Electronics:Electronic Toll Collection

Abstract

Electronic Toll Collection is a generally mature technology that allows for electronic payment of highway tolls. It takes advantage of vehicle-to-roadside communication technologies to perform an electronic monetary transaction between a vehicle passing through a toll station and the toll agency. This project is implemented using the innovative technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication via electromagnetic waves to exchange data between a terminal and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking.
An RFID system consists of a reader and transponders. Transponders (derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder") are attached to the items to be identified. They are often called "tags". Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) involves contact less reading and writing of data into an RFID tag's non-volatile memory through an RF signal. The reader emits an RF signal and data is exchanged when the tag comes in proximity to the reader signal. The RFID tag derives its power from the RF reader signal and does not require a battery or external power source.
Each vehicle will be provided with an RFID tag. This transponder (tag) stores the unique ID of the vehicle and related information. When interrogated by a reader, it responds with that data over a radio frequency link. The readers are fixed in the toll gates. So when the vehicle comes near the reader, the data from the tags can be easily read by the readers. This data is passed to the computer and thus the cash can be deducted from the user’s account

Introduction

RFID is a wireless link to uniquely identify tags. These systems communicate via radio signals that carry data either unidirectional or bidirectional. The tag is energized by a time-varying electromagnetic radio frequency (RF) wave that is transmitted by the reader. This RF signal is called carrier signal. When tag is energized the information stored in the tag is transmitted back to the reader. This is often called backscattering. By detecting the backscattering signal, the information stored in the tag can be fully identified. RFID systems are comprised of two main components RF reader and RF Tag
The RFID tag, or transponder, is located on the object to be identified and is the data carrier in the RFID system. Typical transponders (transmitters/responders) consist of a microchip that stores data and a coupling element, such as a coiled antenna, used to communicate via radio frequency communication. Transponders may be either active or passive.
Active transponders have an on-tag power supply (such as a battery) and actively send an RF signal for communication while passive transponders obtain all of their power from the interrogation signal of the transceiver and either reflect or load modulate the transceiver’s signal for communication. Most transponders, both passive and active, communicate only when they are interrogated by a transceiver.
Active RFID and Passive RFID are fundamentally different technologies. While both use radio frequency energy to communicate between a tag and a reader, the method of powering the tags is different. Active RFID uses an internal power source (battery) within the tag to continuously power the tag and its RF communication circuitry, whereas Passive RFID relies on RF energy transferred from the reader to the tag to power the tag. While this distinction may seem minor on the surface, its impact on the functionality of the system is significant


Passive RFID either 1) reflects energy from reader or 2) absorbs and temporarily stores a very small amount of energy from the reader’s signal to generate its own quick response. In either case passive RFID operation requires very strong signals from the reader and the signal strength required from the tag is constrained to very low levels by the limited energya. On the other hand active RFID allows very low level signals to be received by the tag, and the tag can generate high level signals back to the reader, driven from its internal power source. Active RFID tag is continuously powered, whether in the reader field or not.

The selection of active or passive tag affect factors like range of communication, data storage capacity ,sensor ability etc. If the tag is active the reader can spot more tags within seconds than the passive tag, but as the cost is compared the passive tags are cheaper than the active tags. The life of the passive tags are more than the active tag because , active tag requires tag power supply within the chip.
The different frequencies that the tag can work are;
Low frequency (LF) - These tags work at a frequency of around 125 kHz and have a reading range of less than 50 cm. The reading speed is relatively low and the tags are relatively insensitive to interference. This band enjoys relative freedom from regulatory limitations because it has not been reserved as an ISM frequency range, although in this frequency interval other systems operate typically for aeronautical and marine navigational services. Tags in this frequency range have been using now in applications such as access control and animal tracking.
High frequency (HF) - Operate worldwide at 13.56 MHz and can be read at distances of around one meter, but tags use more energy than low frequency tags. Existing uses include tracking books in libraries and baggage at airports. At around 13.56MHz, electromagnetic fields can propagate through water and tissue but cannot penetrate metals. Antennas are made simply of turns of coils of small radius.
Ultra-High frequency (UHF)- These tags work at a range between 433 and 2000 MHz and can be read from further away and at higher speed than HF tags. This makes this frequency the most appropriate for supply chain applications, such as tracking pallets and case

