The Need

With the advent of digital communications platforms such as mobile devices, information is able is to be disseminated almost instantly, to anywhere in the world. However, some aspects of modern infrastructure have not caught up to the information age, with facilities such as supermarkets and airports relying on loudspeakers to inform both customers and employees of events and updates. However, this method of data transmission is broad-based and cannot disseminate relevant data selectively, per individual. Additionally, customers and employees alike often experience discontent with loud, irrelevant messages and advertisements being broadcasted. Therefore, a way to privately communicate with individual customers and employees, while maintaining the current speaker system, would transform the way information is shared within large public environments.

The Technology

Researchers at The Ohio State University, led by Dr. C. Emre Koksal, have developed a technology that enables the precise transmission of data to specific locations, utilizing existing audio systems in buildings to communicate with speakers in mobile devices. This system does not use any separate wireless communication equipment, and is able to leverage parts of the audio spectrum (ultrasound frequencies) that are within range of standard audio systems, but beyond the audible range of the human ear. This can be done through a software package that decodes data in real time, in addition to a simple transmitter that allows for communication between existing, facility audio systems and the speakers on an end-user’s mobile device.

Turf whisperer’s awarded patent covers all aspects of reliable coherent acoustic communication, including frame and symbol-level synchronization, frequency and phase mismatch recovery, and the use of pilot sequences to achieve those. Utilizing the patent, with proper integration of the pilots, Turf Whisperer is demonstrated to achieve very low error rates in multiple kbps communication over short distances (~1m) and 300 bps communication over 9m using all off the shelf components. Without the claims on the patent of Turf Whisperer, the only option remains non-coherent (energy) detection, with which high rates cannot be achieved.

Commercial Applications

• Supermarket Chains
• Event Venues
• Hospitals
• Airports
• Wholesalers
• Consumer Goods Retailers

Benefits/Advantages

• Does not require the replacement or significant retooling of speaker systems in public facilities, minimizing system integration costs.
• WiFi, Bluetooth and other wireless communications will not receive any interference.
• Reduces the public's exposure to EM waves.
• Connectionless payments
• Short-distance high-volume data transfer
• Applications requiring high-data rates

Research Interests

Dr. C. Emre Koksal is a Professor at Ohio State's department of electrical and computer engineering. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in 1998 and 2002, respectively, in electrical engineering and computer science.