ZigBee Wireless Headphones

Final Report Submission

I pledge my Honor that I have abided by the Stevens Honor System

John Ziegler Richard Wismer Ryan Ramdehol Wojciech Gajda

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Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction…………………………………………………… 3

Section 1.1 Overall Description………………………………….. 3

Section 1.2 Benefits to Consumer………………………………… 3

Section 1.3 Sales Specifics…………………………………………. 3

Section 1.4 Initial Evaluation…………………………………….... 3

Section 2: Technical Information………………………………………….. 4

Section 2.1 Background Information…………………………….... 4

Section 2.2 Design Description……………………………………... 9

Section 2.3 Design and Ethical Constraints……………………….. 12

Section 3: Critical Evaluation of the Project……………………………… 14

Section 3.1 The Good………………………………………………. 14

Section 3.2 The Scary………………………………………………. 14

Section 3.3 The Fun………………………………………………… 15

Section 3.4 Funding the Project…………………………………… 15

Section 3.5 Other Researchers…………………………………….. 16

Section 4: Summary………………………………………………………..16

Section 4.1 Project Summary……………………………………… 16

Section 4.2 Further Research……………………………………… 16

Section 5: References………………………………………………………. 16

Section 6: Other URLs of Interest………………………………………… 16

Section 7: Team Vitas…………………………………………………….. 17

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Section 1: Introduction

Section 1.1 Overall Description

There are many sets of wireless headphones out on the market today. A quick search on Best Buy returns over 50 different models. However, there are many design flaws that make them a burden to most consumers. First, the majority of models are very bulky. This makes them useless for anyone with an active life style. Additionally, those that are more compact have horrible battery life. Almost every review mentions that the headphones are only useful for an hour or two. Most of these models utilize Bluetooth to transmit the audio signal wirelessly to the earphones. My proposal is to modify the existing technology to implement a ZigBee wireless transmitter and receiver on the wireless headphone platform. The end goal would be to create a prototype that could transmit an audio signal from a standard headphone jack found on any mp3 player to a set of headphones with an emphasis on keeping the size and required power down, ideally being able to use simple AA batteries. This project would serve many purposes to the project group as well as to consumers. It would help educate the group on the specifics of wireless communications, specifically on the ZigBee platform. Also, it would expose the engineers to a complex trade-off problem.

Section 1.2 Benefits to the Consumer

As a consumer product, these headphones would have many advantages over the current market. They would require significantly less battery power than current models. Bluetooth is a notorious energy drainer. Utilizing ZigBee would allow much smaller batteries to be used, lowering the end-cost for the user. Aditionally, the battery life of the device could be significantly increased. Also, they wouldn’t be very large. Most ZigBee chips are very small, approximately the size of a penny. This would allow the engineers to develop a much sleeker end product that would address the need of an active user.

Section 1.3 Sales Specifics

The product would be marketed as music “with no strings attached,” with the goal of targeting the active user. Athletes want a durable product that will last for the entirety of their athlete endeavor. They want to be able to listen to music without fear of breaking their $300 music player or their $100 headphones. These headphones would ideally serve the user for the full battery life of the average mp3 player, and would be no larger than wrap-around ear buds. Cost should also be below $50. These headphones could be sold with the intent of creating freedom - freedom to perform, move about, and execute to the best of one’s ability without any restrictions from bulky electronics and wires.

Section 1.4 Initial Evaluation

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The ZigBee Wireless Headphones are a fairly practical project. ZigBee wireless platforms are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to competitors like Bluetooth. The circuitry could be purchased COTS and then modified for this particular use. It would be a significant time investment to develop a prototype. However, it is certainly within our means.

There are many different components necessary to create a working prototype. First, a working ZigBee transceiver will have to be modified and implemented. The current system can be used (i.e. converters, circuitry) as a starting point. So there is the simplicity of a pre-established system, but there are still many complexities for the team to tackle. Also, since this is a complex electronic prototype, the team would be able to utilize the engineering design process from start to finish. Other disciplines like engineering management and systems engineering could be used in the development of the product. Requirements management and systems architecture and design would be just as important as the technical details.

There are a variety of skills that will be key in the successful completion of this project. A keen understanding of electronic circuits and basic circuit analysis will be necessary. Also, digital signal processing and systems theory will be very important for understanding how the music signal can be modified and transmitted most efficiently. Wireless communications knowledge is probably the most important topic, since that is the main difference this project has over similar products.

