Tech Study of Chip-Chan

== Introduction
================

Hiya chippie. I see technological concepts thrown around by chip-chan's followers quite a lot. Knowing just enough about RFID and radio to be dangerous (I am by NO means an expert, and please correct me if any of this is wrong!), I'd like to clarify a couple things. First off, what exactly is an RFID chip? Well, it's a device with an antenna in it that can broadcast and receive information via radio waves. There's two kinds, passive, and active. A *passive* chip is the cheaper kind. It is *passive* because it has no power source of its own on-chip. When an RFID reader passes by it with a "Hello, passive RFID tag, what do you have to say" signal, the actual electromagnetic wave itself is used to power the device for long enough to respond to the RFID reader. The advantage? It's super cheap, and can be used indefinitely since it's power is external. The disadvantage? Your RFID reader must be right up near the darn thing in order to for the electromagnetic (EM) wave to have enough oompf to power it. This is the kind of chip used in supermarkets, and frequently in pets. Then there's *active* chips, which are generally more powerful and expensive, and have an on-chip power source. The benefit: They're always broadcasting and they have a much longer range. The drawback: They're expensive and *their batteries run out.*

Now, if we're trying to put chippy to sleep, all we need is an *antenna* to receive some kind of signal to tell the evil sleep machine to start... doing whatever it does.

== RTLS via RFID
=================

So why an RFID tag at all? Well, the purpose of that would be to make the sleep machine into a real time locating system (RTLS) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_locating_system That way we can track chippy all the time. This means we're using an active chip. Why? Because we don't know where chippy will be, so it must have powerful range. Passive chips just don't have the kick to be able to transmit long distance. How long distance? Well according to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID#Operation, up to about 656 feet, line-of-sight. If we want to do it through a standard wall, we could squeeze out maybe ~131 ft of range (assuming a linear relationship, based on this article http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/2643/2). Not bad. The issue? It runs on batteries! and it's HUGE. Take a look at this video which uses the Parco UWB RFID active tag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNj5zgXnlo
that's posted in 2012, which means that's about as good as it gets as of right now. However, if we are going this route, we can use it both for RTLS AND for sending sleep commands since the tag has good range, power, and runs conveniently somewhere in the same band as 802.11. Sound familiar? That's what your wifi card uses to communicate, making an insidious mind controlling programmer's life might easy, and letting us use commercial off-the-shelf parts to develop the evil police officer's control system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11

But it doesn't add up I say! Yes. You *could* use a UWB active RFID tag "leg-side" for easy communications, but the issues outweigh the benefits. That thing is *HUGE.* It would take a really damn serious amount of squeezing to fit it in. And that's just the communications module! You still need room for the actual sleep inducer and microcontroller! Even scaling back to a shorter range (~300ft and lower, line of sight http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1088) active UWB tag, you can go down to about 1 square inch. That's more feasible, but smaller tag means less range AND less room for a battery. How long has chip-chan been posting for? Wouldn't the battery on an active tag have run out by now? Yes, arguably the officer could come in every now and then, cut her leg open and replace the battery, but that's just not believable, imo.

Unless unless unless, it's a passive tag. "But wait," you say, "Wouldn't the cop have to be square up against her to use something like that?" Good. You've been listening. That is the case UNLESS there's an RFID scanner array hidden in her apartment somewhere. What that'll do, is keep the possibility of chip chan's leg being near an antenna at any given time very high, and that tech has no size constraint (within reason) and if, say, placed in a wall, could be powered right off the building's standard wall electricity. In addition to that, I'd go the whole 9 yards and throw in an antenna in the wall such as an 802.1x system that would allow me to check chippy's location from the street. With a big ol' antenna, the evil police officer could check her location at any time.

So that's feasible, it would keep the chip size nice and tiny, and would last forever. An easy to miss detail here is that we could only know chippy's location if she was IN THE APARTMENT.

Alternatively, chippy might have a gps system instead of an RFID tag inside her, however I know very little about GPS systems except for one thing: they require line-of-sight to the sky. That's right. Your gps will not work if you're inside and not near a window. So if I were an evil mastermind, I wouldn't use it. And it would require even more power.

So let's review. In our hypothetical system, we've got real-time localization via a passive RFID tag, an array of RFID scanners and possibly a router or repeater http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_repeater in the wall.

== Command Antenna & Microcontroller
=====================================

However, since we couldn't opt for the active RFID tag, we can't use that to send sleep commands. We could just use a regular old *receive-only* antenna, like the one in your car. If it's straight, it could run all the way up her leg. And then, all that's left is the guts of the device. It would need a tiny computer. And computers get tiny. http://www.robotshop.com/Images/big/en/sfe-arduino-fio.jpg Pictured left is the Arduino Fio microcontroller. It's a teeny tiny computer that works as a prototyping platform for amateur developers before they're ready to lock their system into a chip. That would be the brains. It would take the signal from the antenna, process it, and then start up the voodoo machine that puts chippy to sleep. Still, this too would need power. Couldn't we just power it by inductance just like our passive rfid tag? Highly doubtful. That would take some real sustained power to keep the system running long enough to work it's evil magic on chip chan. As for batteries, even a car battery wouldn't be able to keep going and going long enough to knock out chippy for all these years. Think about, say, your iPod, and how quickly THAT runs out of juice. That'd be small enough to implant, but it doesn't go the distance.

