NeTS: Small: Vibratory Communications and Applications

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Data communication has been studied over a wide range of modalities, including radio frequency (RF), acoustic and visible light. The possibility of communicating over the vibratory channel has been relatively unexplored. This project explores the fundamental limits and new algorithms associated with digital communication via vibrations in the context of vibration motors and accelerometers embedded inside all modern smartphones. The corresponding speed of data transfer may not match established communication modalities such as Near-Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth, but we propose that vibratory communication offers inherent advantages whenever security is vital: for instance, any two devices may be able to spontaneously exchange security keys by tapping each other; a user wearing a smart watch may enter her passwords into her laptop by merely bringing the watch in contact with her laptop; clandestine communications that should not leave a trackable trace could perhaps also be an application of vibratory communication. This project initiates a first-principles study of reliable and efficient communication via vibration and proposes to develop a concrete communication/networking stack on vibratory actuators and sensors. The system's capacity and viability will be tested across different platforms (smartphone, smartwatch, finger rings), with a focus on real-world use-cases and applications. The core research in this project is divided into 4 main threads: (1) modeling the vibratory transmitters and receivers and understanding the theoretical capacity of such systems; (2) designing a vibratory radio using a combination of new and existing techniques; (3) developing a Medium Access Control layer that controls channel access and fault recovery; (4) understanding the information leakage (and side channels) due to vibrations and developing techniques to mitigate them.