Novel technology uses Wi-Fi router to send signals to power devices

Wi-Fi routers could soon be used to wirelessly power devices in households through the energy from untapped, ambient signals. Engineers developed a new technology, called Power Over Wi-Fi, or PoWiFi, system that utilises signals to operate low-power devices without degrading the quality and speed of data transmission.

The technology was designed to co-exist as a Wi-Fi router and a power source. Sensors were also developed for devices to harvest the power from Wi-Fi signals.

Engineers from University of Washington believe that PoWiFi could potentially promote the development of the “Internet of Things.” Small computing sensors would be attached to cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, air conditioners and mobile devices, to allow devices to "talk" to each other.

"For the first time we've shown that you can use Wi-Fi devices to power the sensors in cameras and other devices," lead author Vamsi Talla, a UW electrical engineering doctoral student, said in a press release.

In proof-of-concept experiments, PoWiFi system allowed a low-power Omnivision VGA camera to capture an image every 35 minutes. The router was placed 17 feet away from the camera.

The system also re-charged a battery of a Jawbone Up24 wearable fitness tracker for 2.5 hours. The PoWiFi system was tested in six homes.

In households, users reported that they didn't notice any deterioration in Web page loading or video streaming experiences while the router provides energy to other devices using signals. The result indicates that the system could successfully provide power via Wi-Fi in real-world conditions without affecting network performance, researchers said.

In the tests, the system only delivered relatively small amounts of power to devices. However, UW engineers said that they could potentially improve the PoWiFi system into a more efficient and robust technology.

The research is to be presented in December at the Association for Computing Machinery's CoNEXT 2015 conference in Germany.

"In the future, PoWiFi could leverage technology power scaling to further improve the efficiency of the system to enable operation at larger distances and power numerous more sensors and applications," said co-author Shyam Gollakota, assistant professor of computer science and engineering.

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