== Sustainable Power Source
============================

So how do we power chip chan's evil sleep machine? Here's a few ways other devices go the distance with sustainable long-term power:
1) Kinetic Power: You might already be wearing the answer around your wrist. http://www.squireswatches.com/Question%20in%20Time/BATTERY-LESS%20WATCHES.htm These wrist watches are powered by movement. A simmilar system could be powered by chippy walking around. It would take some doing though, depending on how much juice it takes to put our poor heroine under. Arguably, it's possible.
2) Friction Power: In a much less pleasant scenario, the system could rub against her muscles when they contract, causing lots of pain, muscle deterioration, and evetually her body building a protective bubble around the device rendering it useless. This one's no good.
3) Blood Power: "Whoa whoa whoa. BLOOD POWER? Someone's been playing too much Deus Ex." Well believe it or not, science is actually working on a system like this. http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=22126.php Now if you're willing to take my word, or do a little detective work on your own, last time I checked this form of technology couldn't quite produce enough energy to be used in practical applications, but I can't quite seem to find the article I originally read on this... So, unless you, my dear reader, prove me wrong, I'm going to eliminate this as a possibility. However one eerie consequence of the use of too much blood sugar would be Hypoglycemia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia  which can lead to falling unconscious...
4) Other methods I won't consider can be read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_harvesting
I don't consider them because to me, they don't seem feasible for implantation, or just don't fit the given situation.

So it looks like Kinetic Power is the one feasible explanation.

== Black-Box Sleep Inducer
===========================

I will not go into guessing as to how a sleep inducing device, if one does indeed exist in chip-chan, would actually knock her out, since I can't even pretend to know that. I will posit a guess. If there is indeed some long-term system, I'd say it's a brain implant. That's the best I can do.

== Dead Man Switch
===================

We've got very far in developing a feasible system! We're well on our way to having a fully-designed system. Better order some chloroform on amazon, we'll be ready to roll this thing out in no time! But what if somehow our antenna breaks, or chippy destroys the RFID scanner array, or worse, the command antenna is compromised. In this scenario, I would incorporate a dead man switch system. If the command or RTLS antennae are destroyed for a long amount of time, the system would immediately activate and knock chippy out until she can be retrieved (or dies :x).


== Summary of Chip System
==========================
X Implated Chip System
> > Passive Millitary-grade RFID tag for RTLS
> > Kinetic Energy Harvesting system in as many limbs as possible
> > Microcontroller w/ dead-man switch feature
> > Black-Box Sleep Inducer
> > Command antenna running up leg
> > gps???

X Communications Array In Apartment
> > Passive RFID Scanner Array for RTLS
> > 802.1x command transceiver

X Control Module
> > A common laptop, smartphone, or tablet with wifi

== Price Range
===============
Specialist programmers, electrical engineers, surgeons, access to highly specialized hardware, AND development time means we're talking mafia payroll. This ain't quite something one could just cook up in their garage.

== Defeating the System & Escaping
===================================

Damn. Odds don't look good for chippy. However, it is potentially possible to break free. We're going to have to hope that there isn't a dead man switch here. If it was me, liberty or death, but it's not. So first off, here is how I would try to beat the system if I was chippy.
1) Get an RFID detector app for your smartphone. Yes. really. You can just download it off the app store. First, scan your body to locate the tag. Next, set it into a receiving mode (if available), and try to find any scanners in the apartment. So we've located the tag on the body. For this example, let's say it's in her ankle.
2) Get copper wire, and weave a mesh into a sock. This will create what's called a Faraday Cage and should block any EM waves, whether they're GPS or RFID. If you want, go the whole nine yards and do pants and a longsleeve shirt as well. If you really want to go above and beyond, weave it into a knit hat as well. That should cover all the bases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage
3) Purchase an electrical stun gun. Disassemble a computer hard drive and keep the rare earth magnet contained within. http://www.reuk.co.uk/OtherImages/inside-a-hard-disk-drive.jpg
4) Prepare to bug out. You're going to want to spend time preparing to leave. Start making comments online that you'll be going to a movie at some point. That will be your bug out day. Continue posting until the big day. Collect as much money as you can until then.
5) Bug out. Don your covert faraday cage clothes and either
a) get on the subway and ride it as far as possible. Before using this tactic, there will be cameras. In the hood of a sweatshirt, put an IR LED system in such as one described here http://hacknmod.com/hack/blind-cameras-with-an-infrared-led-hat/ to blind any security cameras in the subway line. By being underground, any RFID or GPS systems implanted in you will be totally useless.
b) Get a taxi to take you as far as you're able to spend. This way, if there is a dead man switch, and it trips, the taxi driver may hopefully continue moving you to your destination until he realizes you are unconscious and bring you to a hospital. With the dead man switch down, it's not going up again. Hopefully in an attempt to diagnose you, they'll notice the device.
If you have a cell phone, leave it in the taxi or on the subway. If someone is using it for gps, hopefully someone else will steal the phone and become a decoy for you.
6) Once you've gone as far as you can go, enter a public restroom, such as one at a gas station. Enter a stall, and lock it. Run the rare earth magnet across your entire body slowly. This may destroy the chip. But just to be safe... Remove all metallic jewlery and the faraday clothes. Lie down with your head fully against the ground. Find the approximate location of the device and apply the stun gun to it. The antenna should hopefully conduct to the microcontroller, and a stun gun should have enough voltage to render the device useless. This may cause electrical burns at the location of the chip and antennae. Be prepared to treat such an injury. Also note that most stun guns release confetti with a serial number printed on them when they are fired. If this is the flavor of stun gun you are using, then be sure to tape a plastic bag around the front of the gun. This should catch the confetti. If any remains on the floor, pick it up. Be meticulous. Your life depends on it.
7) Continue moving. Stay out of crowded areas. Avoid cameras in stores. Avoid public transit from here on out. Avoid people. Lay low for a nice, long time. Do NOT immediately attempt to leave the country. Take on a new identity and slowly re-integrate with society.

cheers.