RF READER

The interrogator consists of a reader and data processing subsystem. The RFID reader, or transceiver, which may be able to both read data from and write data to a transponder. The data processing subsystem which utilizes the data obtained from the transceiver in some useful manner.
Typical transceivers (transmitter/receivers), or RFID readers, consist of a radio frequency module, a control unit, and a coupling element to interrogate electronic tags via radio frequency communication. In addition, many transceivers are fitted with an interface that enables them to communicate their received data to a data processing subsystem, e.g., a database running on a personal computer. The use of radio frequencies for communication with transponders allows RFID readers to read passive RFID tags at small to medium distances and active RFID tags at small to large distances even when the tags are located in a hostile environment and are obscured from view. The figure shows handheld and stationary reader modules.
The basic components of an RFID system combine in essentially the same manner for all applications and variations of RFID systems. All objects to be identified are physically tagged with transponders. The type of tag used and the data stored on the tag varies from application to application.
The RF field generated by a tag reader (the energy transmitter) has three purposes:
1. Induce enough power into the tag coil to energize the tag:
2. Provide a synchronized clock source to the tag:
3. Act as a carrier for return data from the tag:

TAG COUPLING AND COMMUNICATION

Passive RFID tags obtain their operating power from the electromagnetic field of the reader’s communication signal. The limited resources of a passive tag require it to both harvest its energy and communicate with a reader within a narrow frequency band as permitted by regulatory agencies. Passive tags typically obtain their power from the communication signal either through inductive coupling or far field energy harvesting.
Inductive coupling uses the magnetic field generated by the communication signal to induce a current in its coupling element (usually a coiled antenna and a capacitor). The current induced in the coupling element charges the on-tag capacitor that provides the operating voltage, and power, for the tag. In this way, inductively coupled systems behave much like loosely coupled transformers. Consequently, inductive coupling works only in the near-field of the communication signal. For a given tag, the operating voltage obtained at a distance d from the reader is directly proportional to the flux density at that distance.
There is a fundamental limitation on the power detected a distance d away from a reader antenna. In a loss less medium, the power transmitted by the reader decreases as a function of the inverse square of the distance from the reader antenna in the far field. A reader communicates with and powers a passive tag using the same signal. The fact that the same signal is used to transmit power and communicate data creates some challenging trade-offs

Conclusion and Future Scope

The electronic toll Collection systems are a combination of completely automated toll collection systems and semi-automatic lanes. Various traffic and payment data are collected and stored by the system as vehicles pass through. The different technologies involved are logically integrated with each other but remain flexible for upgrades. They also include sophisticated video and image capturing equipment for full-time violation enforcement. So this basic arrangement developed by us will applicable for the future developments in road transport by proper modifications. RFID systems have a secure place in the automatic identification sector. The system can made free from the challenges and will be cost effective in near future.

References

1. www.rfidjournal.com
2. www.microchip.com
3. www.rfida.com
4. www.alldatasheet.com
5. Design with PIC microcontrollers, Pearson Education Pte. Ltd, Second Edition -John.B.Peatman
6. Op-Amps and Linear Integrated Circuits, Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd -Ramakanth.A.Gayakwad
7. http://www.seminarsonly.com/electronics/electronic-toll-collection-seminar-report-ppt-pdf.php

