IEEE Spectrum January, 2015 - 46

telecom

For everY season: ara users
will be able to modify their
phones on the fly, customizing
the device for work, play, and
any other scenario.

DeRossett notes. "In a
developing country, the
malaria monitor is going to
be much more important
to you."

Internet," he told the
audience. "Delivering
the mobile Internet to
those people could in fact
be world changing."
Does Google have the
muscle to get a new kind
of smartphone adopted by
billions of new users? Alan
DeRossett, cofounder of
the firm VOXearch, which
makes portable medical
devices, is optimistic.
One of the reasons is the
burgeoning market for
self-diagnostic gadgets. An
Ara phone, he says, could
host a suite of standardized
modules that will diagnose
a variety of diseases
using an assortment of
already available lab-on-
a-chip technologies.
The beauty of the scheme,
he says, is that building a
device to detect diseases
in the developing world
wouldn't mean abandoning
other consumers who
are interested in more
mundane functions. "If
you're in California, you
may need a fitness-
monitoring module,"

46

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jan 2015

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cusTomizing a n a r a
phone starts with its endo-
skeleton. It will come in
three sizes, letting users
decide whether they want
a device that's small, stan-
dard, or phablet size. The
backbone of each model is
laid out with a grid of slots,
which can accommodate
three different module
shapes: small squares,
large squares, and
medium-size rectangles.
Every slot in the
endoskeleton will have
a pair of copper pins to
convey power and four
single-turn copper coils,
each about 3 millimeters
across. This layout is
mirrored in each attached
module, with a tenth of a
millimeter between paired
coils. Data is transferred
across this small air gap
by a technique known
as inductive coupling-

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sending a current through
one coil to induce a voltage
in its partner. Because
the coils don't make
physical contact, frequent
swapping of modules
won't wear them down.
To manage the inter-
change of data between
modules, Google chose an
interface protocol called
UniPro. Like USB, UniPro
is a set of hardware and
software standards that
defines how devices
communicate. Tech
companies began
developing UniPro almost
a decade ago, under the
auspices of the Mipi
Alliance, which sets
standards for mobile
technology. Project Ara
will be one of the first
implementations of the
protocol in the wild.
To make the most of
its modular design, Ara
will run a specialized
version of the newly
released Android 5.0
Lollipop operating system,
which will allow for "hot
swapping" of modules.
With the exception of the
screen and the application
processor module, users
will be able to remove
a module and replace
it with another without
rebooting the phone. Want
to use an Ara phone to
share photos with friends?
Remove the camera, plug

in a pico-projector module,
and start the show without
ever powering down.
Battery life, which can
make or break a smart-
phone, will be in the hands
of Ara users. The device
can be outfitted with more
than one battery module at
a time for greater capacity.
The Ara team had
to come up with a
connection system to
ensure that modules stay
firmly coupled to the
phone while in use but are
easy to detach when you
want to swap them out.
These engineers rejected
mechanical latches, which
would have detracted from
the phone's aesthetics and
added more moving parts.
At the first Ara Developers
Conference in April 2014,
Google announced that
it would use electro-
permanent magnets to
connect the endoskeleton
and modules. Modules
will be held in place
magnetically while in use.
To remove one, you'll use
an app to send a brief surge
of electric current through
the magnets that hold it,
altering their magnetization
enough to free the module
from the frame.
ProjecT a r a couLd
also change how we get
rid of our smartphones.
The modular design of the
platform would make it easy
for Ara users to swap, share,
and resell components,
extending their usefulness
and keeping them out of

GooGle

top tech 2015
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum January, 2015
