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DASH7 Alliance Protocol (D7A) is an open-source wireless sensor and actuator network protocol, which operates in the 433 MHz, 868 MHz and 915 MHz unlicensed ISM/SRD band. DASH7 provides multi-year battery life, range of up to 2 km, low latency for connecting with moving things, a very small open-source
protocol stack The protocol stack or network stack is an implementation of a computer networking protocol suite or protocol family. Some of these terms are used interchangeably but strictly speaking, the ''suite'' is the definition of the communication protoc ...
, AES 128-bit shared-key encryption support, and data transfer of up to 167 kbit/s. The DASH7 Alliance Protocol is the name of the technology promoted by the non-profit consortium called the DASH7 Alliance.


International standard

DASH7 Alliance Protocol originates from the ISO/IEC 18000-7 standard describing a 433 MHz U.S. Department of Defense announced the largest RFID award in history, a $429 million contract for DASH7 devices, to four prime contractors, namely Savi Technology, Northrop Grumman Information Technology,
Unisys Unisys Corporation is a global technology solutions company founded in 1986 and headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The company provides cloud, AI, digital workplace, logistics, and enterprise computing services. History Founding Unis ...
and Systems & Processes Engineering Corp. (SPEC). In March 2009, the DASH7 Alliance, a non-profit industry consortium to promote interoperability among DASH7-compliant devices, was announced, and as of July 2010 has more than 50 participants in 23 countries. It was meant to be similar to what the
Wi-Fi Alliance The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization that owns the Wi-Fi trademark. Manufacturers may use the trademark to brand products certified for Wi-Fi interoperability. It is based in Austin, Texas. History Early IEEE 802.11, 802.11 product ...
does for IEEE 802.11, for
wireless sensor network Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to networks of spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors that monitor and record the physical conditions of the environment and forward the collected data to a central location. WSNs can measure environmental ...
ing. In April 2011, the DASH7 Allianc
announced
adoption of DASH7 Mode 2, based on the ISO 18000-7 standard that makes better use of modern silicon to achieve faster throughput, multi-hop, lower latency, better security, sensor support, and a built-in query protocol. In March 2012, the DASH7 Allianc
announced
that it was making the DASH7 Mode 2 specification available to non-members. In July 2013, the DASH7 Alliance announced the DASH7 Alliance Protocol Draft 0.2. In May 2015, the DASH7 Allianc
publicly released
v1.0 of the DASH7 Alliance Protocol. In January 2017, the DASH7 Alliance publicly released the v1.1 of the DASH7 Alliance Protocol. The version constitutes a major update of v1.0, in particular in the area of security and interoperability.


Technical summary

Compared with other wireless data technologies:


BLAST networking technology

Networks based on DASH7 differ from typical wire-line and wireless networks utilizing a "session". DASH7 networks serve applications in which low power usage is essential and data transmission is typically much slower and/or sporadic, like basic
telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...
. Thus, instead of replicating a wire-line "session", DASH7 was designed with the concept of B.L.A.S.T.: * Bursty: Data transfer is abrupt and does not include content such as video, audio, or other isochronous forms of data. * Light: For most applications, packet sizes are limited to 256 bytes. Transmission of multiple consecutive packets may occur, but is generally avoided, if possible. * Asynchronous: DASH7's main method of communication is by command–response, which by design requires no periodic network "hand-shaking" or synchronization between devices. * Stealth: DASH7 devices do not need periodic beaconing to be able to respond in communication. * Transitive: A DASH7 system of devices is inherently mobile or transitional. Unlike other wireless technologies, DASH7 is upload-centric, not download-centric, thus devices do not need to be managed extensively by fixed infrastructure, ''i.e.'', base stations.


Sub 1-GHz

D7A utilizes the 433, 868 and 916 MHz frequencies, which are globally available and license-free. Sub 1-GHz is ideal for wireless
sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...
networking applications, since it penetrates concrete and water, but also has the ability to propagate over very long ranges without requiring a large power draw on a battery. The low input current of typical tag configurations allows operating on coin cell or thin-film batteries.


Tag-to-tag communications

Unlike most active
RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...
or
LPWAN A low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN or LPWA network) is a type of wireless telecommunication wide area network designed to allow long-range communication at a low bit rate between IoT devices, such as sensors operated on a battery. Low pow ...
technologies, DASH7 supports tag-to-tag communications.


Localization

Localization techniques can be applied to DASH7 endpoints. An accuracy of 1 m using DASH7 beacons at 433 MHz has been achieved in a lab experiment.


Integrated query protocol

DASH7 supports a built-in query protocol that minimizes "round trips" for most messaging applications that results in lower latency and higher network throughput.


Range

DASH7 provides a link budget of up to 140 dB with 27 dBm transmission power, which positions the technology as medium-range, compared to short-range (
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
,
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...
, ...) and long-range (LoRaWAN, SigFox). Note that higher ranges are always obtained at the expense of per-bit power consumption and transmission duration. Low-power long-range technologies are generally not truly bi-directional, as the regular scanning duty is pretty high. In this context, DASH7 is a very good compromise between range, power consumption, and bi-directionality and is very suitable for industrial applications with effective range of 100 to 500 m. In line-of-sight situations, DASH7 devices today advertise read ranges of 1 kilometer or more, however, ranges of up to 10 km have been tested by Savi Technology and are easily achievable in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, where governmental regulations are less constrained than in the USA.