The most basic component needed for this project would be a ZigBee wireless platform. The project calls for a receiver on the headphones coupled with a transmitter device that would be hooked up to the music device. On the transmitter side, there will need to be supporting circuitry present to make any modifications to the signal to enhance its ability to be transmitted. On the receiver side, the signal will have to be restored and played through the headphone unit. Both units will need a power source and some sort of interface with the user to allow the units to be synchronized.

Section 2: Technical Information

Section 2.1 Pertinent Research and Background Information

ZigBee Wireless Technology

The Zigbee is a type of networking standard that is based around the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol and it is low-cost, low-power and used for combining mesh networks in LR-WPANs (Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks). The data is transmitted in RF (radio frequency) applications and allows for low cost, low power consumption which in turn increases battery life but is only able to transmit data at low rates. A mesh network is where all the nodes in the network receive, collect, dissemble and transmit data to other nodes. Since all the nodes are connected together, there is always an alternative path a data packet can take to get to a specific node. Any change in the network topology will be updated by the current network and new paths will be formed. It is a dynamic network that can always refresh itself and routing tables always change. This makes the transfer of data more secure because it would take many nodes to be turned off or shutdown for a data packet to be unable to reach its destination. The Zigbee standard is used for devices that use radio frequencies, low data rate and secure networking. Due to the low power consumption and low data rate standard set by Zigbee, this type of

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technology can be used in various locations and small batteries can be implemented and in locations where there is not as much resources for power.

The Zigbee standard has been setup around the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol. This protocol is the set of rules that specifies how data is transmitted, at what rates and at what frequencies and amount of channels for those corresponding frequencies that the data can be transmitted. This IEEE standard has data rates of 250 kbps, 40 kbps and 20kbps. In addition to the rates that data is transmitted, the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol has two types of addressing modes for the data that is being transmitted and to what node. Another feature of this protocol is a power management system that regulates the amount of power being consumed and keeps it low. The Zigbee standard operates under three unlicensed frequency bands. In the region of the Americas, a 915MHz band is used with 10 channels while in Europe, Zigbee operates under the 868MHz frequency band with only 1 channel. The third frequency band is the global 2.4GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) band. The IEEE 802.15.4-2006 wireless protocol also uses IPv6 for the way data packets are sent and addressed. This protocol focuses mainly on the physical and media access control layer. The physical layer is the most complex one because it is the base for all layers. The Medium Access Control is a data service that manages the physical layer with a management interface and controls how nodes talk to each other. The channels are selected in the physical layer by the RF transceiver. In addition to the channels being selected, it also can manage the energy and signal functions.

The Zigbee standard is an alternative to the previous and still current Bluetooth standard. Bluetooth is a different kind of wireless standard one that can transmit up to much higher data rates but is not as reliable because it is based on one device being the master, and all other devices that connect to it it’s slaves. The Master is the base of all data that gets transmitted amongst the connected devices. However, even though Bluetooth can transmit data at very high speeds, its power consumption is significantly greater than Zigbees. The Zigbee standard has many uses and has been implemented in medical data collection, industrial control, smoke and intruder alarms and in building automation. These are some of the places where Zigbee has been used and it is greatly expanding.

Bluetooth Technologies

History

Bluetooth software was created by two researchers in Sweden who worked for Ericsson Mobile Communications. Bluetooth is currently managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG Inc). The SIG Inc was created in 1998 to handle research, development and licensing of any Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is not a separate company but is a privately held nonprofit organization that is supported by its promoters, who are established companies that are monitored by SIG for the use of any Bluetooth technology. In order for a company to use Bluetooth technologies they must go through a rigorous screening process and maintain the Bluetooth trademark on all their products. Bluetooth currently has the 8th version as their latest version (SIG Inc).

“The word Bluetooth is an anglicised version of the Scandinavian Blåtand/Blåtann, the epithet of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark and parts of Norway who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols,

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uniting them into one universal standard. The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Younger Futhark runes  (Hagall) (ᚼ) and   (Bjarkan) (ᛒ), Harald’s initials.”(Bluetomorrow.com & SIG Corporation).

Coding

From a coding standpoint, Bluetooth works on the basis of protocols to control the connection, communication and data transfer between two devices. A protocol is a set of instructions, a language to control the operation of an electrical device. Previously to Bluetooth different devices were working on different protocols which limited the capability of them communicating with each other because they were speaking in different languages. With Bluetooth though, they were trying to establish a universal protocol, language, which would be understood by multiple electronic devices. By creating a universal language that would be understood by multiple electronic devices, any two devices with the same protocols could ensure that the message they sent between each other was 100 percent the same and completely understood. However, this doesn’t mean that every Bluetooth capable device is allowed to communicate with another Bluetooth capable device. These interactions are controlled by what are called profiles.

