Project ARA

Departamento de Ciência da Computação ­ IME/USP MAC0463/5743 ­ Computação Móvel
Diana Estefanía Naranjo Pomalaya {dnaranjo@ime.usp.br} Project ARA
Exploration of modular phones
1. Introduction
Project ARA develops an idea that became popular because of Phonebloks. This organisation launched a video about the concept of modular phones that had a reach of over 380, 000, 000 people by October 2013 [1]. Basically what it proposed was a new product that could be assembled by the own user. The modularity of the item would enable the user to repair, change or upgrade each module independently, instead of the whole item. This would help reduce the production of electronic waste and would expand the life cycle of all the components that were not needed to change. However, Google had already acquired some patents related to modular mobile phones from Modu in 2011 [2] and was doing some exploration work when all this happened. On October 29, 2013 Project ARA was launched and the race began.
Modular phone designed by Project ARA [10] 1 1.1. Phonebloks
“Phonebloks is an organisation with the purpose of encouraging the development and production of products that produce less electronic waste” [1]. What the company wanted to maintain clear is that it was never their purpose to develop a mobile phone that achieved this goal. Their principal aim was to make the industry focus in the development of such products. The idea was conceived by the fact that if a part of a mobile phone broke ( e.g. the camera ) in order to replace it, the user has to replace the whole phone. In order to upgrade one part of the phone the same thing happens. By doing this repeatedly, a lot of electronic waste is generated, and mainly by elements that are still functional but are not exchangeable. Phonebloks came up with a solution: “Modularity”. Modularity meant that each component could be replaced or upgraded according to each individual’s needs. This also meant that each individual could decide which components where indispensable for them and therefore invest in the ones that were more important according to their priorities. With this kind of phones, if a module broke then the user only had to send it for repair or purchase a new one in case it was beyond repair. This leads to a longer life­span for the other modules and reduces the waste that would have been produced if the device was treated as a whole. Modular phone designed by Phonebloks [1] 2 1.2. The evolution of the idea
On 2011, Google acquired Modu’s modular mobile phone patents. By 2012, initial exploration started and by April 2013 the project started to work. At the same time, Phonebloks initiative began on December 2012, when the founder of Phonebloks Dave Hakkens started to think of ways to reduce planned obsolescence. On September 2013, a video was launched with the concept of Phonebloks, with a reach of 1,000,000 views in the first day; which lead to the launch of the Thunderclap campaign1. This created a wave of attention, especially since the quantity of supporters was close to the million (979,253). This was achieved by October 2013. On that same month, the 29th, a partnership with Motorola (which belonged to Google) was announced. Their Advanced Technology And Projects (ATAP) team released Project ARA and a five month road trip called “MAKEwithMOTO” took off. This road trip was intented to help measure the users’s interest in customizable phones [4]. Starting 2014, on January, Motorola was sold to Lenovo, but the ATAP team was integrated into Google. The ATAP group copies its model from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) responsible for the development of new technologies for the US military. Some of the those projects lead to computer networking and satellite navigation. Regina Dugan, leader of ATAP was a former DARPA director and Paul Eremenko, Project ARA’s leader is also an alumnus [5]. DARPA/ATAP centers on small­group development, 3 people in the case of Project ARA, most of the work is done by contractors; and a 2­year deadline to complete the challenge, or demonstrate market viability. “Generally, time is not your friend,” says Eremenko. “Innovation under time pressure is generally higher­quality innovation” [4]. On April 2014, the first Project ARA Developers Conference took place. Some of the key points were the description of the main technologies used to develop Project ARA’s prototype and the presentation of the Endoskeleton (Endo) and the Modules Developers Kit (MDK). This conference is the first effort to incite people and companies to produce components for the modular phone, that is because the modules are expected to be produced by many third parties. 1
Thunderclap is a crowd­speaking platform that sends a blast from the social pages such as Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr from all the supporters to the campaign, if an stated goal of supporters is reached [3]. 3 Two more developer conferences are scheduled for this year, one of them in July. The main topic for July’s conference will be 3D printing. Pre­production prototypes are expected for December. By April 2015, Project ARA will present its first market product. However, a basic "Grey" Endo may be available by January 2015 for some test and try out. It is important to note that April launch target market will be people who are not able to acquire a smartphone and may have never own one previously. 2. Other Modular Phones
