Can IoT Devices be Powered up by Future Indoor Wireless Networks?

Tianxiang Li, Mohammad Hossein Mazaheri, Kalaivani Kamalakannan, Haofan Lu, Omid Abari

Abstract: The number of wireless access points (such as WiFi and 5G) is rapidly growing in indoor environments. In this paper, we ask whether these indoor wireless access points can transfer power to IoT devices besides their communication capability. In particular, our vision is that most indoor access points will be underutilized during nights, and hence, why not use them to transfer power to IoT devices during those times. To evaluate this idea, we first perform a comprehensive study on the feasibility of using different frequency bands to transfer power. Our analysis shows that high-frequency signals (such as mmWave) are the best candidates to transfer power, and have the potential to power IoT devices up to 15 meters. However, achieving this requires addressing multiple challenges. In this paper, we review some of these challenges and propose solutions, enabling IoT devices to harvest energy from mmWave signals with spending (almost) zero energy.

External IDs:dblp:conf/wmcsa/Li0KLA24