So with every Bluetooth device there are a stack of protocols written to be used. What profiles do is use different combinations of these protocols in the stack to complete a certain command. Protocols are a set of rules in a language, words. A word cannot be changed or altered because it will then become a new word. Restful has the same letters as fluster but they don’t mean the same thing. However you can combine these protocols into different combinations to create different sets of commands. For example, the File Transfer Profile (FTP) for transferring files (SIG Inc). So in order for devices to communicate they must share the same profiles or protocol combinations. Currently, Bluetooth has 28 different combinations of protocols, profiles (SIG Inc).

Technical

From a technical standpoint Bluetooth technology is based on the frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) technology (SIG Inc). This technology helps to reduce interference because it chooses to operate on 79 different randomly chosen frequencies in an assigned range and changes 1600 times per second (SIG Inc). This means that interference with another electronic device can only happen within (1/1600) second intervals if and only if both devices happen to be operating on the exact same frequency at that moment in time. They have gone further to reduce interference by now using Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) technology (SIG Inc). What this does is scan for interfering frequencies and adjusts the sequence of hopping in the range to skip those bad frequencies.

The benefit to using Bluetooth is that it uses lower power. Compared to other electronic devices operating in the same frequency, it uses 1000 thousand times less the power. This is because its transmission distances are on the order of feet and not miles which allows for signals to be fairly weak yet accomplish the necessary transfer of information. Due to its lower power requirements Bluetooth enabled devices are cheap and very easy to produce.

Bluetooth Specifications (SIG Inc)

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Bluetooth devices in a piconet share a common communication data channel. The channel has a total capacity of 1 megabit per second (Mbps). Headers and handshaking information consume about 20 percent of this capacity.

In the United States and Europe, the frequency range is 2,400 to 2,483.5 MHz, with 79 1-MHz radio frequency (RF) channels. In practice, the range is 2,402 MHz to 2,480 MHz. In Japan, the frequency range is 2,472 to 2,497 MHz with 23 1-MHz RF channels.

A data channel hops randomly 1,600 times per second between the 79 (or 23) RF channels.

Each channel is divided into time slots 625 microseconds long.

A piconet has a master and up to seven slaves. The master transmits in even time slots, slaves in odd time slots.

Packets can be up to five time slots wide.

Data in a packet can be up to 2,745 bits in length.

There are currently two types of data transfer between devices: SCO (synchronous connection oriented) and ACL (asynchronous connectionless).

In a piconet, there can be up to three SCO links of 64,000 bits per second each. To avoid timing and collision problems, the SCO links use reserved slots set up by the master.

Masters can support up to three SCO links with one, two or three slaves.

Slots not reserved for SCO links can be used for ACL links.

One master and slave can have a single ACL link.

ACL is either point-to-point (master to one slave) or broadcast to all the slaves.

ACL slaves can only transmit when requested by the master.

Microelectronic Circuits

This research is on microelectronic amplifiers. These amplifiers will be utilized in ear buds which will be receiving wireless signals. The signal will be generated through a small adapter. This adapter will hopefully be comparable in size to that of a lead cable on earphones. The ear buds will receive and then amplify these signals to hearable frequencies. As a member of this team it is my responsibility to research these microelectronic amplifiers and analyze their relative sizes and sound quality.

Requirements for this project design:

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Microelectronic Audio Amplifier small enough to fit inside a ear bud style headphone Proper frequencies attained Good sound quality amplification

(Chapter 10 Section 7 of Microelectronic Circuits.)

Tuned Amplifiers:

Page 971:

“The basic principle underlying the design of tuned amplifiers is the application of series or parallel LCR circuits as the load or at the input, of a BJT or a FET amplifier.”

Synchronous Tuning:

When dealing with audio signals frequency is a very important characteristic, especially in this application. The audible range for the human ear is approximately 20Hz to 20kHz. This obviously calls for a pass band style set up. It is important to note that multiple stages are needed for the final product. The overall frequency response will be some function of the individually tuned circuits.

A High Performance Switching Audio Amplifier Using Sliding Mode Control: Page 305

Typically switching amplifiers are widely used as portable devices because of their high efficiency. One drawback of the system is its inherent nonlinearity. However the above cited paper shows that there actually can be a low power and high audio performance amplifier.

This amplifier has much potential for the group’s goals. A size analysis must be done in order to ensure this class D amplifier is a serious candidate. Figure 6 on page 307 shows a 3.5 mm2 amplifier die. This will probably be a good size to fit in ear buds. One thing that is really interesting here is the SM TECHNIQUE. This is an efficiency control designed to minimize error. It seems that this amplifier could be a great choice for our project.

