
Jiwoong Park, an electrical engineering Ph.D. student and first author of the study, demonstrates communication from arm to arm using the magnetic field human body communication prototype developed in Mercier’s Energy-Efficient Microsystems Lab at UC San Diego.
A new technique could pave the way for ultra low power and high-security wireless communication systems
Electrical engineers at the University of California, San Diego demonstrated a new wireless communication technique that works by sending magnetic signals through the human body. The new technology could offer a lower power and more secure way to communicate information between wearable electronic devices, providing an improved alternative to existing wireless communication systems, researchers said. They presented their findings Aug. 26 at the 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in Milan, Italy.
While this work is still a proof-of-concept demonstration, researchers envision developing it into an ultra low power wireless system that can easily transmit information around the human body. An application of this technology would be a wireless sensor network for full-body health monitoring.
“In the future, people are going to be wearing more electronics, such as smart watches, fitness trackers and health monitors. All of these devices will need to communicate information with each other. Currently, these devices transmit information using Bluetooth radios, which use a lot of power to communicate. We’re trying to find new ways to communicate information around the human body that use much less power,” said Patrick Mercier, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego who led the study. Mercier also serves as the co-director of the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors.
Communicating magnetic signals through the human body
The new study presents a solution to some of the main barriers of other wireless communication systems: in order to reduce power consumption when transmitting and receiving information, wireless systems need to send signals that can easily travel from one side of the human body to another. Bluetooth technology uses electromagnetic radiation to transmit data, however these radio signals do not easily pass through the human body and therefore require a power boost to help overcome this signal obstruction, or “path loss.”
In this study, electrical engineers demonstrated a technique called magnetic field human body communication, which uses the body as a vehicle to deliver magnetic energy between electronic devices. An advantage of this system is that magnetic fields are able to pass freely through biological tissues, so signals are communicated with much lower path losses and potentially, much lower power consumption. In their experiments, researchers demonstrated that the magnetic communication link works well on the body, but they did not test the technique’s power consumption. Researchers showed that the path losses associated with magnetic field human body communication are upwards of 10 million times lower than those associated with Bluetooth radios.
“This technique, to our knowledge, achieves the lowest path losses out of any wireless human body communication system that’s been demonstrated so far. This technique will allow us to build much lower power wearable devices,” said Mercier.
Lower power consumption also leads to longer battery life. “A problem with wearable devices like smart watches is that they have short operating times because they are limited to using small batteries. With this magnetic field human body communication system, we hope to significantly reduce power consumption as well as how frequently users need to recharge their devices,” said Jiwoong Park, a Ph.D student in Mercier’s Energy-Efficient Microsystems Lab at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and first author of the study.
The researchers also pointed out that this technique does not pose any serious health risks. Since this technique is intended for applications in ultra low power communication systems, the transmitting power of the magnetic signals sent through the body is expected to be many times lower than that of MRI scanners and wireless implant devices.
Another potential advantage of magnetic field human body communication is that it could offer more security than Bluetooth networks. Because Bluetooth radio communicates data over the air, anyone standing within 30 feet can potentially eavesdrop on that communication link. On the other hand, magnetic field human body communication employs the human body as a communication medium, making the communication link less vulnerable to eavesdropping. With this technique, researchers demonstrated that magnetic communication is strong on the body but dramatically decreases off the body. To put this in the context of a personal full-body wireless communication network, information would neither be radiated off the body nor be transmitted from one person to another.
“Increased privacy is desirable when you’re using your wearable devices to transmit information about your health,” said Park.
Read more: Magnetic fields provide a new way to communicate wirelessly
The Latest on: Wireless communication
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Wireless communication” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Wireless communication
- 8BitDo's $20 USB Wireless Adapter 2 Let Me Play 'Tears of the Kingdom' with Xbox and PlayStation Controllerson June 7, 2023 at 8:03 am
Here's how easy it is. You plug the Wireless Adapter 2 into the USB-A port on your Switch dock. Go into the System Settings and turn on the "Pro Controller Wired Communication" setting. Press the pair ...
- Utility Communication Market Size Booming to Reach USD 31 Billion And Grow With the CAGR of 9.6% by 2029 | BlueWeave Consultingon June 7, 2023 at 8:00 am
Pacific region is projected to be the largest and fastest-growing market in the utility communication sector during the forecast period. The growth of the market in this region is attributed to the ...
- Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Knowon June 7, 2023 at 6:00 am
Verizon Communications (VZ) is one of the stocks most watched by ... During this period, the Zacks Wireless National industry, which Verizon falls in, has lost 8.9%. The key question now is: What ...
- What Amazon Wireless Would Mean for AT&T and Verizon Dividendson June 7, 2023 at 5:53 am
Just the thought of Amazon.com entering the wireless telecom business—as Bloomberg reported on June 2—was enough to send shares of Verizon Communications and AT&T tumbling. It also sent their dividend ...
- What’s New in Wireless - June 2023on June 5, 2023 at 5:00 pm
The wireless industry has revolutionized the way we connect, from facilitating teleworking, distance learning, and telemedicine to allowing the American public to interact virtually in almost all othe ...
- SMART Response XE Gets Wireless Bootloaderon June 3, 2023 at 4:59 pm
Featuring 2.4 Ghz wireless communication, a 384×160 LCD, and a full QWERTY keyboard, schools paid around $100 each for them 2010. Now selling for as little as $5 on eBay, these Arduino ...
- Wireless Tin Can Telephoneon June 3, 2023 at 4:59 pm
It also serves as a great way to learn about radio communications and working with digital audio signals. The NRF24L01+ is a great way to add wireless communication to a project, and if you’re ...
- 10 Best Communications Stocks Of 2023on June 1, 2023 at 10:55 am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Communication stocks are shares of companies that provide ...
- Adaptive Wireless Communicationson May 30, 2023 at 6:05 pm
Adopting a balanced mix of theory, algorithms and practical design issues, this comprehensive volume explores cutting-edge applications in adaptive wireless communications and the implications these ...
- Local startup aims to raise $20M to protect wireless communicationson May 30, 2023 at 3:15 am
Rampart Communications is looking to raise a $20 million Series A round. The company is building a new form of secure wireless communications that helps hide messages from cybercriminals and other ...
via Bing News