COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KIDANGOOR

Under Co-Operative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE)

Established by the Govt. of Kerala

SEMINAR REPORT
ON

PROJECT ARA: GOOGLE WANTS YOUR PHONE GO

TO PIECES

Submitted by

JAIMON THOMAS
REG.NO: 12131411

Under the guidance of

Mrs. LEKSHMI P CHANDRAN

(Assistant Professor, Dept. of Information Technology)

In partial fulfillment of the award of the Degree of

Bachelor of Technology in

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KIDANGOOR

OCTOBER 2015
 DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KIDANGOOR

OCTOBER 2015

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Seminar titled PROJECT ARA:GOOGLE WANTS

YOUR PHONE GO TO PIECES is the bonafide record of the work done by
JAIMON THOMAS (REG.NO: 12131411) of B.TECH in Seventh Semester
Computer Science and Engineering towards the partial fulfillment of the re-
quirement for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Com-
puter Science and Engineering by Cochin University of Science and Tech-
nology during the academic year 2015-2016

Seminar Guide Head of the Department

Mrs. Lekshmi P Chandran Mrs. Anitha R
Assistant Professor Assistant Professor & HOD
Information Technology Computer Science & Engg.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Gracious help from many resources have contributed much to the success of this
seminar work. I express my sincere thanks to Dr. Roobin V Varghese, Princi-
pal College of Engineering Kidangoor, for providing moral support for this seminar.

I am extremely grateful to Mrs. Anitha R, HOD of Computer Science &

Engineering, for providing an opportunity and facilities for my seminar presenta-
tion.

I would like to place on record my sincere gratitude to my supervising teachers

Ms. Midhu Babu, Seminar Co-ordinator Assistant Professor, Dept. of Com-
puter Science and Ms.Naveena Tresa J, Seminar Co-ordinator Assistant Pro-
fessor, Dept. of Computer Science and Mrs Lekshmi P Chandran, Seminar
Guide, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Information Technology for their encourage-
ment during the entire period of study.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all other faculty members of the
Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Infor-
mation Technology for their support.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my parents and friends for their
valuable support and contribution to my seminar.

Last but not the least I thank Almighty God for his abundant blessings upon
me in the completion this seminar work.

Jaimon Thomas
 CONTENTS

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 WHY PROJECT ARA??? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3 WHAT IS PROJECT ARA??? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 ENDOSKELTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1 Parcelling Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5 MODULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6 CUSTOMISING ARA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.1 Inductive Coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.2 Unipro 1.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.3 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.4 Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7 Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 CHALLENGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9 CURRENT SETUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
10 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
 ABSTRACT

Project Ara is an effort in Google ’s Advanced Technology Projects

(ATAP) organization to create a modular smart phone platform, with the twin

aims of delivering a deep customization experience to users and enabling signifi-

cantly lowered barrier to entry into the mobile hardware ecosystem. The talk will

describe the philosophical underpinnings of Project Ara, its status and timeline,

and the opportunities it creates in the mobile processor space as an example. We

will also talk about the origins of ATAP and its unique innovation model, inspired

by that of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).Project Ara

is an effort in Google’s Advanced Technology Projects (ATAP)organization to

create a modular smart phone platform, with the twin aims of delivering a deep

customization experience to users and enabling significantly lowered barrier to en-

try into the mobile hardware ecosystem. The talk will describe the philosophical

underpinnings of Project Ara, its status and tim eline, and the opportunities it

creates in the mobile processor space as an example. We will also talk about the

origins of ATAP and its unique innovation model, inspired by that of the Defense

Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA).

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES

I Electronic waste management in US 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

II ARA Official logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III ARA Endoskelton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
IV Rear Parsing Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
V Rear Parsing Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
VI The Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
VII Swapping of Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5

