iButton

Presented by Under the guidance of

HARI.V Mrs. Shobha. K
1SG06EC026 Mrs. Padmavathi
 DEFINITION:
• The iButton is an electronic chip.
• It is armored in a 16mm stainless steel can.
• Digital circuits that ‘talk’ directly to other chips.
• Long and short pulses encode 1’s and 0’s.
• Every iButton produced has a unique serial number - no two
iButtons will ever have the same number.
• It is durable enough for a person to wear everyday on an
accessory like a ring, key chains,
wallet, watch, metal card or badge.
 SILICON MEDIA:
• Human-readable labels vs computer-readable
labels.
• Evolution of barcodes and large databases.
• Silicon media as labels that act as standalone
database.
• Can be attached to an object or carried by a person.
• Access to secure areas, health care records,
tracking of items, etc.
 Identification by touch:
• To reduce cost, extend the internal connections out to form
electrical contacts.
• Two-piece stainless steel can called MicrocanTM .

• The side makes a ground connection and face makes a data

connection for a simple, self aligning contact.
• 16mm button shape serves all iButtons.
• Button Shape is Self-Aligning with
Cup-Shaped Probes.
 Technology:
• No internal power source required.
• Energy is ‘stolen’ from the data line called parasitic power.

• Needs connection to reader for power and data transfer.

• A signaling protocol that can communicate bidirectionally over two
wires.
• Electrical interface reduced to a minimum.
• Transmission of information via
the same connection.
• The data line is designed as
an open drain output.
Chip built using CMOS technology for low static power consumption.
 iButton probe
• Requires momentary touch against a ‘two-contact’ metal
probe.
• Information is transferred between iButton and a probe.
• Two communication modes:
– Standard mode at 16 kbps.
– Overdrive mode at 142 kbps.
• Reads an iButton in less than 10 ms.
• iButton readers come with various upload capabilities from
direct PC upload cradle to Palm upload to direct Internet
upload cradles.
EXAMPLE OF A PROBE
Memory iButton devices:
• Minimum of 1 PC/master required.
• iButton Recorder – penshaped mobile
reader/writer.
• iButton Editor – hand-held computer that has
additional keyboard.
• Touch transporter – large capacity memory
iButton.
• Archive computer – keeps inventory of all
objects carrying iButtons.
Memory iButton devices (continued) :
Protocol:
• 1-Wire protocol is used.
• Half-duplex data transfer.
• Discretely defined time slots that are
independent of each other.
• Command word sent to iButton slave from the
master.
• Serial communication, starting with LSB.
Synchronization:
• Master and slave to be synchronised for data
transfer.
• Presence pulse - to indicate to the master the
iButton is ready.
• Reset pulse - given by the master requesting for
a presence pulse.
Data transfer:
• Command sent to slave – 1 and 0 timeslots.

• Data is read from the iButton using same rules.

• Master defines the beginning of timeslot by a write-

one time-slot.
• To transfer

– Logic 1, iButton makes no change.

– Logic 0, holds data line low.

 Alternative identification technologies:

1) Barcodes:
– Necessity of electromechanical printers
and electro-optical printers.
– Scanning speed, scanning angle, poor contrast or
dirt affect the process.
– Sunlight or other ambient light affects the read rate.
– Decoding is necessary as light must be converted to
electrical energy.
 Alternative identification technologies:
2) Magnetic stripes:
– Usage of analog signals.
– The stripes can be damaged by a brief
contact to other magnets.
– Strong fields can erase or damage data.
– Any dirt will damage the coil and the reader if
present during the swipe
– Precise alignment of card and smooth
movement necessary.
 Alternative identification technologies:
3) Chip-cards:
– Not designed for high resistance intermittent contacts.
– Sensitive to alignment and sequence of contacts.
– For economic reasons copper is used, which forms
oxide layer.
– Card malfunction and mechanical bending.
– Unsuited for labeling.
– Limited lifetime.
 Alternative identification technologies:

4) RF Tags:
– Energy consumption is quite high.
– Prone to interference from other transmitters.
– Availability of frequencies and allotment to
various applications.
– Electromagnetic waves affect human bodies.
– Comparatively larger in size.
 Other advantages
• Computer interface is built into the chip.
• Clam-shell steel container, the Microcan is suitable for
harsh environments.
• Programming using the same probe that reads it.

• Smaller, lighter and less expensive.

• Virtually no energy is needed to read information.

• Reading/writing needs only a single I/O line of the

computer.
 Applications
• Care Giver Services in Australia
• To measure temperature (for food storage and transport)
• Electronic ID (for physical access to buildings)
• Store e-cash (for purchases both in stores
and via the web).
• Digital Fleet Fueling at
Ryder systems Inc.
• Mass Transit in Istanbul, Turkey
• Parking Meters in Brazil
References:
1) www.maxim-ic.com › Products › iButton › Overview

2) www.maxim-ic.com/products/ibutton/applications/

3) www.wikipedia.org

4) whatis.techtarget.com

5) www.ibuttonlink.com

6) http://www.lothar.com/tech/iButtons/

7) http://www.dalsemi.com