Electronics :Microbivores

Abstract

Nanomedicine offers the prospect of powerful new tools for the treatment of human diseases and the improvement of human biological systems using molecular nanotechnology. This paper presents a theoretical nanorobot scaling study for artificial mechanical phagocytes of microscopic size, called "microbivores" whose primary function is to destroy microbiological pathogens found in the human bloodstream using a digest and discharge protocol.
The microbivore is an oblate spheroidal nanomedical device measuring 3.4 microns in diameter along its major axis and 2.0 microns in diameter along its minor axis, consisting of 610 billion precisely arranged structural atoms in a gross geometric volume of 12.1 micron.
It is an ideal nanotechnology-based drug delivery system which is—self-powered, computer-controlled medical nanorobot system capable of digitally precise transport, timing, and targeted delivery of pharmaceutical agents to specific cellular and intracellular destinations within the human body. Microbivores will have many applications in nanomedicine such as initiation of apoptosis in cancer cells and direct control of cell signaling process
What would an ideal drug delivery vehicle look like? To start with, it would be targetable not just to specific tissues or organs, but to individual cellular addresses within a tissue or organ. Alternatively, it would be targetable to all individual cells within a given tissue or organ that possessed a particular characteristic (e.g., all cancer cells, or all bacterial cells of a definite species, etc.).
This ideal vehicle would be biocompatible and virtually 100% reliable, with all drug molecules being delivered only to the desired target cells and none being delivered elsewhere so that unwanted side effects are eliminated. The ideal vehicle would remain under the continuous control of the supervising physician, including post-administration. Even after the vehicles had been injected into the body, the doctor would still be able to activate or inactivate them remotely, or alter their mode of action or operational parameters. Once treatment was completed, all of the vehicles could be removed intact from the body, leaving no trace of their presence

Introduction-MICROBIVORE

A nanorobotic device that could safely provide quick and complete eradication of bloodborne pathogens using relatively low doses of devices would be a welcome addition to the physician’s therapeutic armamentarium. Such a machine is the microbivore, an artificial mechanical phagocyte.
The microbivore is an oblate spheroidal nanomedical device consisting of 610 billion precisely arranged structural atoms plus another ~150 billion mostly gas or water molecules when fully loaded. The nanorobot measures 3.4 microns in diameter along its major axis and 2.0 microns in diameter along its minor axis, thus ensuring ready passage through even the narrowest of human capillaries which are ~4 microns in diameter. Its gross geometric volume of 12.1056 micron includes two normally empty internal materials processing chambers totaling 4 micron in displaced volume.
The nanodevice consumes 100-200 pW of continuous power while in operation and can completely digest trapped microbes at a maximum throughput of 2 micron per 30-second cycle, large enough to internalize a single microbe from virtually any major bacteremic species in a single gulp. As in previous designs, to help ensure high reliability the microbivore has tenfold redundancy in all major components, excluding only the largest passive structural elements. The microbivore has a dry mass of 12.2 picograms.
The microbivore, an artificial white cell, floats along in the bloodstream prior to encountering a pathogen. This image, the binding site arrays appear as multicolored circular dapples on the blue sapphire-colored surface

SEPTICEMIA & BACTEREMIA

Septicemia, also known as blood poisoning, is the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in the blood. If allowed to progress, these microorganisms can multiply and cause an overwhelming infection. Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the human bloodstream. Although bacterial nutrients are plentiful in blood, the healthy human bloodstream is generally considered a sterile environment. Major antimicrobial defenses include the circulating neutrophils and monocytes (white cells) capable of phagocytosis (engulfing and digesting other cells) and the supporting components of humoral immunity including complement and immunoglobulin’s

Bacteria can enter the blood via injury to the skin, the lining of the mouth or gems, or from gingivitis and other minor infections in the skin and mouth or gums, or from gingivitis and other minor infections in the skin and elsewhere. Bacteria can also enter the blood during surgical, dental, or other medical procedures. Such bacteria are normally removed by circulating leukocytes (along with fixed retculoendothelial phagocytes in the spleen, liver, and lungs), but a few species for disease control estimates that~25,000 U.S. patients die each year from bacterial sepsis. Current therapies often involve multiple antibiotics administered simultaneously in multi-gram quantities per day. These treatments can sometimes take weeks or even months to bring under control certain hardy infectious microorganisms

HOW IT WORKS???