v
PROJECT ARA: GOOGLE WANTS YOUR PHONE GO TO PIECES 1

1 INTRODUCTION

The modern smartphone is a masterpiece of adaptability. It lets you talk,

snap photos, and tote around sprawling media collections. Downloadable apps let
you do lots of other things, too, like track your workouts, monitor your diet, or
remix a song. There is even an app that helps you find hidden treasure, thanks
to software that turns your device into a metal detector using the magnetic field
sensors that make up your smartphone compass.
But do not let this apparently awesome adaptability bamboozle you. For
all its vaunted versatility, a smartphone is still only as good as its hardware.
Though hundreds of new apps appear every day, your phones hardware is un-
changeable beyond perhaps the option of swapping in a more spacious memory
card. Suppose you are finally going on that long dreamed of vacation to
Indonesia and want a better camera in your phone. Add-ons can give you a new
lens to work with, and photo editing software can improve the resulting pictures,
but these tweaks will not make a dramatic difference in your photos. If you really
want to take better pictures with your phone, buying a new one is your only op-
tion. Google hopes to change that this year when it releases the first iteration of
Ara (http://www.projectara.com/) smartphones, which consumers will build and
customize using hardware modules. At press time, Google had not disclosed many
details about its plans, including the exact release date or the modules that will be
available when Ara debuts. But the company intends to begin sales of a âœmarket
pilotâ version of the phone in 2015.
Google also announced that Chinese chip manufacturer Rockchip will
provide the central processor for the device, which will be housed in a single,
removable application processor module alongside the graphics processor and main
flash drive.It was unclear as of mid December whether the cellular antenna and
radio components that allow Ara to serve as a phone will be contained within
a single module or spread out over several. However, Project Ara director Paul
Eremenko tells that the phone will be capable of 4G LTE connectivity when it
launches. Other basic offerings are expected to include display modules that serve
as the screen, as well as battery, microphone, speaker, and camera modules.

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2 WHY PROJECT ARA???

The following survey represents the number of trashed electronic items back
in 2010 at US.From the figure it is evident that the number of trashed electronic
items is very high with respect to recycled electronic items

Figure I: Electronic waste management in US 2010

In the figure there represents most of the electronic items available in our
day today life.From the figure it is pretty much evident that the number of trashed
items is considerably high with respect to trashed items.This is due to
1)Life span of devices: The life span of electronic devices are considerably
low because of the quality of items used inside the item.The average life of an
average mobile phone is 2-3 years maximum
2)Repairing issues:After each repairing the quality of the devices decreases
and a matter of fact the devices become useless after some repairs.Also during
repairs huge amount of e-wastes are produced
3)Customisations:We cannot fit the devices into our life style or need.That
is it cannot fitted into something to our needs or the hardware could not support
the users needs.This is the reason why some people change our phones in every
year

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4)Upgrades:In elctronic systems like android the operating systems gets up-
dated in several months such that only after this updation the device could exhibit
certain features or support some.
5)Implementation issues:Sometimes devices might come with some imple-
mentaton issues like software problem,screen cracks,mic problem,speaker problem
etc.So people need to change their devices imeadiately
Another reasons are First, your phone cannot take advantage of the steady
improvements to hardware that accrue from Moore Law and other factors. Second,
other than installing an app, you cannot modify your phone to fit your lifestyle or
temporary
Suppose you are finally going on that long dreamed of vacation to Indonesia
and want a better camera in your phone.Add ons can give you a new lens to work
with, and photo editing software can improve the resulting pictures, but these
tweaks wonâTM t make a dramatic difference in your photos. If you really want to
take better pictures with your phone, buying a new one is your only option

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3 WHAT IS PROJECT ARA???

Project Ara is the codename for an initiative that aims to develop an open
hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. The platform will
include a structural frame or endoskeleton that holds smartphone modules of the
owner’s choice, such as a display, camera or an extra battery. It would allow users
to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade individual modules as innovations
emerge, providing longer lifetime cycles for the handset, and potentially reducing
electronic waste. Project Ara smartphone will begin pilot testing in Puerto Rico
later 2015 with a target bill of materials cost of 4000rs for a basic grey phone
It was designed of with the twin aims of delivering a deep customization
experience to users and enabling significantly lowered barrier to entry into the
mobile hardware ecosystem

Figure II: ARA Official logo

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4 ENDOSKELTON

The Ara endoskeleton is the frame and backplane of the device, determining
the size and layout of the phone. Ara modules slide in and attach to the endoâTM s
slots, which has a backplane to electrically and logically connect modules together.
There are currently three endo size variants: Mini, Medium, and Large, with
varying rib confgurations for each. Note that the Large endo variant and respective
modules will be defned in a future MDK release. Note also that the MDK only
details the specifcation of the endo to the extent that it is necessary for module
developers to develop modules. In the interest of maintaining the integrity of the
Ara platform specifcation, third-party endo development is not permitted.

