Skip to main content

Our Batteries are Saved! This Wi-Fi Uses 10,000 Times Less Power

By
TAMING THE HUNGER FOR POWER
Wi-Fi is everywhere in our daily lives, invisibly connecting laptops to printers, allowing smartphones to make calls, stream movies, and letting online gamers battle it out. The downside to this is that connecting to Wi-Fi consumes significant energy resources for devices, and this often leads to drained batteries.




Now, a team of University of Washington computer scientists and electrical engineers have created a method that would allow the generation of Wi-Fi transmissions at 10,000 times less power compared to conventional methods. Their project, which they dubbed as Passive Wi-Fi, could potentially unseat existing energy-efficient wireless platforms such as Bluetooth Low Energy and Zigbee.
“We wanted to see if we could achieve Wi-Fi transmissions using almost no power at all,” said co-author Shyam Gollakota. “That’s basically what Passive Wi-Fi delivers. We can get Wi-Fi for 10,000 times less power than the best thing that’s out there.”
Passive Wi-Fi can transmit Wi-Fi signals at bit rates of up to 11 megabits per second that can be decoded and used on any of the existing billions of devices with Wi-Fi connectivity. While these speeds are lower than the maximum current Wi-Fi standards allow, it is still 11 times higher than the speed available through Bluetooth.




Not only could mainstream adoption of this new development save battery life on today’s devices, it could add to the growing momentum behind the “Internet of Things.” In this reality, household devices and wearable sensors will use Wi-Fi to communicate and act smartly without worrying about details such as power consumption.
 PASSIVE YET ACTIVE




To accomplish this, the team decoupled the digital and analog operations involved in radio transmissions. While the digital operations have long been improving in terms of energy efficiency, analog operations have lagged behind. What Passive Wi-Fi does is transfers these analog, power intensive functions (like signal transmission) to a single device in the network that will be plugged into an outlet.
An array of sensors produces the packets of information needed by Wi-Fi with minimal power by passively reflecting and absorbing the signal emitted by the device. In a trial in real-world communications, the team found that a smartphone was able to maintain communications with passive Wi-Fi sensors at distances of 100 feet or roughly 30 meters.




“All the networking, heavy-lifting and power-consuming pieces are done by the one plugged-in device,” said co-author Vamsi Talla. “The passive devices are only reflecting to generate the Wi-Fi packets, which is a really energy-efficient way to communicate.”
Because the passive sensors are creating actual Wi-Fi packets, this means that they can be used in conjunction with current Wi-Fi devices without any needed modification. These sensors could communicate with routers, smartphones, tablet, or Wi-Fi chipsets in computers.
All of this is accomplished by the passive sensor without need of any specialized equipment.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DoubleBack adds a sliding pod to VW's Transporter van

By
It was over thirty years ago that Volkswagen first started offering "pop tops" on its camper vans. In the years since, the soft-sided interior height-extenders have become a common sight on VW vans parked in campgrounds all over the world. Now, Welsh company Overlander Motorhomes is offering what it sees as the logical compliment to the pop top - it's the DoubleBack, a sliding insulated pod that extends the interior length of Volkwagen's T5 Transporter van.    The company starts with a stock 2.0TDI 140PS Long Wheelbase T5 van, then adds its patented DoubleBack pod package. When on the road, the pod stays tucked up inside the back of the vehicle. Once the driver stops and decides they'd like to settle down someplace, however, it electrically extends out of the rear in under 45 seconds, adding approximately two meters (6.5 feet) of useable interior space. Two legs also fold out from the bottom of the pod, which allow it to support up 600 kilograms (1,323 l...
Post a Comment
Read more

AQUA TEK S – the first waterproof, ruggedized, solar-powered battery case for iPhone

By
If you're hoping to attract investors to get yet another iPhone case to an already crowded market, it had better do more than just protect a phone from bumps and scrapes. Snow Lizard Products is giving itself the best possible chance of raising funds for its new AQUA TEK S case for  iPhone 4  and  4S  with an offering that not only boasts ruggedized protection, but also includes a solar panel, built in battery, and is waterproof up to 20 ft (6 m). Aimed at outdoorsy types who want to stay connected when heading off the beaten track, the case features a waterproof and dirt resistant poly-carbonate ruggedized casing that packs its own built-in battery to extend the life of the the iPhone. The company is still investigating the best battery to fit the form factor so the capacity of the unit hasn't yet been finalized, but it will be able to recharge from the power of the Sun via the solar panel built into the rear of the case. The encased iPhone can also be recharg...
Post a Comment
Read more

8 Little-Known Facts About Steve Jobs!

By
FBI has just released some interesting revelations about Steve Jobs.     Saturday, February 11, 2012 :   Forensic Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) has released a 191-page 'bundle of papers' which the agency compiled on late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs way back in 1991. This lengthy document comprises more than 30 interviews of friends, neighbours, family, former business associates and Jobs himself. The interviews were part of a background check for an appointment to the ex-president George HW Bush's Export Council. Let's have a look at the eight interesting revelations from the FBI's documents... Distorted truth  There were many individuals who questioned Steve Jobs' honesty. They stated that Jobs used to twist the truth and play around with reality in order to achieve his goals. One of the persons told FBI agents that the Apple co-founder's enormous power caused him to lose sight of honesty and integrity thus leading him to distort the truth.  App...
Post a Comment
Read more