Interoperability

The DASH7 Alliance is currently working on a certification program that functionally tests the DASH7 devices. The certification is composed of a set of test scenarios covering transactions in different stack configurations (channel, QoS, security). The physical wireless interface is not covered by the certification and will have to comply to local radio regulations.


Alternative modulations

The DASH7 Alliance policy forbids the addition of proprietary or licensable modulation techniques in the official DASH7 Alliance Protocol. However, the layered structure of the protocol allows simple integration of alternative modulations, such as LoRa, under the
network layer In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the network layer is layer 3. The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate Router (computing), routers. Functions The network layer provides t ...
(D7ANL).


Applications


Commercial applications

Similar to other networking technologies that began with the defense sector, ''e.g.'', the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
) funding ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet, DASH7 is similarly suited to a wide range of applications in development or being deployed, including: *
Building automation Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, light ...
,
access control In physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the action of deciding whether a subject should be granted or denied access to an object (for example, a place or a resource). The act of ''accessing'' may mean consuming ...
, smart energy — DASH7's signal propagation characteristics allow it to penetrate walls, windows, doors, and other substances that serve as impediments to other technologies operating at 2.45 GHz, for example. For smart energy and building automation applications, DASH7 networks can be deployed with far less infrastructure than competing technologies and at far lower total cost of ownership. * Location-based services — DASH7 is being used today for developing new location-based services using a range of DASH7-enabled devices, including smartcards, keyfobs, tickets, watches and other conventional products that can take advantage of the unique small footprint, low power, long range, and low cost of DASH7 relative to less practical and high-power wireless technologies like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Using DASH7, users ca
"check in"
to venues in ways not practical with current check-in technologies like GPS, that are power-intensive and fail indoors and in urban environments. Location-based services like Foursquare, Novitaz, or Facebook can exploit this capability in DASH7 and award loyalty points, allow users to view the Facebook or Twitter addresses of those walking past, and more. *
Mobile advertising Mobile advertising is a form of advertising via mobile (wireless) phones or other mobile devices. It is a subset of mobile marketing, mobile advertising can take place as text ads via SMS, or banner advertisements that appear embedded in a ...
— DASH7 is being developed fo
"smart" billboards
and kiosks, likewise "smart" posters that can be read from many meters (or even kilometers) away, creating new opportunities for both tracking the effectiveness of advertising expenditures, but also creating new
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
opportunities. DASH7's potential t
automate check-ins
and check-outs provides essential infrastructure to
location-based advertising Location-based advertising (LBA) is a form of advertising that integrates mobile advertising with location-based services. The technology is used to pinpoint consumers location and provide location-specific advertisements on their mobile devices. ...
and promotions * Automotive — DASH7 is increasingly seen as the next-generation
tire-pressure monitoring system A tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) monitors the air pressure inside the pneumatic tires on vehicles. A TPMS reports real-time tire-pressure information to the driver, using either a gauge, a pictogram display, or a simple low-pressure ...
(TPMS), given its operation at the same frequency (433 MHz) as nearly all proprietary TPMS today. DASH7-based TPMS will provide end users with more accurate tire pressure readings, resulting in greater fuel economy, reduced tire wear, and greater safety. DASH7 products are also being designed and used for other automotive applications like
supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...
visibility. *
Logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
— DASH7 is being used today for tracking the whereabouts of shipping containers, pallets, roll cages, trucks, rail cars, maritime vessels, and other supply chain assets, providing businesses with unprecedented visibility into their everyday operations. Also cold chain management (vaccines, fresh produce, cut flowers, etc.), whereby DASH7 is used for monitoring the in-transit temperature and other environmental factors that can adversely affect the integrity of sensitive products.


Developer support


OSS-7: Dash7 open-source stack

The goal of the project is to provide a reference implementation of the DASH7 Alliance protocol. This implementation should focus on completeness, correctness and being easy to understand. Performance and code size are less important aspects. For clarity, a clear separation between the ISO layers is maintained in the code. The project is available o
GitHub
and is licensed under the Apache License, version 2.0.


OpenTag

DASH7 Mode 2 developers benefit from the open-source firmware library called OpenTag, which provides developers with a "C"-based environment in which to develop DASH7 applications quickly. So in addition to DASH7 (ISO 18000-7) being an open source, ISO standard, OpenTag is an open-source stack that is quite unique relative to other wireless sensor networking (e.g. ZigBee) and active RFID (e.g. proprietary) options elsewhere in the marketplace today. Even though OpenTag is an open-source project, people may not be able to use it free of charge. As of August 2015, there is no evidence to suggest that OpenTag bears a royalty, although current versions o
OpenTag license
do include a provision permitting
RAND The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
licensing.


Semiconductor industry support

DASH7 developers receive support from the
semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...
industry including multiple options, with
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
, ST Microelectronics, Silicon Labs,
Semtech Semtech Corporation is an American supplier of analog signal, analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms for consumer, enterprise computing, communications and industrial end-markets. It is based in Camarillo, California, Cam ...
and
Analog Devices Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology, headquartered in Wilming ...
all offering DASH7-enabled hardware development kits or system-on-a-chip products.


Device integrators and development kits

Many companies are members of the DASH7 Alliance to produce DASH7-compliant hardware products:
DASH7 Alliance members

DASH7 development kits

DASH7 Service Providers


References


External links


DASH7 Alliance

Low Power Wide Area Network Technology Comparison

OSS-7 Open Source Stack

OpenTag wiki

DASH7-LoRaWAN Comparison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dash7 Logistics Radio-frequency identification Wireless sensor network