Supply. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation uses only the first five.-U.S...

) are expected to also deploy DASH7 infrastructure given NATO requirements for supply chain visibility beyond just physical boundaries of a given military and deep into the supply chains of an array of suppliers around the world. DASH7 is expected to be adopted similar to the way barcoding
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...

 was rapidly adopted by commercial companies, many of whom are also defense suppliers, following the LOGMARS barcoding mandate from the U.S. Department of Defense in 1981.

Defense Applications

DASH7 is being used extensively by the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other militaries. In January 2009, DoD awarded a $429 million contract for DASH7 devices, making it one of the largest wireless sensor networking deployments in the world, especially when combined with DoD's $500 million + installed base of non-DASH7 infrastructure which DoD is upgrading to DASH7.


Commenting on the U.S. Department of Defense's move to an RFID III multi-vendor contract earlier this year, Lt. Col. Pat Burden, the DoD's Product Manager Joint-Automatic Identification Technology, stated, "This is a significant milestone for DoD in that this migration will not only give DoD and other Federal agencies' customers best-value solutions at competitive prices, but it moves us to ISO 18000-7:2008 compliant products, thus broadening interoperability with DoD and our coalition partners."


NATO military forces are required to interoperate with DoD's DASH7 network and are required to deploy interoperable infrastructure. All NATO militaries are deploying or in the process of deploying DASH7 infrastructure.

OpenTag

DASH7 developers benefit from the open source firmware library called OpenTag, which provides developers with a "C"-based environment in which to develop DASH7 applications quickly. So in addition to DASH7 (ISO 18000-7) being an open source, ISO standard, OpenTag is an open source stack that is quite unique relative to other wireless sensor networking (e.g. ZigBee) and active RFID (e.g. proprietary) options elsewhere in the marketplace today.

OpenTag uses the Apache 2.0 open source license.

OpenTag is a very purpose-built OS that offers a low level radio driver, PHY & MAC control system, event and session manager (OS-like), network protocols (M2NP, M2DP, M2AdvP) routing, raw data, group synchronization transport protocols (M2QP) query / data acquisition, data transfer filesystem read, write, create, delete, etc. C API library functions (Programming apps in C on the same device), Serial API(s) Client-Server (Communicating the apps via another device).

OpenTag is available via Sourceforge at git://opentag.sourceforge.net/gitroot/opentag/OpenTag_M2

Semiconductor Industry Support

DASH7 developers receive support from the semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...

 industry including multiple options, with Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...

, ST Microelectronics, Melexis
Melexis
Melexis N.V. is a Belgian-based manufacturer of smart mixed-signal semiconductors integrated circuits, integrated sensors and systems .- Activities & Products :...

, Semtech
Semtech
Semtech Corporation is a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. The company sells proprietary solutions and breakthrough technology in power management, protection, advanced communications, human interface, test & measurement, as well as wireless and sensing products...

  and Analog Devices
Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. , known as ADI, is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts...

 all offering DASH7 hardware development kits or system-on-a-chip products.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...

 also joined the DASH7 Alliance in March 2009 and announced their CC430 system-on-a-chip
System-on-a-chip
A system on a chip or system on chip is an integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions—all on a single chip substrate...

 product for DASH7 in December 2009. Analog Devices
Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. , known as ADI, is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts...

 also announced their ADuCRF101 single chip solution for DASH7 in November 2010.

One semiconductor industry approach is the combination of DASH7 with MEMS
Microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...

 sensing products:


"We strongly believe that the next big wave in sensors will be driven by the combination of the sensing function with wireless transmission – and ISO 18000-7 is the right solution for security and asset monitoring applications," said Benedetto Vigna, group vice president and general manager of the MEMS and Healthcare Product Division at STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is an Italian-French electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for EMEA region are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V. is registered in Amsterdam,...

 in the company's announcement. "The Smart Web-Based Sensor HDK is a best-in-class development platform that will help the adoption of wireless sensors across the industry."


ST Microelectronics announced the beta version of its DASH7 SmartSensor developers kit in May 2009 in collaboration with Arira Design.

