Journal - Week 7

 

::: Day 1 - Monday 07/18/05 :::

 Today I looked back at all my code for the RFID and fixed a lot of problems. I spent the morning and some of the afternoon ensuring that all the bytes I am using to construct a command for the RF reader are correct. It took some time to redo some parts of the code, but at the end I was at least certain that my approach is right and working.

The rest of the afternoon I spent trying to figure out the CRC but it is still not working. I tried many different implementation and searched for information online but no luck. Hopefully I will have progress tomorrow.

The plan for tonight is for Natalie and I to go to the store and then eat dinner in the dorm, watching Hell's Kitchen.

 

::: Day 2 - Tuesday 07/19/05 :::

I spent the morning working on the CRC calculation code. I had decided to look again at the C implementation I had and see if I can figure out what the problem with the Java version was. I went to the Java Forums and posted, hoping something will come up. A few people tried to help but nothing significant at first. The one guy asked that I put up the whole CRC code both in C and Java, and voila! he found an error that was so small I had missed by myself. Instead of i=1 I had i =0 in one loop. A small thing but like often turns out in CS very important. I fixed that and I was able to get the correct CRC values for 3 commands. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to celebrate - the commands involving the tagID were not coming out with the correct CRC.

At lunch I met with Natalie and Laura - the two other DMP students here at UMASS. We chatted for a while about grad school and then I headed back to my building.

I talked to Vinod and he sent me a PPT presentation to look over. He is going to present at the research meeting on Friday and Prof. Gao e-mailed him slides on which he should base the presentation. The topic was Time Synchronization in Wireless Sensor Networks. After going over the slides I did some searching online. I was interested in finding more about GPS and how it is used to Time synch. I found a really well done and easily accessible website on the topic (the link is on the Links page). 

 

::: Day 3 - Wednesday - 07/20/05  :::


Today I continued work on the CRC hoping I will finally get it to work. I tried different tricks in trying to fix the problem with the tagID but I did not have much success. Vinod suggested that I look for contact information of the company that created the kit we are using (SkeyeTek) and write to them. I found the website and the technical support page which had a contact e-mail. I send a message detailing my problem and asking for help. The response followed very shortly after. The guy from tech support asked that I send him the method I use for the CRC calculation and sample byte array that gives the wrong CRC.

After I came back from lunch, I sat down the write a small Java program which would best demonstrate the method I use and the problem I run into. Basically I declared 2 byte arrays; one was holding a command without a tagID in it and the other had a tagID. Then I had the CRC method and I called it on both array, printing out the results. This way one could clearly see the problem I am running into. (To view the Java file please click here.)

After e-mailing the SkyeTek tech support again, I had to wait for a response. During that time I started thinking about my final report. It is true that I have 3 more weeks but there is no harm is starting to prepare early. I decided to write up a brief overview of Bluetooth since that was what the first part of the project was concentrating on.

For the rest of the day I worked on that and looked over some code. Unfortunately I did not get a response from SkyeTek. Maybe tomorrow...


::: Day 4 - Thursday - 07/21/05 :::


This morning I still had no work from the technician from SkeyeTek. That is why I spent most my time doing other, not so important tasks. I look online for some papers on energy-efficiency and mobile devices that might be worth reading. I cleaner up my desk, which was quite necessary after collecting pieces of paper for 7 weeks. I thought more about my final paper; I also went online and looked at final papers of previous DMP students.

A little before lunch Vinod gave me an iPaq to play with. He said he is hoping to get some CD with Java software at the end of this week or beginning of next. Then we can start doing some work with Java on the iPaq running Windows.

At lunch I went to Natalie's house. It is a really nice place, too bad the other girls who live there don't take care of it. Natalie made quesadillas for lunch and after we ate we headed back to work.

I checked my e-mail right after I came back and saw that I had a message from Skyetek. The guy who I am communicating with had suggested I use 'unsigned int' instead of a plain 'int' to store the CRC value in. May be helpful if it wasn't that Java has NO such thing as 'unsigned int'? So I had to write back to him. I got no response while I was in the lab.

