American researchers have developed a new wireless protocol that can extend the range of Wi-Fi devices by more than 60 meters, without the need for hardware modifications.
Noise On / Off Communication (ONPC) is programmed in the existing Wi-Fi protocol. But while Wi-Fi requires at least 1 Mbps to maintain a signal, ONPC can keep the signal as low as 1 bps.
Phil Lundrigan, assistant professor of computer engineering at BYU, with Neal Patwari of Washington University (in St. Louis) and Sneha Kasera of the University of Utah, made this adjustment by adjusting the transmitter on a Wi-Fi-enabled device to send wireless noise data.
Wifi extension
Essentially, they programmed a pattern of 1's and 0's, turning the signal on and off in a specific pattern. The router was able to detect this setup among the surrounding wireless noise and thus was able to tell that the transmitter was selling a signal, even if the data was not being received.
"It's really cool with this technology - it's all done in software," Lundrigan said. "In theory, we could install it on almost any Wi-Fi-enabled device with a simple software update."
"If the access point (the router) hears this code, it says, 'OK, I know the sensor is still alive and trying to communicate with me, it's out of my range." Patwari added. "It's basically sending a little bit of information that says he is alive. "
During testing, the researchers were able to extend the range of a commercially available 67-meter device.
Development is important because Wi-Fi is the most widely used communication technology in the smart home. And while 1bps isn't enough for sophisticated smart devices like wireless video surveillance cameras, it can also be enough to send a rudimentary on / off signal to a garage door or sprinkler system.
The researchers note that ONPC is a complement and not an alternative to Wi-Fi, but they also believe that it could be applied to other wireless technologies, such as LPWAN.
"We can send and receive data regardless of what Wi-Fi is doing - all we need is the ability to transmit power and then receive noise measurements," Lundrigan said. "We could also apply that to cell phones or Bluetooth."