Figure III: ARA Endoskelton

4.1 Parcelling Schemes

Parceling schemes are rules that determine how and where modules can be
placed in the endo frame. The front parceling scheme only has a few possible
layouts, while the rear parceling scheme can have many diferent confgurations
depending on the location of the ribs and spine
1)Rear Parceling Scheme: The rear of the endo is parceled into 1x1 unit

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squares. Each 1x1 square is approximately 20 mm. Note, however, that 1x2 and
2x2 modules are not exactly 20x40mm and 40x40mm due to the fact that the
thickness of the missing rib must be accounted for to conform to the overall grid
scheme. Refer to the computer-aided design (CAD) models and drawings for exact
dimensions. All three endo sizes use the same rear parceling scheme
Ara Rear Parceling Grid for Large, Medium, and Mini Confgurations As shown
in fig, a Medium endo variant is composed of a 3x6 parceled grid while the Mini and
Large variants are 2x5 and 4x7 (TBD) respectively. Furthermore, the following
design rules govern the placement of the spine and ribs on the rear of the endo:

Endos must have exactly one vertical spine

The Medium variant spine must be at a 1:2 horizontal ofset from the centerline of
the device as viewed from the rear.

The Mini and Large (TBD) variant spine must be in the middle.

For the horizontal ribs, there must be at least 1 rib per 2 units (since modules
cannot be larger than 2x2).

Only a single cross is allowed in an endo (that is, only one rib can go straight
across the spine on both sides

Figure IV: Rear Parsing Scheme

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2)Front Parceling Scheme:The following design rules govern the front parcel-
ing scheme

Vertical spines are not allowed - all modules must fill the complete horizontal width

A maximum of 2 ribs are allowed

Only a single rib is allowed in each of the upper or lower halves

MOD.jpg

Figure V: Rear Parsing Scheme

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5 MODULES

Modules are the building blocks of an Ara phone. They are the hardware
analogue to software apps. These are physical components that implement various
phone functions. There are currently two major classes of modules: Front modules,
which make up the front of the phone and generally provide user interaction or in-
terface afordance such as the display, speaker, microphone, etc., and rear modules,
which provide the bulk of the phoneâTM s back-end (non-user facing) functionality.
Front modules reach across the entire width of a particular endoskeleton frame,
while rear modules come in three standard sizes (1x1, 1x2, and 2x2) and can ft
into multiple frame size

Figure VI: The Modules

To turn the framework into a functioning smartphone, you will plug every-
thing into an âœendoskeletonâ that has built in electronics to manage the flow of
data and distribute power among modules. This supporting framework will also
contain a tiny backup battery, which can keep the phone alive while you swap
a dead battery module charged one. While Google will build the endoskeleton,
the module design will be left to independent developers. Members of the design
team expect that a basic Ara phone could be built from materials and components

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that cost between US 50and100.The retail cost of the phone could, ofcourse, be
more,depending on the specific modules the customer chooses
To turn the framework into a functioning smartphone, you will plug every-
thing into an âœendoskeletonâ that has built in electronics to manage the flow of
data and distribute power among modules. This supporting framework will also
contain a tiny backup battery, which can keep the phone alive while you swap
a dead battery module charged one. While Google will build the endoskeleton,
the module design will be left to independent developers. Members of the design
team expect that a basic Ara phone could be built from materials and components
that cost between US 50and100.The retail cost of the phone could, ofcourse, be
more,depending on the specific modules the customer chooses
: A Phonebloks( ARA phone) is better compared to the Smartphones available
in the market because

It is green.

A Modular Smartphone

Customization to its fitness.

Mobile flexibility.

It can be up-to-date

Easy to upgrade individual components.

Strengths

Customizable - The Phoneblock platform allows the consumer to customize a

Smartphones to suit the highly specific demands of their lifestyle

Strong partners - Strategic partnership with Motorola and Google in modular

phone technology

Green and sustainable product - The open modular platform has the ability
to upgrade with biodegradable Bloks that can reduce e-waste.

Always up-to-date technology - Bloks are easily customizable and upgradable.

Friendly to new and upcoming technology - Modular pieces allow integra-

tion between the phone and modular technology devices, allowing hardware to be

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shared between devices

Points of difference to Apple and Samsung - Phonebloks is a white box,

not only in regard to software but also hardware; flexible, sustainable, cheaper,
innovative, and customer drive

Open-source - Open-source technology allows for a unique continuous customer

interaction in product development

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6 CUSTOMISING ARA

6.1 Inductive Coupling

Every slot in the endoskeleton will have a pair of copper pins to convey power
and four single turn copper coils, each about 3 millimeters across. This layout is
mirrored in each right updates onattached module, with a tenth of a millimeter
between paired coils. Data is transferred across this small air gap by a technique
known as inductive couplingâ”sending a current through one coil to induce a volt-
age in its partner. Because the coils donâTM t make physical predictions) contact,
frequent swapping of modules wonâTM t wear them down.