The principal activity which drives microbivore scaling and design is the process of digestion of organic substances, which also has some similarity to the digestion of food. The microbivore digestive system has four fundamental components:
1) An array of reversible binding sites to initially bind and
2) Trap target microbes an array of telescoping grapples to manipulate the microbe, once trapped
3) A morcellation chamber in which the microbe is minced into small, easily digested pieces and 4) a digestion chamber where the small pieces are chemically digested

Working of Microbivores

Here’s how the nanorobot works. During each cycle of operation, the target bacterium is bound to the surface of microbivore like a fly on flypaper, via species-specific reversible binding sites. Telescoping robotic grapples emerge from silos in the device surface; establish secure anchorage to the microbe’s plasma membrane, then transport the pathogen to the ingestion port at the front of the device where the pathogen cell is internalized into 2 micron morcellation chamber. After sufficient mechanical mincing, the morcellated remains of the cell are pistoned into a 2 micron digestion chamber where a preprogrammed sequence of 40 engineered enzymes are successively injected and extracted six times, progressively engineered enzymes are successively injected and extracted six times, progressively reducing the morcellate ultimately to monoresidue amino acids, mononucleotides, glycerol, free fatty acids and simple sugars .
These simple molecules are then harmlessly discharged back into the bloodstream through an exhaust port at the rear of the device, completing the 30-second digestion cycle. This “digest and discharge” protocol is conceptually similar to the internalization and digestion process practiced by natural phagocytes, except that the artificial process should be much faster and cleaner. For example, it is well-known that macrophages release biologically active compounds during bacteriophagy, whereas well-designed microbivores need only release biologically inactive effluent.

SENSORS OF MICROBIVORE

The microbivore needs a variety of external and internal sensors to complete its tasks. External sensors include chemical sensors for glucose, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and so forth, up to 10 different molecular species with 100 sensors per molecular species. Each 10 nm × 45 nm × 45 nm chemical concentration sensor with 450 nm2 face area is assumed to discriminate concentration differentials of ~10% and displace ~105 nm3 of internal nanorobot volume .Taking chemical sensor energy cost as ~10 zJ/count with ~104 counts/reading then 10 readings/sec by each of 1000 microbivore sensors gives a maximum sensor power requirement of ~1 pW by a chemical sensor facility that displaces a total of ~0.1 micron3 of device volume and 0.45 micron2 of device surface area.
Acoustic communication sensors mounted within the nanorobot hull permit the microbivore to receive external instructions from the attending physician during the course of in vivo activities. Assuming (21 nm)3 pressure transducers , then 1000 of these transducers displace ~0.01 micron3 of device volume and 0.44 micron2 of device surface area, producing a small net power input to the device of ~10-4 pW when driven by continuous 0.1-atm pulses .
An internal temperature sensor capable of detecting 0.3°C temperature change may have a volume of (~46 nm)3 ~ 10-4 micron3; positioning ten such sensors near each of the 10 independent power plants for redundancy implies a total internal temperature sensor volume of ~0.01 micron3. An additional 0.03 micron3 of unspecified internal sensors are included in the microbivore design, bringing the total for all sensors to 0.15 micron3

Conclusion and Future Scope

Microbivores could also be useful for treating infections of the meninges or the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and respiratory diseases involving the presence of bacteria in the lungs or sputum, and could also digest bacterial biofilms. These handy nanorobots could quickly rid the blood of nonbacterial pathogens such as viruses (viremia), fungus cells (fungemia), or parasites (parasitemia). Outside the body, microbivore derivatives could help clean up biohazards, toxic biochemicals or other environmental organic materials spills, as in bioremediation.

References:

http://www.seminarsonly.com/electronics/microbivores-seminar-report-ppt-pdf.php

Phonet

Abstract

Voice based web access is a rapidly developing technology. PhoNET is a solution for these and many other problems faced by the netizens. The basic idea is that using an ordinary phone to browse the web and the primary motivations are: to provide a widely available means for creating new interactive voice applications; addressing needs for mobility; and addressing issues inaccessibility.

