Wake-Up Radio Impact in Self-Sustainability of Sensor and Actuator Wireless Nodes in Smart Home Applications

Abstract

T his wor k discusses the impact of W ake-Up Radio (W uR) technology to extend the battery life on sensor and actuator nodes in a smart home scenario. T he focus is on nodes that harvest energy from light or a temperature gradient and implement D ASH7, an open-source low-power protocol supporting both query-response and beaconing communication models. A prototype W uR is used, with a quiescent cur rent less than 1 µ A and a sensitivity of-38 dBm compatible with indoor applications. E xperimental data show that integrating W uR is not convenient in nodes that need to send a message to the networ k coordinator periodically, e.g. sensor nodes implementing beaconing communication models. O n the contrary, in request-response mode, integrating the W uR, the average actuator cur rent consumption reduces from 35 µ A down to 6 µ A during a reference period where no data or commands are exchanged between the networ k coordinator and the node. T hanks to the W uR, we find that an average light intensity of 150 lux throughout daytime and less than 14 min of a temperature gradient of 10°C between the hot and cold side of a thermoelectric generator are sufficient to turn the actuator nodes for water flooding and smart heating control into an energetically autonomous mode.

Fly, Wake-up, Find: UAV-based Energy-efficient Localization for Distributed Sensor Nodes

“…However, UWB has high power consumption when active (i.e., hundreds of mW). A viable option to overcome the UWB's high power consumption is to combine it with an ultra-low-power (i.e., a few μW) always-on receiver, such as Wake-Up Radio (WUR) technology [16,17]. WUR enables pure asynchronous communication that allows the sensor node to operate in sleep mode and wake up only when useful data transmission is required -e.g., when the UAV comes close.…”

A Review of Energy Harvesting Techniques for Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs)

“…Of course, all of the building blocks are ultra-low-power components so to overcome to the little amount of harvestable energy coming from environmental radio frequency signals. Despite it, the prototype is capable to operate by intercepting signals within a radius of 17 m. Energy harvesting could be the key for achieving completely autonomous sensors especially when such devices are designed to operate along with a wake-up radio triggering their functioning only when a wake-up packet is received as it is presented in [88]. Therein, the same prototype that was beforehand illustrated in [86] is equipped with wake-up radios and the relative impact on the nodes lifetime extension is discussed.…”

“…Of course, the wake-up radio definitely needs to be meticulously designed so to be as low power as possible in order to not significantly undermine the energy balance resulting form the harvesters. For instance, the wake-up radio that is adopted in [88] only draws up to 1 µA.…”

Advanced Monitoring Systems Based on Battery-Less Asset Tracking Modules Energized through RF Wireless Power Transfer

“…Maintenance in WSNs is not just an expense concern; it can also involve complexities in terms of safety and access, and some environments may simply be too hot for reliable battery operation. In common working conditions [25], a substantial reduction in battery power consumption can be achieved by reducing or eliminating standby power [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], which can directly translate into longer system lifetime, further miniaturization, and reduced maintenance intervention frequencies. Maintenance of battery-powered nodes can also be facilitated by implementing over-the-distance wireless battery charging using radio frequency (RF) wireless power transfer (WPT) [35][36][37][38][39][40].…”