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Introduction
History
Introduction To RedTacton
Principles Used
Working
Construction Of Transceiver
Prototypes
Features

Application
Advantages
Drawbacks
Human Safety
Scope Of Research
Conclusion
References

As we all know that communication plays a necessary role in our daily life. Today
people can communicate any time, anywhere and with anyone over mobile phone
network. Now, the Internet provides people to huge quantity of data and
information from any remotely located server to their home computers.


Mean while human have made many electronic devices such as Personal Digital
Assistants(PDAs), digital cameras and other such devices.
Also the size of these devices are becoming small enough due to which they
can carry or even wear various personal information. So there must be a
possibility of communication between electronic devices on the human
body(wearable computers) and ones embedded in our everyday environments,
so this notion has led many researchers to research and develop on Human
Area Network.


Thomas Guthrie Zimmerman was the first person
who gave thesis/white papers on Near-Field
Intra-Body Communication at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in September 1995.




After that T. G. Zimmerman proposed this
concept to the IBM(International Business
Machine) in 1996.

Using concept of T. G. Zimmerman at the end of
2002 the Japanese telecommunications group
NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.
Laboratory) had announced that it would
developed a new data transmission technology
that uses the conductive properties of the
human body to exchange information between
electronic devices which is known as Human
Area Network.

A revolutionary technology RedTacton was
developed on 30 August 2005 by NTT DoCoMo,
Japan.

RedTacton was developed by a seven person research team led by Yuichi Kado,
executive manager of the Smart Devices Laboratory at NTTs Microsystems
Integration Laboratories, in Atsugi, west of Tokyo, Japan.

Mitsuru Shinagawa Yuichi Kado Hideki Sakamoto
Toshiaki Asahi
Katsuyuki Ochiai
After successful invention of RedTacton
technology another companies were
involved in this Human Area Network. Like
Alps Electric Co. Ltd., Japan.
Alps Electric Co. Ltd., Japan invented their
technology name as Electric Field
Communication Module in Oct 2007.

Based on the RedTacton technology
NEL(NTT Electronics Ltd.), Japan developed
"Firmo" an authentication system for
entry/exit management & for security
purposes in Apr 2008.

We all know that Human Body is best conductor of electricity.
Using this principle we can implement Human Area Network(HAN) which is the
part of Body Area Network(BAN).
RedTacton technology is fulfill all the concept of Human Area Network.
RedTacton is a Ubiquitous Computing.
Name RedTacton represents as,

Red
Warmth
T
Touch
Acton
Action
Ubiquitous Computing (ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of
human-computer interaction in which information processing has
been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities.
More formally, ubiquitous computing is defined as "machines that
fit the human environment instead of forcing humans to enter
theirs.
Ubiquitous technology is often wireless, mobile, and networked,
making its users more connected to the world around them and the
people in it.
Ubiquitous Computing
Ubiquitous Computing
This figure illustrates the
communication pathway
between two RedTacton
devices.

There are major two basic principles is used in HAN devices :-



Electro-Optic Effect

Amperes Circuital Law
When the light is passed through this Electro Optic crystal then the
polarized lights(Polarization) is received at the other end.
As the Electric field(E) changes there is a change in the Refractive
index() of the Electro Optic crystal which is reflect as the
fluctuations in the amount of light received at the other end.
Electro Optic Effect
Electro Optic Effect
As shown in below fig. we can see practical implementation of
Electro-Optic Effect.


Polarization
When there is change in the
electric field then a
displacement current is
induced.

This law is implemented in like
a HAN device as when there is
a change in electric field made
by transmitter, it induced a
flow of electron (Displacement
Current) onto the body.
Amperes Circuital Law
Types of electric field impacting in HAN devices.

Amperes Circuital Law
Quasi-static electric field
Induced electric field
Emitted electric field
E 1/
3

E 1/
2

E 1/r
Block diagram of construction of Transceiver(Transmitter + Receiver):-



Mechanism of Transceiver:-



Embedded Receiver
Transmission rate:- 230 kbps
Protocol:- Proprietary protocol
Transmission method:- Unidirectional
External device interface:-
10/100Base-T, RS232C
Security Devices:-



Portable Card-Size Transmitter
Transmission rate:- 230 kbps
Protocol:- Proprietary protocol
Transmission method:- Unidirectional
Data Transmission Devices:-