Power and Efficiency:

Another important issue to this project is power. The ear buds are intended to be wireless. This means they must be efficient and low power consuming. As stated earlier the amplifier considered above is a low power amplifier. Amplifier efficiency is a ratio of the power developed to that drawn from dc. This is the main reason to consider a class d amplifier as opposed to the class AB amplifiers. Power levels of around 10 watts are required to cancel out background noise. If a class AB amplifier was used for this application a heat sink would be required, thanks to lower ambient temperature.

Properties of Music/Audio Signals

Audio signals at their simplest form are sound pressures represented as variances in voltage and current over time. The “loudness” of these signals is measured in decibels (dB). For the purposes of this project, most signals will be between 50 and 100 decibels. However, the team may have to scale the signal down for transmission and then amplify it back up for actual listening. If this is the case, then distortion, or unwanted changes in the signal, could be an issue. Usually, distortion comes from driving a

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circuit with a voltage that is too large for the power supply voltage of the circuit. However, it can also come from feedback in amplifiers and transformers. The best measurement of this distortion is the SNR, or signal to noise ratio. The higher the ratio, the better audio quality one perceives. In this case, the team must develop a very high signal-to-noise ratio to stay competitive with other products currently out on the market.

There are two representations of audio signals – analog and digital. Analog signals are the most basic, and are best described as time varying voltages. However, the more modern form digital is composed of a stream of numbers, with each number representing a voltage at a specific time. Since both forms are still utilized, it is imperative that the group understands both and is able to convert between the two.

Section 2.2 Design Description

Headphones:

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The headphones section of this device is by far the simplest. The basic plan is to have in-ear headphones, similar to those seen in retailers like Bose, SkullCandy, and Sony. This will allow for superior sound quality as well as excellent comfort. There will also be a plastic casing that will “wrap-around” the ears to ensure that the headphones remain on the user regardless of the situation. The ear buds will be connected to the Headphone Module by a short cord, creating a necklace type design. A simple clip may be added to this section to increase comfort.

Headphone Module:

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The headphone module essentially performs the entire signal processing functions for the headphone unit. When the music signal is sent through the ZigBee transceiver the signal is modified from its original form to allow for wireless transmission. This module decompresses the signal and amplifies it before sending it to the user via headphones. The ZigBee transceiver is controlled by a microcontroller that simple turns the unit on and off and controls the connection to the portable music device (PMD) unit. The whole unit is powered via a battery. The team believes a C-type battery will be appropriate for this device. The unit will be encased in a sleek plastic unit connected to the headphones by a short cord, as previously mentioned. The dotted line connection the PMD Module to the ZigBee Unit represents the wireless connection between the two modules.

Portable Music Device (PMD) Module:

The Portable Music Device Module interfaces to the music player via a standard 3.5 mm audio jack. The signal is attenuated and compressed to allow for wireless transmission on the ZigBee platform. This ZigBee transceiver is controlled in a similar manner to the one in the Headphone Module. There are

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two functions the user can request, power on and connect. Both inputs a taken via push button on the plastic casing.

Section 2.3: Design and Ethical Constraints

As with all new and emerging technologies it is important to consider the responsibilities a company has taken on. These come in the form of professional and ethical responsibilities. It must be ensured that our group as a mock company considers all aspects of our system and the mechanism of creating our products. It brings an interesting dynamic to the work experience to be so inexperienced and working towards a real design. It must be conducted in a professional manor and proper documentation must be kept at every step. It is the intention of this group to utilize existing technologies in a new and exciting way. In terms of professional and ethical responsibilities we must give credit to all sources in APA format. This will insure that we are being ethical in giving credit to all rightly deserving parties. In addition any third party assistance in designing the system must be properly given their credit. Another professional issue is compliance, applicable laws and respective patent laws. All aspects of our system will comply with all standards for wireless RF and will respect all laws that govern this type of device. In particular the FCC will be a main source of legislation which will regulate our groups product.As defined by their mission statement they govern over interstate radio communications. The wireless ear buds are intended to be initially sold in the United States. This means even though the headphones will not transmit over State lines they will be shipped over State lines. This makes our product subject to their rules. If the headphones take off and are a great selling success the next step would be to make them an international product. At this point in the process it will be important to research international laws regarding our product. In general this group is deeply concerned in matter of professional and ethical responsibility and all appropriate measures will be taken.

