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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

HT12D DECODER for Engineering projects

HT12D DECODER  for Engineering projects

The 212 decoders are a series of CMOS LSIs for remote control system applications. They are paired with Holtek 212 series of encoders (refer to the encoder/decoder cross reference table). For proper operation, a pair of encoder/decoder with the same number of addresses and data format should be chosen.
The decoders receive serial addresses and data from a programmed 212 series of encoders that are transmitted by a carrier using an RF or an IR transmission medium. They compare the serial input data three times continuously with their local addresses. If no error or unmatched codes are found, the input data codes are decoded and then transferred to the output pins. 
The VT pin also goes high to indicate a valid transmission. The 212 series of decoders are capable of decoding information that consists of N bits of address and 12_N bits of data. Of this series, the HT12D is arranged to provide 8 address bits and 4 data bits. Operation The 212 series of decoders provides various combinations of addresses and data pins in different packages so as to pair with the 212 series of encoders. The decoders receive data that are transmitted by an encoder and interpret the first N bits of code period as addresses and the last 12_N bits as data, where N is the address code number.

The oscillator is disabled in the standby state and activated when a logic high signal applies to the DIN pin. That is to say, the DIN should be kept low if there is no signal input. The received data and address is checked thrice before setting the VT high.

Monday, September 5, 2011

HT12E Encoder for Engineering projects

HT12E Encoder for Engineering projects
  Most of the Engineering projects need the HT12E encoder for remote controlled systems applications.
They are capable of encoding information which consists of N address bits and 12_N data bits. Each address/ data input can be set to one of the two logic states. The programmed addresses/data are transmitted together with the header bits via an RF or an infrared transmission medium upon receipt of a trigger signal. The capability to select a TE trigger on the HT12E or a DATA trigger on the HT12A further enhances the application flexibility of the 212 series of encoders.
Operation The 212 series of encoders begin a 4-word transmission cycle upon receipt of a transmission enable (TE for the HT12E or D8~D11 for the HT12A, active low). This cycle will repeat itself as long as the transmission enable (TE or D8~D11) is held low. Once the transmission enable returns high the encoder output completes its final cycle and then stops as shown in the timing diagram shown above. 
The status of each address/data pin can be individually pre-set to logic _high_ or _low_. If a transmission- enable signal is applied, the encoder scans and transmits the status of the 12 bits of address/ data serially in the order A0 to AD11 for the HT12E encoder and A0 to D11 for the HT12A encoder. During information transmission these bits are transmitted with a preceding synchronization bit. If the trigger signal is not applied, the chip enters the standby mode and consumes a reduced current of less than 1_A for a supply voltage of 5V. Usual applications preset the address pins with individual security codes using DIP switches or PCB wiring, while the data is selected by push buttons or electronic switches. For the HT12E encoders, transmission is enabled by applying a low signal to the TE pin. 
The address pins of the encoder are joined with controller’s port 0. The data pins of the encoder are linked with controllers port P2.0 to P2.3.Once the data and address are set by the controller, the transmission enable pin of the encoder connected with the pin P2.4 of the controller is set to LOW. Thus enabling the transmission, the data is sent to the RF transmitter module , transmitting the signal continuously till the transmission enable pin to set to HIGH.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

History and Scope of RFID

History and Scope of RFID

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication through the use of radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking.
HISTORY:
In 1945 Leon Theremin invented an espionage tool for the Soviet Union which retransmitted incident radio waves with audio information. Sound waves vibrated a diaphragm which slightly altered the shape of the resonator, which modulated the reflected radio frequency. Even though this device was a covert listening device, not an identification tag, it is considered to be a predecessor of RFID technology, because it was likewise passive, being energized and activated by waves from an outside source.
Similar technology, such as the IFFtransponder developed in the United Kingdom, was routinely used by the allies in World War II to identify aircraft as friend or foe. Transponders are still used by most powered aircraft to this day. Another early work exploring RFID is the landmark 1948 paper by Harry Stockman, titled "Communication by Means of Reflected Power" . Stockman predicted that "... considerable research and development work has to be done before the remaining basic problems in reflected-power communication are solved, and before the field of useful applications is explored."
Mario Cardullo's device in 1973 was the first true ancestor of modern RFID, as it was a passive radio transponder with memory. The initial device was passive, powered by the interrogating signal, and was demonstrated in 1971 to the New York Port Authority and other potential users and consisted of a transponder with 16 bit memory for use as a toll device. The basic Cardullo patent covers the use of RF, sound and light as transmission media. The original business plan presented to investors in 1969 showed uses in transportation (automotive vehicle identification, automatic toll system, electronic license plate, electronic manifest, vehicle routing, vehicle performance monitoring), banking (electronic check book, electronic credit card), security (personnel identification, automatic gates, surveillance) and medical (identification, patient history).
An early demonstration of reflected power (modulated backscatter) RFID tags, both passive and semi-passive, was performed by Steven Depp, Alfred Koelle, and Robert Freyman at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1973.The portable system operated at 915 MHz and used 12-bit tags. This technique is used by the majority of today's UHFID and microwave RFID tags.
The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton in 1983.
The largest deployment of active RFID is the US Department of Defense use of Savi active tags on every one of its more than a million shipping containers that travel outside of the continental United States. The largest passive RFID deployment is the enterprise-wide deployment performed by Wal*Mart which instrumented over 2800 retail stores with over 25,000 reader systems, however the exact number is considered 'corporate confidential'.

