A group of engineers led by a computer engineer professor of Brigham Young University created a protocol that significantly extends the distance a Wi-Fi-enabled device can send and receive signals. What’s more, the device requires no new hardware to enhance the signal range. On-Off Noise Power Communication (ONPC), as it is called, is programmed right on top of the existing Wi-Fi protocol using the same hardware.
The impressive engineering innovation works for loT (Internet of Things) devices, such as motion detectors and door sensors. It can extend the distance that the loT devices can be installed from a Wi-Fi access point by over 60 meters (nearly 197 feet)!
Phil Lundrigan, BYU assistant professor of computer engineering, said:
That’s the really cool thing about this technology: it’s all done in software. In theory, we could install this on almost any Wi-Fi-enabled device with a simple software update.
To maintain a signal, Wi-Fi requires speeds of at least one megabit per second (1 Mbps). The “ONPC” protocol, however, can maintain a signal on as low as 1 bit per second. That’s one-millionth of the data speed required by Wi-Fi!
To make this possible, Sneha Kasera of the University of Utah and Neal Patwari of Washington University (in St. Louis) adjusted the transmitter in a WiFi-enabled device. Their adjustment made it so the transmitter sent wireless noise in addition to data. The noise was a series of 1s and 0s.
This reprogramming essentially turned the signal of the transmitter on and off in a specific pattern. This pattern was distinguishable from the surrounding wireless noise, such as televisions, computers, cell phones. The Wi-Fi router knows that the sensor is still transmitting something, regardless of whether or not the data was being received.
Patwari said:
If the access point (router) hears this code, it says, ‘OK, I know the sensor is still alive and trying to reach me, it’s just out of range. It’s basically sending one bit of information that says it’s alive.
One bit of information is all that is necessary for many Wi-Fi enabled devices (the kind that needs an on/off message – like garage door sensors, sprinkler systems, or air quality monitors) to work.
The researchers tested the ONPC protocol with an application to manage the protocol they called “Stayin’ Alive.” It successfully extended the range of an off-the-shelf device 67 meters beyond the range of standard Wi-Fi.
The ONPC protocol is meant to supplement Wi-Fi, not replace it. For example, if Stayin’ Alive detects that the Wi-Fi device lost connection, it activates the ONPC to transmit data.
Lundrigan said:
We can send and receive data regardless of what Wi-Fi is doing; all we need is the ability to transmit energy and then receive noise measurements. We could apply this to cellular or Bluetooth as well.
The intention is for the device to be used to extend the range of wireless technologies, like a boost.