Basis of the idea are the age old IVR systems used to serve information for the dialers through a pre programmed process. Phonet is a very long journey from the IVRs; it involves the most complex technologies of the century Like Speech Recognition (SR), Text to speech (TTS) conversion and artificial intelligence (AI). This enables a user to be connected to internet as long as he has access to a phone. PhoNET uses the traditional HTML content so the web site need not be rewritten or redesigned.
We present a detailed analysis in the most possible simplest way of how the technologies like SR, TTS and AI are integrated to develop a intelligent Platform (PhoNET) to achieve voice based web access which involves Document processing and Document Rendering. In Document Processing we describe two approaches, telephone browsing and transcoding, focusing mostly on the former since that work is more mature. In Document Rendering we present the major problem i.e., the relevance of cognitive thought to text rendering along with its most suitable solution. In the end we examine the challenges and further developments involved in practical application of the proposed technology-The PhoNET

Introduction

Today’s telecom business has seen recent growth, especially in bandwidth infrastructure for long distance (LD) and data. The industry is currently experiencing strong growth in the wireless segment as mobile devices prove to be very popular with both consumers and business. An evolving market segment is “Internet anywhere,” and many companies are trying approaches to present viable products for this market.
One approach is Internet access over wireless devices such as cell phones with a screen. However, this method has inherent limitations such as small screen size, lack of a keyboard, the need for a special device (web-enabled phone), the need to rewrite and maintain a special website, and severe bandwidth constraints using wireless data transfer protocols.
Another approach that is becoming popular is voice-based limited Internet access, which overcomes all of the limitations of the wireless data devices but one; they still limit access to the few sites that are re-engineered for voice. They typically deliver content such as news, weather, horoscopes, and stock quotes, etc. over the phone. These companies are called “Voice Portals.” Voice portals were the first web applications that tried to integrate websites with voice which gave birth to the enterprise based PBX systems.
Our solution, which presents a third option, gives users all of the benefits of the voice portals, yet has complete access to the entire Internet without limitation. With our Voice Internet technology PhoNET, anyone can surf, search, send and receive email, and conduct e-commerce transactions, etc. using their voice from anywhere using any phone, with the more freedom of movement than a standard Internet browser which requires a PC and an Internet connection.
PhoNET technology is faster and cheaper than existing alternatives. Today, only the largest of companies are making their Web sites telephone-accessible because existing technology requires a manual, costly and time-consuming re-write of each page. With the voice internet technology-PhoNET, existing Web pages are used, allowing users to leverage their Web investment. The software dynamically converts existing pages into audio format, significantly lowering the up-front investment a business must make to allow users to hear and interact with their Web site by phone.

Motivation

The primary method of access today continues to be the computer, which has certain advantages as well as some limitations. Computers offer a visual Internet experience that is usually rich in content. Some basic computer skills and knowledge are needed to access the Internet. But, computer-based access is proving insufficient for the professional on the move. When in the car or away from the office or computer, accessing the Web is difficult, if not impossible. And, an increasing number of people prefer an interface that allows them to hear and speak rather than see and click or type.
Some existing Internet users have also identified problems with the visual Internet experience. Pages are increasingly full of graphics, advertisement banners, etc., which move, flash, and blink as they vie for attention. Some find this “information overload” annoying, and lament the delays it creates by severely taxing the available bandwidth.

The "Digital Divide"

While computers and their use are on the rise, they’re not ubiquitous yet. A large segment of the population still doesn’t have access in the United and other parts of the world. Thus, Internet is limited to only a small fraction of the world population; the majority is left out from the Internet. This gap between those who can effectively use new information from the Internet, and those who cannot is known as the digital divide. Bridging this digital divide is the key to ensure that most people in the world have the capability to access the Internet. Making computers ubiquitous is not a very attractive and feasible solution, at least in the near future, because of various barriers. One key barrier is cost, although the price of a computer has come down significantly in recent years. Internet as well, thus bridging the Digital Divide.