Just like Google started to incursion in the world of modular phones, some companies have shown their interest in the matter as well. Some of the most notorious ones are: ECO­MOBIUS by ZTE, Magic Cube by Xiomi and Smartwatch by Blocks. ZTE and Xiomi are big phone production companies in China and Blocks is a new company, interested in the modular concept. 2.1. ECO-MOBIUS: Easy Upgrade with Low Cost
Created by the ZTE company, ECO­MOBIUS won the 2013 Red Dot “Best of the Best” design award. The phone consists of 4 big modules: LCD, core, camera and battery. Each modules has its sub­parts. For example, the LCD module connects the screen and lens and the core module connects the CPU, GPU, ROM and RAM to list the most important ones [6]. These modules can be assembled through a sliding track and fit within a standard modular framework that all the ECO­MOBIUS series shares. This will make it easier for the users to exchange the different parts for their specific needs. They will also be able to maintain more that one part of the same type at the same time (e.g. more battery modules for long trips) or exchange them accordingly to their current situation (e.g. different camera modules for specific situations) Besides these benefits, and in order to make the management of the pieces easier for the user, the ZTE designers created a platform. This platform allows the user to maintain a high control over their phones and their modules. Through it they will be able to look, buy and sell module parts. This will make the lifespan of the modules last longer, since one user can upgrade one part and sell its old one in the same platform. 4 Modular phone designed by ZTE [6] 2.2. Magic Cube, Xiaomi
Little is known about Xiaomi’s enterprise among the module phones, the image shown below was shared by Xiaomi’s CEO: Lei Jun, ex engineering director at Google [7]. However, this same image was removed not long after. All types of speculations started from the image shared. From what could be seen, Xiomi’s Magic Cube will be a sum of 4 to 5 exchangeable modules, not as many as the idea of Phonebloks or Project’s ARA. The amount of exchangeable modules has a direct impact on the customization ability of the phone. Another speculation is that the screen may be completely attached to the base, making it unchangeable. This is another drawback that Project ARA does not present. The important thing about this is the great advances Xiomi has made in its market and the reach it has. Xiomi is a phone provider for China, Taiwan and Singapur, places where Motorola/Google does not hold an important position. 5 Modular phone designed by Xiaomi [7] 2.3. Blocks: The modular smartwatch
Blocks is an example that proves modularity is a desirable characteristic for more devices other than the phone. There are a lot of types of smartwatches that are able to do different things. However, sometimes customers are forced to compromise with an item that does not fully cover their needs, or buy features they don’t actually need [8]. Modularity would be able to solve all these problems. The idea is the same but the modules would be small blocks that connected create the band for the smartwatch, as shown in the picture below. Smartwatch blocks [8] 6 Even though Blocks has not created a functioning prototype yet, the idea points to the same goal Project ARA does. Moreover, it will also be an open platform which means anyone can build blocks or develop apps for it. Smartwatch design by Blocks [8] 3. Project ARA’s platform
The success of Project ARA’s modular phone depends enormously in the availability of an stable modular market [9]. If only a few companies get on board then modular phones will not likely achieve the success expected. In ARA’s first conference a lot of insight was provided about the structure of the modular phone. The ARA platform will consist basically of two core entities: the Endoskeleton and the Module. 3.1. The Endoskeleton (Endo)
Is what keeps everything together, the backbone of the platform, without this item the modules are just random pieces that are not able to work together. All the modular components will be attached to this element and it will responsible for their communication. It will hold modules in the front and back. The ones in the back will be hold through electropermanent magnets and the ones in the front by latches. These will secure the modules to the Endo making it resistant to falls. This means the modules won’t fly away in case it falls. It is said that it will also be water and other environmental threats resistant [4]. 