2.1.1 DEVELOPMENT:
RFIDs are easy to conceal or incorporate in other items. For example, in 2009 researchers at Bristol University successfully glued RFID micro-transponders to live ants in order to study their behaviour. This trend towards increasingly miniaturized RFIDs is likely to continue as technology advances.
Hitachi holds the record for the smallest RFID chip, at 0.05mm x 0.05mm. This is 1/64th the size of the previous record holder, the mu-chip. Manufacture is enabled by using the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. These dust-sized chips can store 38-digit numbers using 128-bit Read Only Memory (ROM). A major challenge is the attachment of the antennas, thus limiting read range to only millimetres.
Potential alternatives to the radio frequencies (0.125–0.1342, 0.140–0.1485, 13.56, and 840–960 MHz) used are seen in optical RFID (or OPID) at 333 THz (900 nm), 380 THz (788 nm), 750 THz (400 nm). The awkward antennas of RFID can be replaced with photovoltaic components and IR-LEDs on the ICs.

 SCOPE OF RFID:
RFID has many applications; for example, it is used in enterprise supply chain management to improve the efficiency of inventory tracking and management. The Healthcare industry has used RFID to create tremendous productivity increases by eliminating "parasitic" roles that don't add value to an organization such as counting, looking for things, or auditing items. Many financial institutions use RFID to track key assets and automate Sarbanes Oxley SOX compliance. Also with recent advances in social media RFID is being used to tie the physical world with the virtual world. RFID in Social Media first came to light in 2010 with facebook's annual conference.
Barcode systems though used for product information, inventory control, etc have some drawbacks as compared to RFID. The amount of information stored in a barcode is very less as compared to RFID. RFID can store up to 1000 bytes of data. An RFID is specific to each item, whereas the barcode is not. Barcode needs human interaction for proper operation. It requires time-of-sight access to an optical scanner for the product related information. The barcode is to be replaced if the information it contains needs modification, but in RFID it can be modified at stages of the supply chain by the interaction between the microchip and the reader software. The barcode system is less accurate as compared to RFID.
 Working of  RFID click here

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Global Positioning System - Working

Global Positioning System - Working
GPS system says the location of any object on earth. We hear about GPS mobile phones, but what is a GPS? and How it is functioning? I would like to share the basics and working of a GPS here.
GPS Working (Picture from: Google images)
INTRODUCTION
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS provides specially coded satellite signals that can be processed in a GPS receiver, enabling the receiver to compute position, velocity and time. GPS essentially consists of three segments namely Space segment, Control Segment and User Segment.
SPACE SEGMENT
The Space Segment of the system consists of the GPS satellites. These Space Vehicles (SVs) send radio signals from space. The nominal GPS Operational Constellation consists of 24 satellites that orbit the earth in 12 hours. There are often more than 24 operational satellites as new ones are launched to replace older satellites. The satellite orbits repeat almost the same ground track (as the earth turns beneath them) once each day. The orbit altitude is such that the satellites repeat the same track and configuration over any point approximately each 24 hours (4 minutes earlier each day). There are six orbital planes (with nominally four SVs in each), equally spaced (60 degrees apart), and inclined at about fifty-five degrees with respect to the equatorial plane. This constellation provides the user with between five and eight SVs visible from any point on the earth.
CONTROL SEGMENT
The Control Segment consists of a system of tracking stations located around the world. The Master Control facility is located at Schriever Air Force Base (formerly Falcon AFB) in Colorado. These monitor stations measure signals from the SVs which are incorporated into orbital models for each satellites. The models compute precise orbital data (ephemeris) and SV clock corrections for each satellite. The Master Control station uploads ephemeris and clock data to the SVs. The SVs then send subsets of the orbital ephemeris data to GPS receivers over radio signals.
USER SEGMENT
The GPS User Segment consists of the GPS receivers and the user community. GPS receivers convert SV signals into position, velocity, and time estimates. Four satellites are required to compute the four dimensions of X, Y, Z (position) and Time. GPS receivers are used for navigation, positioning, time dissemination, and other research. Navigation in three dimensions is the primary function of GPS. Navigation receivers are made for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles, and for hand carrying by individuals
WORKING
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to calculate the user's exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user's position and display it [2].
A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a 2D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine the user's 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude). Once the user's position has been determined, the GPS unit can calculate other information, such as speed, bearing, track, trip distance, distance to destination, sunrise and sunset time and more.
SIGNALS
The SVs transmit two microwave carrier signals. The L1 frequency (1575.42 MHz) carries the navigation message and the SPS code signals. The L2 frequency (1227.60 MHz) is used to measure the ionospheric delay by PPS equipped receivers. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains.
A GPS signal contains three different bits of information — a pseudorandom code, ephemeris data and almanac data. The pseudorandom code is simply an I.D. code that identifies which satellite is transmitting information. Ephemeris data tells the GPS receiver where each GPS satellite should be at any time throughout the day. Each satellite transmits ephemeris data showing the orbital information for that satellite and for every other satellite in the system. Almanac data, which is constantly transmitted by each satellite, contains important information about the status of the satellite (healthy or unhealthy), current date and time. This part of the signal is essential for determining a position.