The environmental constraints are at a minimum. The only thing that will impact the environment is the improper disposal of the battery contained within the wireless headphones. To correct this design constraint we will use EnerChip batteries that don’t contain lead, or any other materials hazardous to the environment. These batteries are safe and reduce the opportunity cost of proper disposal techniques. There are a few health and safety constraints however. The first health & safety constraint will be the use of wireless signals in close proximity to vital human organs. We will need to check the medical effects of the signals used before implementation. To deal with this design constraint the signals used must be low power, human tolerable waves. We are able to meet that requirement effectively because ZigBee technology is designed specifically to work with low power signals lower than existing Bluetooth technology which is already very low and operates with human tolerable waves.

Next is how comfortable is the earphone design. If it is poorly designed then it can cause fatigue and discomfort in the soft tissue of the ear which can lead to infections. So the earphones have to be comfortable and adjustable to fit different ear canals. To correct the comfort design constraint we will use synthetic rubber or soft polymer plastics that are elastic enough to easily form to the shape of the ear canal but rigid enough to not be permanently deform when removed. The next constraint is how well insulated are the earphones. If they are not properly insulated and overheat, they can cause severe burns to sensitive ear cartilage. To correct this design constraint we will use material that has low heat and electrical conductive properties like, injection molded plastic.

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The manufacturing constraints are, ease of manufacturing, high cost of manufacturing, high quality of the product and, price of product. The sustainability constraints are customer service, customer guarantee and warranty services. To correct the manufacturing constraints we will subcontract out the manufacturing to manufacturers with facilities built to produce this type of technology outside of the United States. It will reduce our cost of manufacturing because we won’t have to pay the costs to operate and maintain a production facility. We only have to maintain and oversee the quality of our products and pay the manufacturer fees. This allows us to bargain with multiple subcontractors in different countries and get a competitive COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) price. In addition by lowering our manufacturing costs we lower of COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) which allows us to competitively lower the price of our products. To correct the sustainability constraint we will outsource our customer service to cheap highly knowledgeable technicians overseas and provide a 100 % replacement guarantee if the the products failure was due to fault of our own.

The zigbee wireless ear buds project inevitably involves other disciplines besides electrical.

The micro circuitry will need to be mechanically designed into the system. It will be the responsibility of this team member to design, fabricate and test the mechanical structures of the wireless ear buds. The mechanical job continues to designing the transmitter structure which will be attached to the actual mp3 player.

The wireless protocols will need to be programmed into the system. That is once the electrical engineers complete the transceiver's electrical components they need to be tuned to the correct frequencies and tested.

There will also need to be a biomedical analysis to determine the effects of the wireless exposure to the user. This member of the team will be responsible for conducting experiments and research regarding the radio frequencies which will be used and how or if they affect the human brain while exposed for extended periods of time.

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Section 3: Critical Evaluation of the Project

Section 3.1 “The Good”

The largest strength of this idea is its marketability. There are many problems with current wireless headphones that make them useless to the average user. Large, bulky headphones with limited battery life do not satisfy the customer’s need, which is the main point of any product. The main need in audio headphones is music on – the – go. Users obviously want good sound quality and clarity, but at the end of the day only the most refined ear will actually notice a difference. Most people simply want the ability to go about their busy lives and listen to music at the same time. This product satisfies that need better than what’s currently out on the market. Also, headphones need to have a “cool” factor. Apple almost created a cultural phenomenon with its creation of the ipod ear buds. Current wireless headphones are disgusting at best. The “best” models are bulky and almost look antique. Apple ear buds caught on because individual customers thought they were futuristic and trendy. Wireless headphones, on the other hand, looks like they were produced 5 years ago, despite the new and innovative wireless technologies contained in them. Because of this design fault, it is the belief of this team the current wireless headphones will never catch on. The proposed model, however, does not have this issue, and would represent the futuristic and trendy technology that Apple once boasted. A ZigBee wireless platform allows for better battery life, lower cost, and a more compact design. ZigBee was originally designed for sensors, and because of that it was designed to be extremely reliable and compact. Sensor networks are typically at the heart of most complex systems, and also typically have millions of dollars of equipment relying on their operation. Since ZigBee was built for sensor networks it also carriers this dependability. Bluetooth can have interference issues and simple problems stemming from its use as more of a luxury over a necessity. ZigBee wireless headphones would be more reliable than their Bluetooth based counterparts, resulting in another competitive advantage. Also, sensory devices are designed to be compact, as a large senor is useless in most applications. The ZigBee platform is compact to accompany this need. While Bluetooth may be small, it is not at the micro level that ZigBee can operate around. This will result in an overall smaller design. In today’s world, that means everything. The push is to constantly make everything smaller, lighter, and more efficient. The design detailed in this paper would accomplish all of those tasks. This combination of improvements gives this product the opportunity to beat out the competition and seize a significant portion of the current market.