The "Language Divide"

Today more than eighty percent of website contents are written in English language. Internet because of language barrier is called "The Language Divide".
As the need for alternative access to the Internet becomes more evident, several technology companies are pursuing solutions. Their products include “smart” cell phones with visual displays, intelligence built into the handset, and voice-activated Web sites. These products address different aspects of the problems outlined above

Technology Overview

The idea of listening to the Internet may at first sound a bit like watching the radio. How does a visual medium rich in icons, text, and images translate itself into an audible format that is meaningful and pleasing to the ear? The answer lies in an innovative integration of three distinct technologies that render visual content into short, precise, easily navigable, and meaningful text that can be converted to audio.
The technologies and steps employed to accomplish this feat are:
Document Processing
1. Speech recognition
2. Text-to-speech translation, and Document Rendering
3. Artificial Intelligence
The PhoNET platform acts as an “Intelligent Agent” (IA) located between the user and the Internet (Figure 1). The IA automates the process of rendering information from the Internet to the user in a meaningful, precise, easily navigable and pleasant to listen to audio format. Rendering is achieved by using Page Highlights (a method to find and speak the key contents on a page), finding right as well as only relevant contents on a linked page, assembling right contents from a linked page, and providing easy navigation.
These key steps are done using the information available in the visual web page itself and proper algorithms that use information such as text contents, color, font size, links, paragraph, and amount of text. Artificial Intelligence techniques are used in this automated rendering process. This is similar to how the human brain renders from a visual page; selecting the information of interest . The IA includes a language translation engine that dynamically translates web contents from one language into another in real time.
The platform incorporates the highest quality speech recognition and text to speech engines from third party suppliers.

Document Processing

Document analysis is performed in the HTML parser, grammar generator, and Hyper Voice processor modules. The typical HTML Web page is first parsed into a list of elements based mostly on the HTML tags structure. Some elements are aggregations (tables, for instance) but the element list is not a full parse tree, which we found was not needed and in some cases actually complicates processing. Images, tables, forms and most text structure elements like paragraphs are recognized and processed according to their recognized type. Much of the effort in building a robust HTML processor is dealing with malformed HTML expressions such as unclosed tag scope, overlapping tag scopes, etc. Unfortunately space does not allow for fully addressing this issue here. The location of each image is announced along with any associated caption.
This feature can be disabled on a site-by-site basis when the user does not want to hear about images. Tables are first classified according to purpose, either layout or content. Most tables are actually used for page layout which can be recognized by the variety and types of data contained in the table cells. Data tables are processed by a parser according to one of a set of table model formats that Phone Browser recognizes. This provides primarily a simple way of reading the table contents row by row, which is often not very satisfying. Alternatively a transcoder can be used to reconstruct the table in sentential format. While large vocabulary dictation speech systems are available, most require speaker training to achieve sufficiently high accuracy for most applications.
Phone Browser is intended to be immediately usable without training so dictation is not yet supported. This also implies that creating arbitrary text for messaging is also not yet supported. One additional type of form input is an extension to HTML. A GSL (Grammar Specification Language) or JSGF (Java Speech Grammar Format) specification can be inserted into an HTML anchor using an attribute tag (currently LSPSGSL). Using this method an application can specify an elaborate input grammar allowing many possible sentences to address the associated hyperlink and construct a GET type form response where the QUERY_STRING element is constructed by inserting the speech recognition text results. Grammar specifications written this way may represent many thousands of possible sentence inputs giving the end user great speaking flexibility.

Conclusion and Future Scope

We considered the possibility of accessing web through an ordinary phone. We presented a new technology which provides a true audio Internet experience. Using an ordinary telephone and simple voice commands, users will be able to surf and hear the entire Internet for the information they desire. A computer is not needed. Any web page will be accessible, but not limited to sites written with Wireless Application Protocol, and pages that are specially written in Voice Extensible Mark-up Language (VXML). We presented a detailed analysis of how the technologies like SR, TTS and AI are integrated to develop a intelligent Platform (PhoNET) to achieve voice based web access. We presented the major problems involved in Document processing and document rendering along with solution.

References:
http://www.seminarsonly.com/electronics/phonet-seminar-report-ppt-pdf.php