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CCNC 2005 Las Vegas, NV This is the second year for this Consumer Communication & Networking Conference (CCNC), which is held prior to CES. Its value, as last year also, is the excellent insight into the research efforts at the major CE companies. Sony dominates, but there is participation by Panasonic and Samsung. Yes, there are academic papers but these have value also in bringing a fresh perspective. This year there were four parallel tracks and we had to pick carefully. Our bias was on applications in the home, new technologies and what the major CE companies are doing.
Jan Rabaey, of the Berkeley Research Center, Department of EECS, UC Berkeley, gave the first keynote. This is one of the first presentations we have seen in the US to acknowledge the role of ambient intelligence. Professor Rabaey extended this notion with the role of sensor networks as the second side of ambient intelligence. One side is that of the Sensor and Actuator Networks and the second of Multimedia Networks. It was important when he stated that sensor networks alone have no meaning unless they do something and this is reflected in the actuator component of the networks. He cited the On World Emerging Wireless Research study which predicts a market of $7b by 2010. This convergence of the two networks, sensor and multimedia, best comes together in the home. Applications cited include: security, environment control, energy management, object tracking, advanced user interfaces and a sense of presence and space. On the sensor side he stated that today’s devices which occupy 10’s of cm cubed and 10 to 100’s of mw of power are not adequate. What is needed are devices which are only 10’s of mm cubed and take only 10’s of microwatts of power. To accomplish this, the Berkeley Wireless Research Center built a 100microWatt self contained sensor module. This achieved its power by energy scavenging, a very simple radio, ultra-low power processors with the same in standby power and architecture which maximize standby time. There is a down side to this – when electronics disappear they have a tendency to become unreliable. The typical response is to over-design the network and this is the wrong way to go. The right answer is to exploit the nature of ambient intelligence. One aspect of this is to gain reliability through redundancy. In a sensor network this implies a multihop network which uses opportunistic routing. Professor Rabaey concluded that the design of these systems needs to focus on a level of abstraction which is useful to the users – in other words, embody ambient intelligence. An example cited was “turn on the bedroom lights at dusk.” This implies a location service, a time synchronization service and a concept repository service.
Noriyuki Yamamoto, of the Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory, Sony, Japan presented research on the development of an algorithm focused on individual viewpoints for the selection of television content. Using a vector space approach he sought to do for television viewing what is being done online with Amazon, CoCoon, eBay and others. The focus of the research is on Content Based Filtering (CBF). The content representation is based on a metadata scheme which profiles a TV program. This includes fields that have channel, time, genre, title, review and cast. From this a vector space is constructed. Then techniques are used to match up vectors which are to form measures of similarity. The test results showed that an individually weighted vector provided the best matching scores. One shortfall is that the quality of the metadata is poor and this can be substantially improved.
The problem is simple. In the 1st generation of music systems we had a stack of CDs now in the 2nd generation of musical systems we have from 2,000 to 4,000 songs on a portable player. What is missing is a logical and user based search methodology. What Sony investigated was a classification scheme of the music based on the mood of the music. The questions to ask are: Which moods are useful for music selection, can these be automatically extracted from the music and would individuals agree on a selected musical piece? The research was based in part on, the mood model of Thayer. When the mood classification approach was used it was found that there was little agreement between the listeners on what music met what moods. In fact, there were large cultural differences. The net result of this is the music mood assessment is best done on an individual basis. Sony then implemented a automatic mood classification system to rate music by mood. It was found that there is a large variation between individuals on what constitutes a mood and that in spite of this an automatic classification of music mood was surprisingly good. They concluded that:
Teruaki Aoki, Senior Executive VP Sony, announced an all CMOS chip set with its solution for UWB in CE devices. This includes 3 CMOS devices, antenna and firmware. It is able to automatically set up a network configuration, perform registration and establish communications using Ad Hoc mesh networking. The chip set will support data rates from 58 – 466 Mb/s in the band 3.1 – 5GHz. They use Direct Sequence Spread Specturm to accomplish the WPAN. The keynote by Mr. Aoki provided one view into the role of CE in a broadband world. Yes, we have heard this before but there was an interesting perspective. That is, the era from 1994 to 2004 was one that the Internet was dominated by the PC. In the future, the Internet will be CE centric. In fact, the whole presentation was devoid of the PC. Sony certainly sees the future in its own context and marketplace. Xu Jin of the Sony Electronics Singapore of the Research Laboratory described a novel positioning scheme for pen like input devices. The new Sony technology was positioned directly next to Anoto. Triangulation techniques are used to locate the position of the pen. No special paper is required but some type of paper table holder is necessary. Although not stated directly it was implied in the simulation that the ranging technology is ultrasonic. Sony did state there is a blocking problem of the hand on the writing surface.
