Grant: Engage Grants Program

Internet of Things (IoT) and Ambient Intelligence (AmI) are two new paradigms that aim to provide ordinary objects used in our daily lives with communication and computing capabilities so that smart objects can be monitored, sensed, alerted and controlled. Ottawa-based KIWI Choice Inc., a company specializing in the design and manufacture of electronic and solar products to help reduce energy waste, wishes to design and develop an object monitoring device that implements IoT and AmI concepts. The new product will be a wireless tag/transceiver that can be attached to any object (e.g., key chain, wallet and mobile phone). The wireless tag/transceiver will communicate with a detector that detects the presence of the object. If the object cannot be located the detector will send a search signal to the wireless tag/transceiver to alert the user to the object's location. There are existing low-power wireless communication technology candidates that can be used for this particular application, namely: radio frequency identification; ZigBee?; ultra-wideband bandwidth; Bluetooth?; and generic wireless transceivers. KIWI Choice wants to explore these technologies using simulation and experimental work to help the company decide which candidate is most suitable for this particular application. Low-power wireless technologies vary in their characteristics, including: transmission power; communication range; need for a power source; maximum number of tags/transceivers per reader/detector; and the relative cost. We will investigate these wireless technologies and analyze their performance relative to all design and implementation factors. We will then select the most suitable candidate and determine the design details for this application. This project will benefit Canada as the success of the project will lead to a new and innovative product that can be produced and commercialized for national and international markets. The project will also help to train highly qualified personnel in modern and advanced wireless technologies. Furthermore, the project will facilitate the subsequent design, development and commercialization of a series of products for the new IoT and AmI paradigms.