PC-Card Type
Transmission rate:- 10 Mbps
Protocol:- TCP/IP
Transmission method:- Half-
duplex
Terminal interface:- PCMCIA
(Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association)
Hub Type
Transmission rate:- 10 Mbps
Protocol:- TCP/IP
Transmission method:- Half-
duplex
Terminal interface:- 10BASE-T
USB Transceiver
Transmission rate not yet
determined (in testing stage)
Communication with just a touch or a step!
Touch
Bandwidth doesnt deteriorate even with
duplex operation & simultaneous access by
many users!
Broadband &
Interactive
Works with many transmission media common
in human life!
Any Media
Communication speed
can deteriorate in
crowded spaces due to
a lack of bandwidth
(Wireless LAN).
Device drivers can be
downloaded instantly
and executable
programs can be quickly
sent (RedTacton).
There are 3 Types of Medium which is generally used :-




Conductors
Dielectrics
Conductors & Dielectrics
Conductors
Signals travel along surface.
Dielectrics
Signals pass through materials.
Conductors + Dielectrics
One-to-One Services
Intuitive Operation Of
Personal Information Devices
Personalization
Security
One-to-One Services
Marketing Applications
Touch advertising and receive
information.
Elimination Of Human Error
An Alarm sounds automatically to avoid
accidental medicine ingestion.
Intuitive Operation Of Personal Information Devices
Touch A Printer To Print
Print out where you want just by
touching the desired printer with one
hand and a PC or digital camera with
the other hand to make the link.
Instant Private Data Exchange
By shaking hands, personal profile data can
be exchanged between mobile terminals
on the users.
Personalization
Automobile Applications Wireless Handset
Conference System
Security
User Verification And
Unlocking With Just A Touch
Automatic Access Log
Communication by just a Simple Touch thus eliminating use wires.
It provides High Speed and Accuracy.
Transceiver electrodes are covered with an insulating film, so there is No Way
current can flow into Users Body.
Very secure Data Transmission i.e., there is no problem of Hacking since medium is
our Individual Body.
No need to insert smart cards, connect cables, tune frequencies, or any of the
other inconveniences usually associated with today's electronic devices.
Transmission speed does not deteriorate in congested areas where many people
are communicating at the same time.


Very High Initial Cost.

High Sensitivity of Receiver is required.

Complexity in Design.

It can be useful within Few Centimeters only.

As a new technology HAN need to gain popularity among users to help pull the
technology into the marketplace instead of having it pushed upon them.


We investigated the effects of HAN technology on human health, which is
obviously an important issue.

1) The transmitting and receiving electrodes of the HAN transceiver are
completely covered with insulating film, so the body of the person acting as
the transmission medium is completely insulated.

2) HAN confirms to the Radio Frequency-Exposure Protection Standard (RCR
STD-38) issued by the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB).
The levels produced by HAN are well below the safety limit specified by this
standard.
Imagine walking up to your house, reaching for a doorknob which automatically
unlocks the door, and walking right in. No more fumbling around for keys. That's a
future we had like to live in.

Personalization of gadgets: Just a touch to any of gadget would load your personal
settings or your profile into the gadget.



Many areas can benefit from this technology. Human society is entering an era of
ubiquitous computing, where everything is networked. HAN is gearing up to
compete with Bluetooth, Zigbee, IrDA (infrared data association), UWB (ultra wide
band).

So we can clearly say that, this technology will spawn revolutionary changes in the
modern communications and become a pivot technology. When we compare HAN
with other technologies, HAN will give a better performance over other. If HAN is
introduced into cyber market it brings a marvelous & tremendous change and will
be adopted by many more people.

So, in few years from now everything is going to fall under this super technology.

T.G.Zimmerman, Personal Area Networks: Near-field intrabody communication, IBM systems
journal, Vol. 35, Nos. 3&4, pp.609-617, 1996.
T.Nagatsuma and M.Shinagawa, Photonic measurement technologies for high frequency electronics,
NTT REVIEW, Vol.14, No.6.pp. 12-24, 2002.
M.Shinagawa, Development of Electro-optic sensors for Intra-body Communication, NTT Technical
Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 6-11, 2004.
M.Shinagawa, M. Fukumoto, K. Ochiai, and H. Kyuragi, A near-field-sensing transceiver for intra-body
communication based on the electro-optic effect, IEEE Trans.IM, Vol.53,No.6, pp. 1533-1538,2004.
wikipedia.(February 2009). Red Tacton [Online].Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedTacton
NTT (February 2005). "RedTacton: An innovative Human Area Networking
technology".[Online].Available: http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news05e/0502/050218.html
Gurpreet Singh, Jaswinder Singh.Red Tacton,IJCST Vol.2,Nos 3,2011.
Red Tacton: An Innovative Human Area Networking Technology J. Arun Prakash.
www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/viewmedia.cfm?uri=oe-20-12-13488&seq=0&html=true