7 Project ARA Endoskeleton [10] The size of this frame will regulate the amount of modules the user will be able to place in its phone. The standard size will be a 3 x 6 grid of blocks, being the block the unit size that will characterize each frame and module. In mm this is 68 x 141 x 9.7 which is similar to the size of a Nexus 5. However, two more sizes are anticipated: one smaller, called a mini Ara that will be a 2 x 5 and a Larger one that might be 4 x 7 [10, 11]. ARA’s Endoskeleton sizes [10] This is the only element that will be produced by Google and is the init component the user will get when buying a Project ARA phone. It’s life­span is prognosticate to be 5 to 6 years. The capacitive M­PHY technology will make the Endo durable and together with the UniPro protocol has enough bandwidth support for the future. 8 On the other hand, to support hot swapping, the Endo has been built with a small battery and it is this the limiting factor for its lifespan. The basic "grey" phone, which includes the Endo frame, the display, a battery, the main Application Processor module, and a Wi­Fi unit will be for sale for approximately $50. This is just an approximate but Google is confident it will cost under $100 [10]. The real cost overhead for ARA platforms is the UniPro protocol technology and the electropermanent magnets. However, with a prosper module market, prices might be lowered and it will offer users more options for pricing. 3.1.1 Main Issues
The main skeleton presents two main issues. The first one is the centralization in the connection and communication between the modules and the second one is the physical limitations brought up by the spine and ribs. The modules need the endoskeleton to communicate, this means that there is still a component that is basic for the connection of two modules. If the endoskeleton breaks then all the modules become uncommunicated. True, the user only needs to replace the endoskeleton to make all its modules work again, but if a module breaks the rest of the device would still be functional. It might be desirable for the modules to communicate between each other without the need of another physical component. The other problem with the modular phone is the fact that the endoskeleton has a centralized universal electrical bus. This is the reason why the endoskeleton has a spine and ribs. Unfortunately, modules can not jump over them and therefore their size is restricted to the space left and regulated by the endo. One improvement would be to produce a module connection that eliminates this ribs so as to allow more configurations and module sizes. ARA’s Endoskeleton spine and ribs [10] 9 3.2. The Modules
These are the building blocks that will provide all the functionality to the modular phones. Some of the basic modules will be: display, battery, microphones, etc. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that more and new modules will be created to suit the user’s needs. For example, during the MAKEwithMOTO tour a lot of health and travel related components were suggested by the participants. Module sub assembly [10] Although, there is a lot of expectation for the creation of this new modules. There is still one that is indispensable for the phone’s functionality: the Application Processor module (AP). This module will hold the CPU, memory, SD card slot, and other core operational hardware. This core components are indivisible, though more memory can be made available through more memory modules. Its size will be 2 x 2 blocks. 10 Project ARA Application Processor Module (AP) [10] The sizes of the modules are expected to vary between 1 x 1, 2 x 1, or 2 x 2 blocks [10, 11]. However they can be extended in the z and y axis. ARA’s module sizes and expansions [10] As mentioned before, modules will be hot swappable. This means the user won’t have to turn its phone off to change most of its modules, including the battery. The modules that will not be able to do this are the display and the AP. This is achievable thanks to the built­in battery the Endo has. During the conference, Google showed several prototype modules, among them was a biometric sensor, which measured pulse using an IR camera. 3.2.1 Main Issues
During the ARA presentation, it was made clear to the component developers that they will only have 40% of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for their own hardware, with the rest dedicated to Ara­compatibility. With larger modules, developers were encouraged to maximize their use of space, which means multiple functions in one module. For example, in the display modules that were used in the prototype, a lot of battery modules were added in the free space. Another issue is the cost of production of these modules, right now the technology used in them is pricey. Therefore, only big companies will be able to produce them at first. However, this 11 problem was forethought and a plan is been develop to make the technology, needed for production, attainable for smaller companies, and in the longer future for individuals. 4. Main Issues
Having talk about each of the components, it is time to detail some of the possible issues that the platform might have to face. 4.1 Paradox of choice
