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\title{Undergraduate Physics Thesis Proposal}
\author{Matthew Gray}
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\section*{Introduction}

A system of intrabody signalling has been developed in the Physics and
Media group at the Media Lab.  This system, referred to as ``Personal
Area Networking'' (PAN) was developed in prototype by Tom Zimmerman.
The system works by electrostatically driving the body through
electrodes which are capacitavely coupled to the body.

\par

By modulating this signal, data can be effectively transmitted through
the body.  Currently, prototype versions of this system exist, but the
understanding of the constraints of the system are limited.  The
system is currently limited to a few geometries and there is very
little understanding of the noise sources and limitations.

\section*{Description of Proposed Work}

The goals of this thesis are to develop a more reliable prototype
system and develop a numerical simulation of the system.  Given a more
flexible and reliable prototype, a variety of data encoding schemes
can be tried as well as collecting experimental data on a variety of
geometries.  Specific encoding strategies to be tried include
traditional AM and FM schemes as well as some more sophisticated
techniques, so far to specifically include differential phase shift
keying. By developing a detailed numerical model of the system, we
hope to better understand the limits of PAN, in terms of the noise
features of the system and the effect of varied geometries.

\par

While the development of the prototype system will be valuable, it
will not be the primary focus of this thesis.  This thesis will focus
on the development of the mathematical model for simulation of PAN.
The full model will incorporate a successive over-relaxation (SOR)
electric field solver, a circuit solver, and thermal noise model for
the human body.

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This work will be completed for graduation in June, 1997 under the
supervision of Dr. Neil Gershenfeld in the Physics and Media Group of
the MIT Media Lab.



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