MS Researchers Develop Acoustic Data Transfer System For Phones 180
angry tapir writes "Smartphones that support NFC have been making their way onto the market, but many handsets still don't support the wireless technology. As an alternative, Microsoft researchers have prototyped a system that instead uses a phone's microphone and speaker to transmit and receive data. The P2P data transfer system uses a novel technique of 'self-jamming' to stop nefarious third parties from monitoring transfers, and the researchers believe it's more secure than standard NFC communications. No word on whether it sounds like the squeal of a 56k modem."
So they reinvented chirp.io (Score:5, Informative)
So they reinvented chirp.io ?
Already done (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217790/Sound_based_system_promises_chipless_NFC_now
Why would it need a carrier tone? (Score:5, Informative)
Unlike a modem that requires a carrier tone, two acoustic devices that need to send a couple frames of data (such as a Diffie-Hellman exchange) could easily send and receive the data with a few bursts. DACs and ADCs are good enough to be able to discern the encoded static, find errors and correct them, and pass the decoded packets along. This wouldn't be fast, but it would be good enough for creating a shared secret or just validating each other's public keys so future communications can be reliability secured without need of a CA.
Re:Ah, the circle of technology (Score:2, Informative)
The paper was accepted after peer review at ACM/Sigcomm, presumably the most selective computer networking conference. It would not have been accepted if this was just about reinventing acoustic coupling. The novel part there is the attention to physical security, the fact that the receiver deliberately jams the transmission to make it harder for third parties to eavesdrop. That's actually quite clever.
Re:Return of the acoustic modem (Score:4, Informative)
I just found the information on the device I have...it's called the Konexx KOUPLER, and it's pretty snazzy! Their web site claims speeds up to 26.4 Kbps. But I guess that is under ideal conditions...Web site says they still sell it, and it's $150 US.
More information here: http://www.konexx.com/koupler.htm [konexx.com]
p.s. I have no connection with these guys other than the fact I have used their product in the past, and found it to be a wonderful part of a Road Warriors's toolkit!