Before Vinod left, he told me I should look up information on Insignia Jeode which is a Java platform for small devices (like PDAs). I was lucky to find some good documentation, but still have not had the chance to look through everything.

My plan for tomorrow is to fight some more with the CRCs, familiarize myself with Jeode, and go to the research meeting where Vinod is presenting. 

::: Day 5 - Friday 07/22/05 :::

I came to work this morning knowing that I will not be able to work on the RFID stuff. Then when Vinod came in became clear that I will not be dealing with the Jeode software either because Vinod had accidentally left it home. 

So I spent the morning reading articles and documentation on Jeode. I also read a paper of a German student who did some brief experimentation on a Compaq iPAQ with Jeode. 

I went out to quick lunch around 12:15 and had to be back by 1pm. I met Vinod after lunch and the two of us headed to the other engineering building where the research meetings take place. Today was Vinod's turn to present a paper so I went with him for moral support.

After the meeting was over I went back to the lab and finished up a paper I had started reading. Then I had to go online and look for an outdated version of the Java Software Development Kit. It turns out that files for Jeode are better compiled with JDK 1.1.8. I found that and downloaded and installed it. I also had to write a simple Java program to make sure that it will compile and run.

Another thing I did today was downloading ActiveSync, which is a little piece of software for a PC that synchronizes a PDA and the PC. Installing that and plugging the iPAQ in the PC's USB port I was able to transfer files easily and synchronize various things. I played a little more with the iPAQ so I could get used to the environment, the settings, etc.

I've been quite excited about having the iPAQ on my desk because this is the first time I get to play with a PDA.

On a funnier note: 
A lesson I learned today is 'Don't try to boil eggs in the microwave at 8:30 in the morning.'
Then couple hours later I realized that even though one of the two eggs I boiled exploded while in the microwave and the other cracked, they still made pretty good lunch! Still, I think that from now on I will stick to the conventional stove.

Matt is coming today at 5pm and we are heading to Northampton for a concert. Chevelle, Taproot, and 30 Seconds to Mars are playing at the Pearl Street Nightclub. I know I like the bands, so I just hope they sound good live. And it will be a blast. More on the concert in tomorrows entry.

::: Day 6 - Saturday 07/23/05 :::

The concert last night was long and loud as expected. I felt bad for Matt having to stand there with me for over 4 hours and listen to music he doesn't really like. But I enjoyed it a lot. Even though he correctly noted that a lot of the Chevelle songs sound the same, I still liked it simple because I like their sound. The first too bands (30 seconds to Mars and Taproot) were not bad either. And I even got to touch the Taproot singer. I guess in the spirit of 'girliness', I now have to refuse to shower for a month :) 

This morning Matt and I were dead tired, but got up and took the bus to Boston. I decided to go because there was nothing really to do at UMASS by myself, and Matt would have left anyways.

So we got to Boston, took a nap, watched a movie and did some work. It was a fun day, but by 11pm I was snoring away on the bed.

 

::: Day 7 - Sunday 07/24/05 :::

I got up around 9:30 to walk with Matt to his job at school, then came back and finished up my Sunday morning sleep. Then as usual I hung around the apartment, met Matt for lunch and headed to the bus station at 4pm.

I got back to UMASS at 8:15pm which gave me just enough time to shower (yes yes, I did shower and clean off the Taproot sweat from the concert). Then just like any other Sunday, I watched Family Guy and American Dad. 

I was in bed by 11:30.

 

::: Week 1 ::: Week 2 ::: Week 3 ::: Week 4 ::: Week 5 ::: 

::: Week 6 ::: Week 7 ::: Week 8 ::: Week 9 ::: Week 10 :::

 

 

 

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Maria Kazandjieva - makazand@mtholyoke.edu - last update: 07/25/05