The paradox of choice is related to the amount of choices given to the user. If the options number is small then the user will not be satisfied with the diversity. On the other hand, if the options number is big, the user might feel overwhelmed. In order to avoid both situations, the ideal amount of options should be calculated and presented to the users. Some possible solutions to this situation are: “Phone Makers”, that show the options according to the user’s previous choices or ask some questions in order to build the customers profile and offer an initial point. The other possible solution is the use of physical modules that allow the customers to “touch and play” with the modules available in the market, this would allow them to have a preview of the modules. 4.2 Value of customization
Even though modularity is an interesting concept that has attracted lots of enthusiasts. There is still some issues that need to be addressed; for example, the cost of each module, the amount of overhead that will be be added to each component to allow modularity. In the first prototype it was made clear that there will be without doubt some overhead in size and weight. The modular phone’s depth is bigger compare to today’s devices. Even though there will be some issues in the first devices that will be sent to production. The benefits obtained due to the modular concept might surpass the difficulties brought up in order to satisfy them (overhead, cost). Modularity overhead in drivers [10] 4.3 Security of data
12 A topic that was brought up during the Project ARA conference was the issue of security data. Each module developer will be responsible for this, this might need some regulation that has not been defined yet. In the case of memory modules, this issue is of most importance since the modules can be exchanged and used in different endoskeletons. User’s data needs to be protected in case of theft. Google is trying to define the guidelines for this, but a combined coordination between them and the module developers is needed to find the correct solution to this problem. On the developer’s part, it is important to facilitate the entrance to the modular market to new developers. However, there are still some barriers that will need to be overcomed. 4.4 Regulatory certification
For some modules a certification is needed in order to allow the developers sell their products. The big problem with this issue is the fact that a modular phone is a new device, without precedents. The regulation been performed so far was for a static devices that could not be splitted up the way the modular phone will be. That is why the module developers will need approval from carriers and the government. One way to solve this is been developed by Google. They are willing to offer initial support to all module developers that wish to build components that will require certification Regulatory certification [10] 4.5 Module market certification
Another important certification that the developers will need is the module market certification. This will be the analogue to android market’s certification, the developers signature. However, in order to protect the customers, the module developers will need to deliver a series of documentation that will proof the correctness of their product. This cost of production will be a barrier for new, small companies that wish to incursionate in this market. On the other hand, Google has established that users will be allowed to use modules that do not have with this certification, but under their own responsability (same as with android applications). 13 Module Market Certification [10] 4. Project ARA’s new technologies
The Project ARA team was able to produce a prototype thanks to the existence of new technologies that have been under development for years. To list the most important: UniPro, capacitive M­PHY and electropermanent magnets. 4.1. The UniPro
The UniPro is a high speed interface protocol that will allow ARA’s modules to communicate through Endo. Project ARA is using the latest UniPro 1.6 spec, all the various versions of the UniPro protocol are created within the MIPI® Alliance, an organization composed of over 250 mobile companies [12]. It was developed to simplify the interconnection of components within mobile device systems and it is optimized for mobile applications. Some of the aims of this protocol and the associated physical layer are to provide high­speed data communication (gigabits/second) between chips and mobile electronics, data reliability and robustness, among others. 14 ARA’s on­device network architecture [10] 4.2. The capacitive M-PHY
Is a high­speed physical layer spec that supports multiple application requirements. It was also developed by the MIPI Alliance and works together with UniPro. In project ARA, M­PHY is a capacitive interface (connection points with long life spans) with high bandwidth capabilities and good power efficiency [13]. Mobile devices’ bandwidth demand for each of its function as well as the amount of functions it will be able to provide is expected to increase over time. This needs can be covered by the M­PHY, which requires less pins and provides more bandwidth per pin (pair) with improved power efficiency. For each of its modules, ARA phones need 10 connection points: eight for data, one for power, and one for ground. 15 4.3. ElectroPermanent magnets