Section 3.2 “The Scary”

Originally, the team believed the main weakness to this design was the lack of range from the ZigBee wireless platform. ZigBee may be smaller and cheaper, but it is also weaker. Bluetooth models allow much larger signals to be transmitted with a better range - some models allow up to 30 ft. ZigBee is not as powerful, and as a result would not be able to offer a range of that magnitude. A more feasible range would be 8 to 12 feet. However, after more research the team realizes that this is not where our largest challenges lie. Other challenges include the team’s unfamiliarity with microelectronic circuitry and the threat of noise. In order to transmit a music signal wirelessly, we are going to have to modify it.

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ZigBee is simply not powerful enough to transmit an audio signal. This means that the signal must be compressed before its transmission from the audio device to the headphones. Compression chips represent a huge challenge to this system due to their size and cost. Inexpensive chips are typically larger, and would result in an overall larger design. The team must be extremely careful in this engineering tradeoff situation, as a chip that is too large will lead to a bulky design that no one wants. However, at the same time a chip that is too expensive will result in a product that is too costly for the end user to justify purchasing it. Another issue with the compression chips is the power drain that they cause. Compressing a signal requires very high level signal processing and systems theory. The microelectronic chips that perform these functions are notorious power drainers because of the power-intensive functions they perform. If these power draining functions result in poor battery life the work put into this design is worthless. Poor battery life is one of the main faults of the current technology, and not improving upon it would be a waste to both the team and the general market.

Overall, there are multiple threats to this project. The first is the limitations of the ZigBee platform. If the signal quality must be sacrificed in order to utilize ZigBee wireless, then the headphones could be rendered useless. A small sacrifice in sound quality may be a necessary engineering tradeoff, but no one wants to listen to static. Also, the complexity of modifying the current set up to utilize ZigBee may be more trouble than it’s worth. If the circuitry gets overly complex and complicated, the headphones will have to be too bulky, eliminating the competitive advantage of our product. The last threat is the barrier to entry in the market. This product would be competing against much bigger developers with more resources and time. It is unrealistic to think that they would accept a new product cutting into their market share without challenging it at some point. It will be very necessary to secure some sort of intellectual property rights for this product.

Section 3.2 “The Fun”

The greatest opportunity present in this project is the potential to develop and create an innovative product that could take over an under-developed market. Wireless technology is still relatively new and constantly changing. This product aims to take advantage of that, and apply a common technology to a not-so-common application. If we are able to develop a set of headphones that is cheaper, smaller, and more efficient, then this product has the potential blow away the competition. Also, Zigbee has yet to be applied to the consumer electronics industry. As mentioned previously, ZigBee was developed for wireless sensor networks, so its use has been niche focused to those areas. By applying this platform to existing wireless technologies, we would be researching a previously unknown topic, which is an extremely exciting endeavor.

Also the opportunity to market this product would be a lot of fun. As engineers, it is not often that we get to put our names on a piece of technology used every day by millions of users. It would be a very fun experience to see the team’s design wore by a user on the street, and be able to say that we designed that. The risk of starting a project that could ultimately end in complete failure is a daunting proposal, but the rewards that come with being a technical entrepreneur would be a lot of fun, especially if this project were to succeed.

Section 3.4 Funding the Project

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The economic constraints of this project are all in the upfront capital needed to plan, design and build a prototype. We will have to spend lots of money on market research, customer requirements surveys and technical components. To correct our monetary constraints we will initially try to fund our research and development stage through government grants and out of pocket. This will provide us with loan free money to plan and design our device. Next we will look towards low interest loans and investors to provide us with the additional capital needed to build our prototype and pay for any additional contracted labor, market research, customer requirements surveys, etc.

Next we will have to spend money on designing an initial working prototype. The costs here will come from technical designers and professional graphics designers to model our prototypes. Finally the highest cost will be building a working prototype because it will be the only one of its kind therefore is a customized design. Customization equals higher costs. To correct this constraint we will function as the technical design team, conduct as much design in-house as we can and not use over customized parts. In addition we will design our plastic casing to fit multiple designs to decrease prototype component redesign costs. Our prototype will consist of a Transceiver, amplifier, and custom plastic casing with an estimated cost of $1500 total, parts & labor. We don’t know if it will be necessary to redesign our prototype in the future so reserve funds will be set aside for alternative prototype designs.

Section 3.5 Other Researchers

The following is a list of other researchers and companies working in areas pertinent to the team’s work.