Another semiconductor industry approach focuses on automotive:


"There is a great potential for DASH7 technology in the automotive area," said Gilles Cerede, Product Line Manager for Wireless Automotive & Sensing at Melexis. "We see a perfect fit between DASH7 features and performance and the requirements of wireless safety applications. For example the ultra low power consumption matches the TPMS life time constraints, while the "multi-kilometer" communication range is perfectly suited for car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure applications. Last but not least, DASH7 is compatible from a frequency point of view with existing Remote Keyless Entry systems."


DASH7 is also seen as a complement to 13.56 MHz NFC (Near Field Communications), where both technologies can "co-exist" in the same silicon with only minor adjustments to the NFC silicon to accommodate DASH7.

Developer Test Tools and Certification Program

The DASH7 Alliance, through its partnership with the world renowned MET Laboratories, Inc.
MET Laboratories, Inc.
MET Laboratories, Inc is an independent electrical testing and certification lab, recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration...

 offers developers a complete set of test tools to allow for early testing of new DASH7 devices to ensure early in the development process that they will ultimately pass DASH7 Certified interoperability testing. Once products are completed, DASH7 Alliance members can access MET Laboratories test and certification facilities and, upon successfully completing certification testing, those members may use the "DASH7 Certified" logo on products that have successfully completed Alliance testing procedures conducted by MET.

Device Integrators

Many companies are members of the DASH7 Alliance
DASH7 Alliance
OverviewThe DASH7 Alliance is the body responsible for overseeing the development of the ISO 18000-7 standard for wireless sensor networking, as well as interoperability certification of DASH7 devices and the licensing of DASH7 trademarks...

 to produce DASH7-compliant hardware products, including:

The ISO/IEC 18000-7 Air Interface Standard

The original ISO 18000-7 standard was ratified in 2004 then modified in 2008. According to ISO:


ISO/IEC 18000-7:2009 defines the air interface for radio frequency identification (RFID) devices operating as an active RF tag in the 433 MHz band used in item management applications. It provides a common technical specification for RFID devices that can be used by ISO technical committees developing RFID application standards. ISO/IEC 18000-7:2009 is intended to allow for compatibility and to encourage inter-operability of products for the growing RFID market in the international marketplace. ISO/IEC 18000-7:2009 defines the forward and return link parameters for technical attributes including, but not limited to, operating frequency, operating channel accuracy, occupied channel bandwidth, maximum power, spurious emissions, modulation, duty cycle, data coding, bit rate, bit rate accuracy, bit transmission order, and, where appropriate, operating channels, frequency hop rate, hop sequence, spreading sequence, and chip rate. ISO/IEC 18000-7:2009 further defines the communications protocol used in the air interface.

See also

  • DASH7 Alliance
    DASH7 Alliance
    OverviewThe DASH7 Alliance is the body responsible for overseeing the development of the ISO 18000-7 standard for wireless sensor networking, as well as interoperability certification of DASH7 devices and the licensing of DASH7 trademarks...

  • OpenTag
  • Bluetooth
    Bluetooth
    Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

  • WiFi
    WIFI
    WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

  • Near Field Communication
    Near Field Communication
    Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...

  • RFID
  • ZigBee
    ZigBee
    ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks. Applications include wireless light switches, electrical meters with in-home-displays, and other consumer and industrial...

  • Z-wave
    Z-Wave
    Z-Wave is a proprietary wireless communications protocol designed for home automation, specifically to remote control applications in residential and light commercial environments...

  • Wavenis
    Wavenis
    Wavenis Wireless Technology is a 2-way Wireless connectivity platform dedicated to serving M2M applications. The main requirements in today's data-centric M2M industry are quite different from broadband and hi-speed Internet connections, and generally focus on providing ways to transmit small...

  • RuBee
    RuBee
    RuBee is a two way, active wireless protocol designed for harsh environment, high security asset visibility applications. RuBee utilizes Long Wave magnetic signals to send and receive short data packets in a local regional network...

    wireless technology

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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