Demo: Modular Wireless Technology Gateway Emad Felemban
Mohsin Murad
Muhammad A. Manzoor
Adil A. Sheikh
Dept of Comp Engg Umm Al Qura University Makkah, Saudi Arabia
[email protected]
Dept of Comp Engg Umm Al Qura University Makkah, Saudi Arabia
[email protected]
Dept of Comp Engg Umm Al Qura University Makkah, Saudi Arabia
[email protected]
Sci and Tech Unit Umm Al Qura University Makkah, Saudi Arabia
[email protected]
Abstract—With the increase number of wireless standards and the number of wireless enabled devices ranging from smart cell phones to notebooks, the new concept of Internet of Things where every tangible Thing will have an IP address and wireless connectivity is around the corner. In addition, there is a great interest of Cyber-Physical System interconnecting citys infrastructure together though wireless connections from bridges to water pipes to smart grid and intelligent transport systems. Not all of these devices will use the same wireless technology for communication and hence it will be very hard for them to exchange control and data messages. Moreover, different wireless technology standards are being used nowadays in many applications such as Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX etc. Each technology has a different stack of protocols, medium access control and encoding mechanisms dictating the way it works, operates and technical specifications. Each technology was proposed, developed and standardized to serve specific needs and applications. For example, Bluetooth standard was developed to interconnect small number of devices available within short distances from each other. WiFi was standardized to provide stations with wireless network connectivity through TCP/IP stack. Devices with same wireless technology can connect together to exchange control and data messages. With the increase number of wireless technologies available for users, one major difficulty is to interconnect different devices with different wireless technology together. For example, it is impossible for a notebook PC to connect to a Bluetooth device without having a Bluetooth dongle.
I. D EMONSTRATION
wireless technologies to allow devices with different wireless standards to communication with each other. Fig. 2 represent our approach. The modular approach is needed to allow on-line addition removal of different wireless technology modules. Fig. 1 shows a modular wireless gateway that has different wireless interfaces such as WiFi, Bluetooth, WiMAX, Zigbee and USB. Using the proposed modular device, a WiFi device can connect to a Bluetooth device and vice a verca. At the same time, a WiMAX device can control USB device. Bluetooth
USB
WiMax
ZigBee
Gateway
WiFi Other 2
Ethernet Other 1
Fig. 2.
Wireless Gateway and its Interfaces
For demonstration of this concept, we use off-the-shelf components to construct such a gateway. We install our custom software on the gateway to enable inter-module connectivity. We connect a low cost camera to the USB interface of the gateway and control it using devices connected to the gateway via its different interface modules. The interface modules that we demonstrate are USB, WiFi, WiMAX, ZigBee, Ethernet and Bluetooth. II. S YSTEM C OMPONENTS
Bluetooth
WiFi
USB
WiMax
Ethernet Gateway
Fig. 1.
Demonstration Setup
In this demonstration, we propose a modular wireless gateway device that acts as a translator between different This work is funded by grant number 10-ELE1238-10 from the LongTerm National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (LT-NPSTI), the King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We thank the Science and Technology Unit at Umm A-Qura University for their continued logistics support.
This section contains list of components of our modular wireless technology gateway. A. TPlink TL-WDR3600 Router The TL-WDR3600 [1] is a concurrent dual band wireless router which combines 300mpbs 2.4GHz band along with 300mbps using a 5GHz band. The router is powered by Qualcomm Atheros AR9344 clocked at 560 MHz with 128Mb ram. In addition to this it has 4 Gigabit LAN ports along with a Gigabit WAN port to support a high speed wired network. Its versatile design allows multipurpose USB 2.0 ports that can be used to attach numerous peripherals and can be extended via USB hub. The router is fully compatible with OpenWRT; a tiny Linux distribution optimized for home routers.
