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SmartDust Sensorwebs 'Real Soon Now'
DeAshcroft writes "EE Times has a piece on progress with the four-year-old DARPA-conceived Smart Dust self-organizing sensor networks. Based on Berkeley's TinyOS and TinyDB open-source projects, the article reports several companies are demonstrating both military and civilian applications. Ars Technica adds background and commentary on issues not discussed in the EET article."
Anybody who's read Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky is already familiar with the concept of sensor-equipped smart dust that has lots of uses. That was a great book, by the way.
One possible solution to protect against smart dust would to create military buildings with a high internal atmospheric pressure
This is already common practice. In most office buildings, the HVAC system is employed to maintain a slight overpressure. This has the benefit of making it less likely for foreign substances, including airborne chemical and biological agents, to enter the building from the outside. That's just a side-effect, though. The designed-in purpose is much more mundane. It's to keep ordinary dust-- the dumb kind-- out, to keep the buildings clean.
I write in my journal
NOWHERE TO HIDE technology. There are a bunch of presentations archived in various and sundry places that talk about this sort of thing, as well as the other elements used.
Also in his new novella "Fast Times at Fairmont High" that won this years Hugo. Also a great story.
What, will I have to install an "EMP chamber" like an airlock in my home to walk through?
Nah, nudism is your friend. Then, all you need to install is a water-filled tunnel into your home (to wash off any dust).
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
While it is true that the network does not have "security" as encryption measures, it is secure in a variety of other ways. The attacker of the network would have to be able to find the correct frequency, and figure out the pattern of the message protocol (using AI probably). This alone is quite a task. Then, having to simulate a mote is difficult, because of various verification algorithms that would be employed: these kinds of "byzantine attacks" are discussed in almost every meeting that I have been to when discussing the messaging protocol. As an aside note, the main power consumer of these motes is not the CPU: the wireless networking consumes 60% of the power alone.