Is a type of magnet that consists of an electromagnet and a dual material permanent magnet. The magnetic field produced by the electromagnet is used to change the magnetization of the permanent magnet. Therefore, the magnetic effect can be maintained without requiring a continuous supply of energy, it is only needed to turn the magnetization on and off [14] . These magnets will be used for affixing the modules in place in the Endo without draining down the power supply of the phone. One characteristic that is still being worked on is the size of these magnets, with smaller magnets more space in the PCB modules would be available. 16 5. First Functional Prototype
ARA’s first functional prototype [10] Broken display (can be replaced) Prototype does not boot ( brought up the network, tested a lot of the tunels on dev boards) Goal? make sure that the platform released actually works / Modules => spring pins not contacteless data interconnect spring pins produce damage and they wear really quickly processor developer friendly 17 LVDS instead of M­PHY 6. 3D Printing
Google has formed an alliance with 3D Systems to develop a 3D printing machine that will be able to print efficiently at volume. This machine will be used to produce customizable casings for ARA modules. They will snap fit around the PCB and will provide a safety shield. It will print acrylic­based plastic in CMYK color (plus clear) with detail at 600DPI, and a sub­micron surface finish [10]. 3D Systems is expected to launch an Alpha testing in the following months (July 2014). The machine will print using an assembly line track that moves along the borders of an ellipse, moving only in one direction and thus increasing its efficiency. Another Alliance Google has made is with Carnegie Mellon in hopes of developing conductive ink printing. This would allow 3D printers to “print” electronics such as a Wi­Fi antenna. Still, this technology is not as advanced and will not be available any time soon. 18 3D Systems cases [10] 7. Project Ara’s OS
Because of the driver code needed by UniPro, Project ARA phones will not run on Android. They will run in a sort of twin brother of the OS, this is because Android does not support dynamic hardware configurations. ARA will provide generic class drivers for UniPro modules and some hardware drivers will be available for downloaded through a software distribution system like Google Play, the ARA Configurator App [10]. The UI of this system is being developed by SoSo Limited and it will let the user browse through the world of ARA components, put them together and try them out in different configurations. Their main objective is to make it spatially intuitive since their goal market include people who have never own a phone before. 19 Configuration App Framework [10] 7. Conclusions
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One field that is benefitting from this project is 3D printing. With all this research and development, some breakthroughs are bound to happen in this field. Specialized technology such as UniPro and M­PHY has made the development of this device not only possible but also efficient, and able to last for future development. This is the first step towards modular devices in general. A lot of the technology used in Project ARA can be used in other items. One of them is the electropermanent magnet. It might not be possible for the modular market to settle so quickly. The prototype will be launch next year on April and only one developer’s conference has been held. However, the users have shown a lot of interest in the product and with this prototype’s receive in the market, new companies or individuals might get interested in the development of modules. The success, as stated before, is tightly connected to the variety of modules and brands that the user might be able to acquire. With more options, the user will be able to actually create a phone according to its needs. It is also important that the platform that allows the user to manage all its modules is intuitive enough for new smartphone users. Otherwise, the incapability of its understanding and management might produce a loss of interest by these users. 20 References
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72.html [7] PÉREZ, Alex. Smartphone modular Xiaomi Magic Cube. 10/10/2013 http://www.movileschinos.eu/noticias/xiaomi­magic­cube/ [8]BLOCKS. Choosebloks. 2014. http://www.chooseblocks.com/ [9] CHAN, Norman. Tested Explains: How Google's Project Ara Smartphone Works. 15/04/2014 http://www.tested.com/tech/smartphones/460765­tested­explains­how­googles­project­ara­sma
rtphone­works/ [10] GOOGLE ATAP. Project Ara Developers Conference Day 1. 15/04/2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2OEKL1w__4 [11] GOOGLE ATAP. Project Ara Developers Conference Day 2. 15/04/2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8yzJhe­BA [12] MIPI ALLIANCE. UniPro(SM) Specifications. 2014. http://mipi.org/specifications/unipro­specifications 21 [13] MIPI ALLIANCE. Physical Layer Specifications. 2014. http://mipi.org/specifications/physical­layer [14] DEYLE, Travis. Electropermanent Magnets. 7/12/2010 http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/12/07/electropermanent­magnets­programmable­magnets­zer
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