Jay Kadis of Stanford University – Teaches class in the basics of audio electronics and sends a considerable amount of time as a researcher developing new audio technologies. Email: jay@ccrma.stanford.edu

ZigBee Alliance – The ZigBee Alliance is a group of companies that promotes the application of ZigBee wireless standards and maintains the standards of their use. The Alliance’s main office may be reached at +1 (925) 275-6607 (telephone) or +1 (925) 886-3850 (fax).

IEEE – IEEE has access to hundreds of researchers in the wireless technology field. It’s collection of articles and journals is second to none. Their main email is contactcenter@ieee.org .

Sony Electronics – Sony represents our largest competition, and their R&D department works extensively in developing new technologies like this. http://www.sony.com/SCA/index.shtml

Section 4: Summary

4.1 Project Summary

The project proposed represents the opportunity for innovation in the wireless consumer electronic industry. Wireless headphones designed through the ZigBee platform are a realistic and plausible goal, a goal this team would like to see pursued. The design detailed contains many advantages over the current technologies. The first and most obvious is cost. ZigBee is a relatively inexpensive alternative to the current platform. It is also a more compact and efficient platform. This will result in

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more ergonomic and attractive headphones, as well as a far greater battery life. Apple revolutionized headphones with its earbud design; a relatively minor improvement considering it was merely ergonomic. ZigBee wireless headphones are set to revolutionize through multiple channels, including but not limited to simple ergonomics.

4.2 Further Research

First, the group would like to build a working prototype made mostly off of commercial off-the-shelf products. However, once that is accomplished, the team would like to construct multiple models with varying compression chip sizes and performance levels. If a proper filter, amplifier, and compression chip combination cannot be found, the group plans to attempt to develop their own technologies specifically for that use. Overall, the prototyping of this technology will prove very challenging. However the engineering team is poised to tackle those challenges and bring this exciting new technology to market.

Section 5: References

1) About Bluetooth (2010). In SIG Inc BlueTomorrow.com. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://www.bluetomorrow.com/

2) Franklin, Curt, and Julia Layton.   "How Bluetooth Works"   28 June 2000.   HowStuffWorks.com. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/bluetooth.htm>   24 February 2011.

3) (n.d.). In ZigBee Wireless Standard. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://www.zigbee.org

4) (n.d.). In ZigBee. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee

5) (n.d.). In IEEE_802.15.4-2003 Standard. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.15.4-2003

6) Wireless ZigBee. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://www.digi.com/technology/rf-articles/wireless-zigbee.jsp

7) What is ZigBee?. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2011, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-zigbee.htm

8) Kadis, J. (2006). Basics of Audio Electronics. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/courses/192a/1-Basic_Electronics.pdf

Section 6: Additional URL’s of Interest

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http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1445794

http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/Microelectronics/Signal_processors/Signal_amplifiers/

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4606382

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=964155

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=854703

http://www.cwc.com/past-present/corporate-responsibility.html

http://www.ethicapublishing.com/ethical/3CH10.pdf

http://responsibility.verizon.com/home/approach/ethics-and-governance/

Section 7: Team Vitas

Section 7.1 John Ziegler

John is a junior electrical engineer and systems engineer double major at Stevens Institute of Technology. He is originally from Glen Burnie, MD, but now calls Hoboken his home. Before coming to Stevens, John attended Glen Burnie High School. There, his interest in engineering was sparked by his participation in the National Botball Robotics competition. His team went to the national tournament his freshman year, and he was hooked after that. John learned about Stevens after receiving a letter from the Head Golf Coach about playing for the college. John is also an avid golfer, and spends most of his free time working on his game. When John came to Stevens, he joined Sigma Nu fraternity with Rich and Wojciech. He now serves on the executive board of that organization as President.

John’s hobbies include golfing, sailing, cars, and boats. When he gets the chance, he goes to Maryland to sail with his family. He plays in golf tournaments all over the northeast over the summer, and looks forward to that now that his junior year. He also enjoys traveling, and hopes to go on a tour of Europe later next year.

John will be graduating next spring, and hopes to get into the financial industry as a systems analyst on the IT side. He currently works for UBS, and hopes that will pan out into a full time offer in the fall. He has enjoyed his time working with Rich, Wojciech, and Ryan over the past few years, and looks forward to working with them again his senior year.

