Re: virus: Intelligent fabric

From: Walter Watts (wlwatts@cox.net)
Date: Fri May 09 2003 - 15:29:19 MDT

  • Next message: rhinoceros: "virus: Typing monkeys and Shakespeare update"

    But is it "fun", like a nice, light seersucker?

    Walter

    rhinoceros wrote:

    > Infineon develops chip network for textiles - Intelligence by the meter
    >
    > http://www.infineon.com/cgi/ecrm.dll/jsp/showfrontend.do?lang=EN&news_nav_oid=-9979&content_type=NEWS&content_oid=76806
    >
    > Munich – May 5, 2003 – Researchers from Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX) have developed a way to make large textile surfaces such as carpeting or tent cloth “intelligent”. This technology innovation may lead to new products for the monitoring of buildings, the structural control of buildings of all kinds and for use in the advertising industry.
    >
    > Woven into fabrics, a self-organizing network of robust chips is able to monitor temperatures, pressures or vibrations as required. In addition to the sensor functionality, the fabric can be equipped with tiny light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to provide directional guidance or serve as advertising material. In this manner, the “intelligent” fabric could be used as a motion sensor or fire alarm, or to control burglar alarm and air-conditioning systems. Infineon plans to further develop this technology for the integration of microelectronics in textile surfaces into a fully functional, large-scale “intelligent” fabric over the next two years, together with cooperation partners from the textile industry.
    >
    > <snip>
    >
    > Robust functionality through self-organization and fault tolerance
    >
    > Each chip automatically determines its position within the network within fractions of a second after initialization. It is connected to its four immediate chip neighbors by electrically conductive threads and exchanges information with them. This creates a self-organizing, i.e. self-learning network that is even fault-tolerant. If a chip or conductive path fails, the network will automatically locate this fault and immediately reorganize itself: It will find a new path within the overall system via the neighboring chips in order to maintain the information flow. This offers the possibility to cut the “intelligent” carpeting to virtually any shape and size without damaging the electronic network function. The chips can be placed with any spacing between them; however, the closer together they are woven into the textile structure, the more accurate they will work.
    >
    > ----
    > This message was posted by rhinoceros to the Virus 2003 board on Church of Virus BBS.
    > <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=54;action=display;threadid=28412>
    > ---
    > To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l>

    --
    Walter Watts
    Tulsa Network Solutions, Inc.
    "Reminding you to help control the human population. Have your sexual partner spayed or neutered."
    ---
    To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l>
    


    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri May 09 2003 - 15:29:39 MDT