Mario Kolberg, University of Stiriling, in conjunction with Sysnet in Glasgow, Scotland presented a use of the Anoto pen and paper for the control of networked home devices and appliances. The key to the design was the home control pad (of paper). This allows for the setting and control of many devices in the home. Settings include numerical control and timing for on and off. Shown as partners in this effort were: Sysnet, Nokia, and Logitech. In side discussions Mario bemoaned the Anoto business model of charging for everything and creating a high barrier to entry for new applications. A developer is just discouraged from using the technology because the cost of entry to evaluate an application is too high. Mario described his research on how to use the Anoto pen and paper in a home control application. This research used:
This latter requirement meant that the Anoto space was global and required the use of a service provider. In response to a question it was stated that this has an advantage of enabling home control remotely, i.e., from a cell phone.
Dennis Buschmitch of the Digital Networking Laboratory, Princeton, NJ presented the Panasonic view of how home networks should be remotely controlled. The premise of this work is that:
Samsung outlined its approach to a wireless HD media center. This uses UPnP, MPEG-2 for HD and MPEG-4 for video transport to a handheld PC. It is important to note that the Wireless Home Media Center uses the Linux OS.
Xiaotao Wu of Columbia University presented a demo system for determining and handling location information with a SIP phone network. The system uses SIP and SIMPLE for location based services and they use LESS as a programming language for the service implementation. LESS has a graphical based interface for program development. Examples were shown on how easy this is to use. The example included call redirection and acceptance. Examples of services enabled by this platform include: tracking, making communications decisions, triggering actions, and to talk to a location. In the latter case an example was cited of how one could reach a conference room where a meeting is being held and a message can be sent to all that are in the conference.
Atri Mandai of UC Irvine presented an interesting paper on using audio from a PDA to determine precise location of an individual. The premise of the talk is that conventional retail establishments are not keeping up with the services being provided online. This includes: adjustment of the shopping environment based on the individual, contextual shopping and others. The intent of the research is to allow an individual in the store, who is carrying a PDA, to have the same type of shopping experience as with Amazon, for example. To accomplish precise in-store location, the PDA would put out a short sound pulse. This would be done via a small download program and nothing special would have to be done to the PDA. Using acoustic sensors at the same locations as the WiFi access points it would be possible to accurately determine the position of the shopper. The system requirement is that this location be done within an aisle. The results showed it was possible to get 2D location to 2 feet 97% of the time and 3D location within 3 feet in 95% of the time. It was estimated that a store of 10,000 sq ft could be implemented for $5,000. There were many questions following this presentation.
Leonardo Chiariglione, the father of the MPEG standards and the associated process, critically evaluated DRM. It was one of the most objective presentations on DRM we have seen. Even his historical assessment went back 500 years. His solution to the issues around DRM is his on-going Digital Media Project. By every indication this is one of the least passionate of the efforts on DRM but gaining advocates and support by many players with interests in DRM is not clear. Will DRM Save Digital Media? In response to this question Leonardo stated maybe. This was only a teaser as he went deeper into the issue of DRM. To explain the role of property rights he divides the business world into the creators, intermediaries and the end users. The creators, as a group are conservative, with a belief that their property is ethereal. In order to protect the value of their property they have sought assistance of the law to defend their assets. Leonardo cited one such an appeal which happened in 1515. Another characteristic of the content creators and their proxies is that they hate technology. However, end users enjoy content, will readily use technology to consume media and when they pool their interests together have a powerful position in the market. The result of all of this is to create an instable market. The ability of end users to exploit new technology and to consume content outpaces the ability of creators to adapt to the new technology. What is significant is that before the 20th century the ability of the system to create content far outpaced the ability of the users to consume it. In the 20th century this dramatically changed. The result, as Leonardo described it, was that the business went from being instable to unstable. One result is that to achieve balance, is to create less content or to seek a technology solution. With DRM the holders of the rights to the license of the content can manage the flow and use of the content in any way the like. Leonardo described the situation as one which no one cares about the end users of the content. However, the end users do not have to buy under these conditions because they perceive this as a losing situation. One of the reasons is that many of the “little liberties,” taken with content, such as fair use, have been halted by DRM. To address many of these issues Leonardo has formed the Digital Media Project. It began in December 2003. http://www.digital-media-project.org
One of the key issues surrounding DRM is the need for interoperable standards. The DMP seeks to accomplish this by how it defines the value chain, the components of asset protection and the protocols which are used.
