The Java Ring

A Java Ring is a wearable finger ring that contains a small microprocessor. The Java Ring is an extremely secure java powered electronic token with a continuously running, unalterable real time clock. It is a sort of smartcard that one could wear on a finger. Java Ring was first introduced at the Sun Microsystem's JavaOne conference in March 1998. It was launched by Dallas Semiconductor. The Java Ring is made of stainless-steel, 16 millimeters in diameter, that houses a 1-million transistor processor, called an iButton. The ring has 134 KB of RAM, 32 KB of ROM, and a java virtual machine, which is a piece of software that recognizes the java language and translates it for the user's computer system. It is a computerized ring that can be used to automatically unlock doors, store information or log on to computers.

The major component of this ring is iButton. The iButton is a self-powered computer chip with networking serial number housed in a 16mm stainless can. The iButton has an unique way of communication by touch contact of the button to a variety of read/write devices. iButton makes many capabilities which are limited to a stationary or hard wired computer and portable. Among these capabilities are user accessible memory, timekeeping, temperature measurement or logging, and encryption computation. It has the ability to perform large integer modular exponentiation at high speed which is central to RSA.

Each iButton has an unique address laser etched onto its chip inside the can. The address can be used as a key or identifier for each iButton.The iButton connects to computers with a blue dot receptor. Like a smart card, an iButton does not have an internal power source. It requires connection to a reader (Blue Dot Receptor) in order to be supplied with power and to receive input and send output. The receptor has an adapter that connects to the computer's serial, parallel, or USB port. Each receptor contains two blue dots to accommodates instance where multiple iButtons are required. Communication is established when an iButton is touched to the blue dot receptor. When not in contact with an receptor, the state of the Java virtual machine and memory is maintained with lithium backup power.



The Java iButton is simply the latest and most complex descendant of a long line of products that have proven themselves to be highly successful in the marketplace. With its stainless steel armor, it offers the most durable packaging for a class of products that likely will suffer heavy use and abuse as personal possessions. The iButton form factor permits attachment to a wide variety of personal accessories that includes rings, watchbands, wallets, bracelets, and necklaces, so the user can select a variation that suits his or her lifestyle.



References:
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci836660,00.html
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-jewelry.htm/printable
http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~dinoj/smartcard/javaring.html