Section 7.2 Richard Wismer

Richard is a Junior at Stevens Institute of Technology perusing and undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in mathematics. Recently he decided to begin work on a Masters

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degree in Systems Engineering and will now be staying for a 5th year to accomplish this. Originally recruited by the Swim Coach to swim for Stevens he swam for the ducks for two out of the past three years. Swimming was one of his main activities during his freshman year taking up a large majority of his non school and sleep time. At the end of his first year he joined Sigma Nu where he gained a new appreciation for campus involvement and leadership. This, along with personal reasons, led him to not swim his Sophomore year. With his new interests, and time to take them up, he branched out into the Stevens community. This involvement first started in the fraternity by taking up two positions, namely Member at Large and Judicial Chair. These allowed him to integrate more into the organization as well as set the stage for moving into higher positions in the house. Over the Spring 2010 semester he ran and was elected to the Student Government Association as a Junior Senator. Then Richard realized how many of the people he knew liked to play golf but were not on the Stevens Golf Team. So Richard and his friend Teddy Poppe spent a lot of that semester planning and eventually forming the Stevens Golf Club. His junior year started off with the Stevens Orientation Program where he was a Orientation Leader for the incoming freshman. Richard also returned to the pool in his junior year with one of the most successful seasons of his swimming career. He also became a tutor for the academic support center his junior year and tutors a variety of subjects to a verity of students. This semester Richard was elected Vice President of Sigma Nu as well as IFC representative for the Fall 2011 semester. Also Richard has just accepted a summer internship position at Schindler Elevator Corp. for his first engineering job experience to date. In his spare time, Rich enjoys swimming, golfing, piano and guitar, and listening to music.

Section 7.3 Ryan Ramdehol

Ryan Ramdehol is 3/5 co op, electrical engineering undergraduate and systems engineering graduate scholars student at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was born in Mississauga, Canada on September 10th 1990. His family moved to New York when he was only 4 months old and has spent most of my life living in Brooklyn, but now is proud to call Queens Village and Hoboken his homes. Ryan graduated Midwood high school in 2008 and has been attending Stevens Institute of Technology ever since.

At Stevens Ryan has been involved in many clubs and organizations. He is currently a member of IUA, FAST, IEEE, Formula SAE and the Stevens Golf Club. While at Stevens he has worked at the Student service center and had an internship at L’Oreal cosmetics in Somerset, NJ. At L’Oreal he was in charge of the total production quality of products for half of the factory. Ryan was in charge making all quality completely autonomous and stream lining the process of quality inspections while maintaining high quality standards throughout the manufacturing facility. Ryan worked there from August of 2010 to January of 2011 and learned a lot about working in the real world.

Ryan’s interests and hobbies include automobiles, traveling, poker, electronics, food and video games. Also, he has been to over 30 countries all around the world and loves experiencing new cultures through their food and beer. In his spare time, he enjoys television shows like Dexter, Spartacus, House Hunters international, Friends and Wheeler dealers. One of his other favorite things to do as well is collect and watch movies.

Ryan has a mere three semesters before he graduates with his bachelors and masters in engineering. He plans to work for a company for a few years, gain experience and connections, take my

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GMAT’s and attend business school before branching out to pursue building his own corporation. He does not want to work for someone for the rest of his life and make someone else rich. Ryan’s true passion is to be that guy that signs the checks and calls the shots. He has big aspirations and looks forward to pursuing them with the rest of this engineering team.

Section 7.4 Wojciech Gajda

Wojciech Gajda is a 3/4 studying Electrical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. Wojciech was born in the borough of Manhattan and hails from Queens New York for the past twenty years. His parents are both hard working Polish immigrants who entered the United States in 1988. As a child he grew up playing with Lego's and going outside to play in the park. He has been very active in sports throughout his life playing on a recreational basketball league, and then moving up to volleyball in High School. All throughout his academic career he was in Honors classes and a member of the National Honors Society. As a freshman in high school, he took and passed the Apple Hardware and Software test to become a certified Apple technician. However, he ended up working for his high school to troubleshoot and take apart Apple laptops from students and teachers alike. During his time in high school Wojciech learned about many various aspects of computers such as learning how to program in Java and C. In addition to that, he took a Cisco Networking course during his last year which exposed him to the routing side of computing and broadened his knowledge. These various experiences in the computer field made Stevens Institute of Technology his top choice when applying for colleges. Entering Stevens Wojciech declared his major as Computer Engineering but then switched to Electrical Engineering to pursue a major that was not as involved with programming. During his time at Stevens, Wojciech has fulfilled his passion for volleyball by competing and playing for the Men's Club Volleyball team and taking a leadership role as President during his junior year. He joined Sigma Nu Fraternity in 2009, where he met John Ziegler and Richard Wismer. In his spare time, Wojciech enjoys playing guitar, listening to music, playing volleyball, and hanging out with friends.

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