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Powering the next Billion devices with wi-fi

Published:21 February 2017Publication History
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Abstract

We present the first power over Wi-Fi system that delivers power to low-power sensors and devices and works with existing Wi-Fi chipsets. We show that a ubiquitous part of wireless communication infrastructure, the Wi-Fi router, can provide far field wireless power without significantly compromising the network's communication performance. Building on our design, we prototype battery-free temperature and camera sensors that we power with Wi-Fi at ranges of 20 and 17 ft, respectively. We also demonstrate the ability to wirelessly trickle-charge nickel--metal hydride and lithium-ion coin-cell batteries at distances of up to 28 ft. We deploy our system in six homes in a metropolitan area and show that it can successfully deliver power via Wi-Fi under real-world network conditions without significantly degrading network performance.

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          cover image Communications of the ACM
          Communications of the ACM  Volume 60, Issue 3
          March 2017
          89 pages
          ISSN:0001-0782
          EISSN:1557-7317
          DOI:10.1145/3055102
          • Editor:
          • Moshe Y. Vardi
          Issue’s Table of Contents

          Copyright © 2017 ACM

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          New York, NY, United States

          Publication History

          • Published: 21 February 2017

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