It was only a matter of time before mesh networking standards began under the IEEE. Steven Conner of Intel is the technical editor of the 802.11s Task Group and he conducted the panel. The PAR was approved by the 802.11 WG in January 2004 and in July 2004 the first meeting of the TG was held. It is expected that calls for proposals will be issued in 2005 and that it will be at least 2007 before a standard is completed. The purpose of the group is to:
The panel discussion on the 802.11s standards efforts exposed many issues. Cisco feels this is the most important addition to the 802.11 suite of standards since Ethernet was made full duplex. Since the PAR was approved in January 2004 important momentum has been gained in the efforts to create a mesh networking standard, which will likely not be ratified until 2007 and products later. The panel came alive with the participation of Peter Ecclesine of Cisco. Peter has spent years on various 802.11 working groups. He is strongly opinioned and drove home is points during the rest of the panel. It is his assessment that 802.11s is one of the few major changes to 802.11 that will greatly impact its value. The last one was the change which allowed dull duplex operation. It is Peter’s position that 802.11s has to take into account the following:
The WAVE asked the question: Why will IP holders in mesh networking be willing to give up their rights for the sake of the standard? In 802.16e this flowed from a failed LMDS and MMDS market. The standards process was the only why in which the parties had a chance of making money. That condition does not exist in mesh networking. Peter Ecclestine drove the answer by stating that no one has a clue what will emerge as the standard. Yes, there will be IP issues but these surface all the time in the IEEE standards process. The response to the question remains unclear.
One’s initial impression was that 802.11s was another Intel driven agenda, like 802.16. But after watching the panel dynamics, and especially the impact of Peter’s experience in both the 802 process and his experience in wireless, against the Intel youth, we can only surmise that no one has a clue about what will emerge from 802.11s. Yes, this standard may well be very significant but this will take years to emerge.
Many of the important players were present: Microsoft, Staccato, Intel, Sony and Nokia. One slight problem – Freescale was not to be found. One advantage of this was that the panel could laud Multi-Band UWB and ignore the competition. The tone was set by Joyce Putscher of In-Stat with a glowing assessment of the market prospects for UWB. These included:
UWB device sales were conservatively estimated at 10m units by the end of 2007. A more aggressive scenario showed about 14m units. The opportunity market is the combined high speed USB and 1394 market. This is forecast at 900m units by 2008. Sony brought some reality to the discussion. Points made were:
The true potential of UWB comes when it is in portable devices but this is some years away. In the CE market it is essential that UWB be available worldwide. A CE company cannot ship products which will not work in a part of the world – such as no UWB in Europe, which is likely to move slowly on the adoption of the UWB spectrum use. The WAVE asked the question: If we reset the clock back 3 years, 802.11a was in the same position as UWB is seeking to be today. There were demonstrations on the floor, such as Magis Networks showing video transport over 802.11a. Yet, today there are virtually no 802.11a CE products, many companies are gone and wireless has not caught on for transport in CE. Why is UWB different? Especially given the lack of a standard and the many technical challenges? Intel did most of the response and they basically said it is different now with UWB. We do not have the fractioning between 802.11b and a. The market conditions are more favorable to UWB.
We are stuck with the lack of credibility in UWB advocacy. How can UWB be so complementary to 802.11 solutions when they are competing to do virtually the same thing? Yes, 480Mb/s is impressive but when the transport bandwidth requirement gets beyond one HD stream, where is the compelling value proposition that cannot be met by 802.11 technology in the 30 – 100Mb/s range? 802.11 chips are at commodity status and one can hardly get any UWB chips. How can it be possible for UWB to have such a significant short term impact, next 2 – 3 years, when the supply is so limited and costly? Are customers really willing to pay extra to replace cables with wireless when the cable replacement scenario does not include power and speaker wiring? The proposition is quite limited and it remains unclear that this technology will meet the Sony near zero cost criteria. Without an IEEE standard, will enough chip companies drive into the market chips sufficient to commoditize the chip business. The VC’s have already been badly burned by the 802.11 experience and it not clear that the same level of large fabless semiconductor investment will be tolerated. Technical details on performance, interference and operation of UWB systems in realistic environments are sorely lacking. For example, Intel stated that they have run some mutual interference tests but no details were provided. Increasingly UWB is looking like a solution, or at least a hoped solution, in search of a market. This does not align with the current hype. CCNC was the source of interesting pen information. First, Sony is doing research on the pen. Based on the presentation, it could be read that their pen implementation is to counter the strong Anoto IP base. The second was a presentation on a home pen application using the Anoto pen. Admittedly early in a potential development cycle, it did show how a pen could be used to control home appliances. The implementation assumed a Bluetooth-based pen that is linked to a cell phone and has the advantage of being able to control the home from any location that has cell phone connectivity. The other piece of information from this implementation was complaints on how difficult and expensive it is to deal with Anoto on a seed project. Convergence or lack thereof CCNC is from the research side of the CE industry. This includes both industrial and academic. On the business side we hear the talk of convergence as IT is integrated with CE devices. Yes, we saw a little of this at CCNC 2005. This generates a point to ponder:
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