Communications of the ACM
N-Zero Envisions 'asleep-Yet-Aware' Electronics That Could Revolutionize Remote Wireless Sensors
The Near Zero Power RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO) program aims to develop wireless, event-driven sensing capabilities that would allow physical, electromagnetic, and other sensors to remain dormant until an event of interest awakens them.
Credit: DARPA
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Near Zero Power and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO) program will develop wireless, event-driven sensing capabilities to enable physical, electromagnetic, and other sensors to stay dormant until an interesting event awakens them, thus solving the problems of power limitation associated with conventional persistent sensing systems.
The program will develop underlying technology to continuously and passively monitor the environment and activate an electronic circuit upon the detection of a specific signature. N-ZERO aims to utilize the energy in signal signatures to detect and recognize attention-worthy events while rejecting noise and interference.
"Our goal is to use the right signal itself to wake up the sensor, which would improve sensors' effectiveness and warfighters' situational awareness by drastically reducing false alarms," says DARPA's Troy Olsson.
The researchers want to develop a system that uses less than 10 nanowatts during the sensor's asleep-yet-aware phase, which is at least 1,000 times lower than state-of-the-art sensors. N-ZERO wants to extend unattended sensor lifetime from weeks to years, cutting the cost of maintenance and the need for redeployments.
"By advancing state-of-the-art sensing capabilities for national security through N-ZERO, DARPA could help make the Internet of Things more efficient and effective across countless scenarios and environments, thus transforming the way people live," Olsson says.
From U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
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