This presentation presents a paper of IEEE CSCN 2015 on the DASH7 Alliance Protocol 1.0. It is an industry alliance standard for wireless sensor and actuator communication using the unlicensed sub-1 GHz bands. The paper explains its historic relation to active RFID standards ISO 18000-7 for 433 MHz communication, the basic concepts and communication paradigms of the protocol. Since the protocol is a full OSI stack specification, the paper discusses the implementation of every OSI layer.

1. DASH7 Alliance Protocol 1.0:
Low-Power, Mid-Range Sensor and Actuator Communication
M. Weyn, G. Ergeerts, R. Berkvens
University of Antwerp – iMinds
Belgium
maarten.weyn@uantwerpen.be
B. Wojciechowski
Wroclaw University of Technology
Poland
Y. Takabov
Wizzilab
France
IEEE CSCN 2015 - Tokyo

2. Education
• Mobile Communication
• Communication Systems
• Ambient Intelligence:
Low Power Connected Systems
Research
• Localization
from Opportunistic to Just Enough
• Low-power communication
• Low-power embedded systems
Entrepreneurship
• Founder of 1 spin-off company
• Facilitator of 2 other spin-off companies
• Director of DASH7 Alliance
• Currently starting 2 new spin-off companies
Maarten Weyn
Prof @
University of Antwerp
iMinds
Belgium
maarten.weyn@uantwerpen.be

3. DASH7 Alliance Protocol 1.0:
Low-Power, Mid-Range Sensor and Actuator Communication
M. Weyn, G. Ergeerts, R. Berkvens
University of Antwerp – iMinds
Belgium
maarten.weyn@uantwerpen.be
B. Wojciechowski
Wroclaw University of Technology
Poland
Y. Takabov
Wizzilab
France
IEEE CSCN 2015 - Tokyo

4. Origin
The Dash7 Alliance Protocol originates from ISO/IEC 18000-7,
The DASH7 Alliance (D7A) enhanced ISO 18000-7 for
Ultra Low Power, Mid-Range Wireless Sensor Communication.
The DASH7 Alliance expanded the air interface to all sub-GHZ ISM/SRD bands.

5. BLAST networking technology
Data transfer is abrupt and does not include content such as video, audio,
or other isochronous forms of data
For most applications, packet sizes are limited to 256 bytes.
DASH7's main method of communication is by command-response, which
by design requires no periodic network "hand-shaking" or synchronization
between devices.
DASH7 does not use discovery beacons, end nodes can chose to respond
only to pre-approved devices.
A DASH7 system of devices is inherently mobile or transitional.
BURSTY
LIGHT
ASYNC
STEALTH
TRANSITIONAL

6. DASH7 Topology

7. Asynchronous Communication

9. Roles
Authentication
Permissions
Data Elements
DASH7 Stack Configuration
Application Data

10. USE CASE
Collection of humidity sensor data

11. Traditional ApproachApplication periodically measures
humidity and sends data to the gateway.
Application implements communication

12. Application periodically measures humidity
and writes value to the file system
Data Elements can be accessed by DASH7
Data Elements

13. Application periodically measures humidity
and writes value to the file system
Gateway queries data from
Data Element
All Nodes matching query
answer with requested data
Queries

14. NotificationApplication periodically measures humidity and
writes value to the file system
DASH7 detects change in Data Element
If criteria is matched, Sensor notifies
requested data

15. Context Aware Sensor and Actuator Data Propagation
Write and read to/from files
Configure system through configuration files
Configured through file system
Handles scheduled scan cycles
Handles queries from other devices
Handles queries and notifications on file changes
File system configurable over the air

16. PHY: Modulation Schemes

17. Network Protocol

18. Transport Layer Segment

19. Use Cases: Range
100 5 km 50km30
Low-Range Long-Range
Mid-Range

20. Use Cases: Energy Consumption
720.231 0.306 4 63020.390 0.550
Energy (mJ)
LoRaWAN

21. Example Use Cases

22. Example Use Cases

23. Example Use Case
Simultaneous use of NFC Antenna: DASH7 and NFC
• Samsung S4
• NFC Antenna attached to external NFC connection
pads
• CC430 (wizzimote) with Open Source DASH7
stack
(OSS-7)
• FTDI module to process communication with
phone
• Diplexer to combine and shield NFC and 433 MHz
DASH7 signal for simultaneous communication

24. City of Things Antwerp
integrating smart
city sensors
100 multi-technology
gateways

25. maarten.weyn@uantwerpen.be
+32 496 50 31 67
@maartenweyn