6.2 Unipro 1.6

To manage the interchange of data between modules, Google chose an in-

terface protocol called UniPro. Like USB, UniPro is a set of hardware and soft-
ware standards that defines how devices communicate. Tech companies began
developing UniPro almost a decade ago, under the auspices of the Mipi Alliance
(http://mipi.org/), which sets standards for mobile technology. Project Ara will
be one of the first implementations of the protocol in the wild.It has the capability
of transfering data at a speed of 1gb per second

6.3 Operating System

Ara will run a specialized version of the newly released Android 5.0 Lollipop
operating system, which will allow for âœhot swappingâ of modules. With the
exception of the screen and the application processor module, users will be able to
remove a module and replace it with another without rebooting the phone. Want
to use an Ara phone to share photos with friends? Remove the camera, plug in a
pico projector module, and start the show without ever powering down.

6.4 Operating System

The Ara team had to come up with a connection system to ensure that mod-
ules stay firmly coupled to the phone while in use but are easy to detach when you

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want to swap them out. These engineers rejected mechanical latches, which would
have detracted from the phoneâTM s aesthetics and added more moving parts. At
the first Ara Developers Conference (http://www.projectara.com/ara developers
conference/) in April 2014, Google announced that it would use electropermanent
magnets to connect the endoskeleton and modules. Modules will be held in place
magnetically while in use. To remove one, youâTM ll use an app to send a brief surge
of electric current through the magnets that hold it, altering their magnetization
enough to free the module from the frame

Figure VII: Swapping of Modules

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7 Advantages

Users can make their own mobiles according to their need- The users
can change their phone according to their needs or profession for example if he
is a teacher then he could use the pico projector inorder to show immediately to
student with just one click from his phone

Modules would make easy for Ara users to swap , share , resell their
components-It would make the phone into a customer ruling society.They can
use the some modules by just swapping.

Even your cracked screen can be replaced- Most people change their screen
due to some crack in their screens and all.With Ara you can even change your
screens too

A standard endoskelton has 5+ years durability- The normal life span of

an ordinary phone is upto a maxinmum of 2-3 years.With ARA you can use your
phone upto 5+ years

When battery is drained,replace with another-you can can change your

battery freequently

An average Ara kit would have a cost of 3000-4000 only-The basic version
of an ARA phone is just 3000-4000 r s only.So they could reach to common people
easily

Create a third-party developer ecosystem - With the entering of Phoneblocks

a new kind of developer ecsystem will enter such that people can make their own
modules just like making an android app

Modules can be used outside the phones-With Ara module you can use them
outside the system.For example take an mp3 module.This can be used in the cars
dashboard or inside a music system

If one modules isn t working properly,only replace that module-This is

the most intresting feature of Ara.If one particular function or module not working
appropriately just replace that module only .There is no need to replace the whole
section

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No restrictions like X feture will be available for Y brand or hardware-

There will be no restrictions like one feature will be available on particular version
or brand of mobiles only

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8 CHALLENGES

Getting such a phone accepted by users- This will be the main task. ie,
Such a phone accepted by users.People wont accept sudden changes in society.So
empowering them with the features of the mobiles will be a huge task.

Physical size -This is another problem.The physical size of the system is high
with respect to mobiles available nowadys. This is due to available block size and
module size.

Technical and commercial barriersThe technical and commercial barriers be-

fore publishing the phone into the open world.For this they need MNCs and gov-
ernments to take necessay step

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9 CURRENT SETUP

Speed:Intel Quad Core 4

Battery:2000mah

Storage:8gb

Network:4G

Camera:12MP Canon HD

Audio : Bose 4.0

Weight: 130 Gram

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10 CONCLUSION

Phonebloks is a good way to prevent e-waste. It provides much functionality

in a compact manner. Phonebloks are much flexible as compared to the legacy
phones has the fullest advantage of its features to the user. Multiple companies
work on single product unlike single company working on multiple products and
hence deliver the purest product to the customer. Multiple companies work on
single product unlike single company

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REFERENCES

[1] : htp://projectara.com/mdk-license.txt

[2] IEEE paper by Banquet Speaker about ARA .

[3] : IEEE Spectrum paper by By Ian Chant Posted 29 Dec 2014 â” 20:00 GMT

[4] IEEE Spectrum paper by Jeremy Hsu Posted 15 Jan 2015 â” 18:30 GMT

[5] Google

[6] Wikepedia

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