1. Use of Personal Wireless Communications Systems to Enhance Accessibility in Public Spaces Prepared by Owen Kirby, Nikolai Matni, Noriel Rilloma, Randy Sandhu, Navid Soofi and Natalie Silvanovich Supervisor: Prof. David G. Michelson 5 April 2005 THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering EECE 285 – Group Project

2. Introduction Intelligent buildings have been a topic of study and speculation for decades Interest in intelligent building technologies is increasing due to their potential to: Contribute to sustainability (reduction of energy and resource consumption through improvements in efficiency) Simplify building management and enhance security Create a pleasant environment for building occupants and visitors Enhance the productivity of building occupants Improve accessibility for the mobility disabled Recent developments in short-range wireless communications technology are bringing this vision ever closer to reality

3. Opportunities and Challenges How to incorporate short-range wireless communications technology and intelligent building concepts into the new ICORD building at Vancouver Hospital? Must account for: The overlap between the capabilities of the many short-range wireless standards that have been released (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, RFID) or are in development (Wi-Media, Wireless USB, IEEE 802.15.4a, etc.) The many and varied needs of building managers, occupants, and visitors The potential for developing innovative applications and usage models that were not envisioned by the original developers of these short-range wireless standards Practical issues associated with deploying these technologies, including range and reliability, coexistence, and security

4. Outline of Study Our study provides architects, developers and IT managers with the essential background information that they require to support the development of in-building wireless deployment strategies: Short-range wireless communications technologies The standards process and the capabilities of existing and developing standards Potential applications of short-range wireless communications technology in public places Previous work, current practice and future possibilities for wireless technologies Issues in the deployment of short-range wireless communications technology in public places, including range, reliability, coexistence and security

5. Presentation Organization 1. A survey of short-range wireless technologies 2. Potential applications of short-range wireless technologies in public spaces 3. Issues in the deployment of short-range wireless technologies

6. 1.1 Capabilities of Wireless Technologies Technologies RFIDWi-FiBluetooth ZigBeeWireless USB PassiveActive802.11a802.11b802.11g1.x2.0 Throughput< 1 kbps 54 Mbps 11 Mbps 54 Mbps 768 kbps 2.1 Mbps 250 kbps Max 480+ Mbps Frequency (GHz) 1.25 x 10 -4 to 5.8 5.82.4 3.1 to 10.5 Range (m) < 5< 100< 30< 90 < 10 Unlimited (mesh network) <10 Cost Very Low LowMediumLow HighLow- Intended Applications Inventory & Access Control Network Access & Wireless VoIP Cable Replacement Building Automation Very High Speed Peripheral Interconnect

7. 1.2 Modern Standards Process

8. 1.3 Capabilities Overlap of Wireless Standards

9. 1.4 Capabilities Overlap of Wireless Standards

10. 2.1 Early Thinking on Intelligent Buildings and Short Range Wireless After decades of speculation that buildings would some day interact with their occupants, the intelligent building concept was formally introduced in the 1980 ’ s Research of this era focused on the goals of ubiquitous computing and the barriers to their realization However, only with the creation of wireless standards could these goals be realized

11. 2.2 Current Practice Traditionally, intelligent buildings were intended to: Improve user/building efficiency Improve user comfort Reduce future maintenance costs Wireless has not played a significant role in intelligent buildings until recently Initial focus has been on peripheral interconnect and network access The main obstacles to wireless use - cost, limited battery lifetime, security and novelty - are being aggressively and effectively addressed

12. 2.3 Potential Applications of Wireless Technology in Intelligent Buildings Localization: tracks the location of an individual or asset M2M: allows machines to communicate so that they can perform tasks such as mobile asset tracking, inventory tracking and equipment diagnostics. Wireless increases mobility, reduces set-up time and lowers costs by eliminating cabling. Security: allows easily deployable “ smart ” systems to react more intelligently to situations Accessibility: improves mobility and independence through accessibility profiles and “ smart ” wheelchairs Energy Conservation: saves money by automatically heating and cooling a building only where required

13. 3.1 Range and Reliability Generally short range wireless technologies have an operating range of less than 100m Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) technologies (i.e. Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wireless USB) are even more limited Wireless reliability is dependant on several factors Propagation External interference Mutual interference Most short range wireless technologies have built-in measures to improve reliability

14. 3.2 Coexistence and Interference Devices operating in the same frequency range can degrade each other ’ s performance through interference Other devices, such as cordless phones and microwave ovens, can also interfere with short range wireless technologies The IEEE has created working groups to address this issue (IEEE 802.15.2 and 802.19)

15. 3.3 Security Wireless devices are inherently insecure and have more security issues than traditional wired technologies Security provided by the IEEE 802.11 standard is necessary, but are not sufficient to protect public wireless networks Authentication, authorization and encryption must be handled by higher levels of the network stack WPAN technologies are likely more secure, ongoing vigilance is required

16. Conclusions An in-building wireless deployment strategy must account for: The many and varied needs of building managers, occupants, and visitors The overlap among the capabilities of the many short range wireless standards that have been released or are in development Innovative applications and usage models that were not envisioned by the original developers of these short-range wireless standards Practical issues associated with range and reliability, coexistence, and security

17. Conclusions Wi-Fi is most suitable for providing network access and voice services Key limitation is high power consumption Bluetooth is most suitable for connecting peripherals and forming ad hoc (short term/short-range/peer-to-peer) networks Key limitation is low data rate ZigBee is most suitable for forming low-speed building automation networks Key limitations are the current lack of consumer electronic devices using ZigBee and competition from the installed base of Bluetooth devices Forthcoming UWB-based standards will consume little power while adding high throughput and positioning capability Key limitation is competition from installed base of short-range devices

18. Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge assistance from: UBC Radio Science Lab Neil Squire Foundation ICORD (International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries) Omicron Total Building Solutions