B. OpenWRT Operating System OpenWRT [2] is a compact open source Linux distribution that is mainly used in embedded devices for handling routing in a networked scenario. The kernel and all other components are optimized to be small enough to fit the usually lesser storage and memory of an ordinary router. OpenWRT offers a package manager just like other Linux distributions that can be used to install packages from a repository or upload self-built applications. The flexible design lets the programmer control routers functionalities as well as different peripherals attached via custom applications. A vast range of supported devices can be connected to an OpenWRT based router such as printers, broadband modems, webcams, soundcards etc. C. Telegesis ETRX2 Zigbee USB Stick The ETRX2 [3] Stick from Telegesis is a cost effective off the shelf ZigBee Solution with simple AT command set over USB. It is powered by Embers EM250 ZigBee module complying with IEEE 802.15.4 and allows rapid integration without requiring complex programming or extensive design manipulations. The device is powered via same USB bus and carries a range of up to 150m. D. Liblium WaspMote WaspMote [4] is Libeliums multipurpose wireless sensors network modules having over 80+ sensors available along with 8 different wireless technologies including GSM/GPRS, 3G, WIFI, Bluetooth, Zigbee etc. The vast variety of supported sensors and wireless technologies makes WaspMote an ideal choice for applications that require extensive sensing and transmission. WaspMote can easily be plugged to different platforms using its resourceful USB port and easy programming without the need to pay attention to minute details. E. Bluetooth Dongle An inexpensive off the shelf USB Bluetooth adapter has been used to allow connectivity with other devices having Bluetooth modules. A simple AT commands set allowed faster integration with our wireless gateway. F. Logitech C200 Webcam C200 [5] is an inexpensive web camera from Logitech supporting up to 1.3 Mega Pixel images at maximum 30 frames per second. It has adjustable focus and allows for easier integration with a USB 2.0 port. G. Serial to USB Interface Cable An FTDI [6] based Serial to USB adapter [7] cable is used to allow connectivity with devices supporting or having RS232 interfaces.
III. D ESIGN D ETAILS The Dual WiFi enabled TL-WDR3600 running OpenWRT is connected, via 4-port USB hub, to a Web camera, two WaspMotes (one for sensors data and other for 3G module), ETRX2 Zigbee Stick, Bluetooth, LAN and RS232 to USB adaptor. Once the system boot is complete, a central application executes whose multiple instances handle incoming and outgoing data from the attached peripherals. One function of the proposed wireless gateway is to allow devices, with different wireless/wired technologies, access to resources e.g. a webcam, connected to the gateway. The system allows wireless and wired transmission of sensor data from WaspMotes and video as well as still images from Webcam over Wifi, LAN/WAN, RS232, Bluetooth, ZigBee and 3G networks. The gateway receives an incoming request for a particular resource through particular protocol and responds instantly with transmission of the required data over that protocol. Images taken are first sent using a 3G module (WaspMotes 3G Module) to an online database with a static IP, where from any device with 3G connectivity can access them after authentication procedures. Images and sensor data are transmitted via LAN and RS232 to devices those requested for them using respective mediums to verify data transmission over wired networks. A software has been developed using C# that runs on a laptop having a Bluetooth dongle, a 3G module, Wi-Fi, RS232, LAN and/or ZigBee. Requests are sent using different interfaces (one at a time) and received images and sensor values are displayed to verify error free transmission. IV. R ESOURCES R EQUIRED Most resources will be brought for the demonstration. However the following will be required from the conference hosts. • Internet Connection • WiMAX SIM Card • Power Sockets R EFERENCES [1] N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router. [Online]. Available: http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/?model=TL-WDR3600 [2] OpenWRT Linux Distribution. [Online]. Available: https://www.openwrt.org/ [3] Telegesis ETRX2 USB Stick. [Online]. Available: http://www.telegesis.com/products/etrx2 usb.htm [4] Libelium WaspMote. [Online]. Available: http://www.libelium.com/products/waspmote/ [5] Logitech C200 Webcam. [Online]. Available: http://www.logitech.com/enus/support/5865?crid=405 [6] FTDI chip. [Online]. Available: http://www.ftdichip.com/ [7] Serial to USB adapter. [Online]. Available: http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Cables/USBRS232.htm
