"Stayin & # 039; alive, stayin & # 039; alive ": the new protocol will increase the radius of possible Wi-Fi use by 60 meters
/ Unsplash / Jadon Kelly
How did the protocol appear
Engineers from Brigham Young University in the USA worked on a research project in the field of medicine, which required the installation of sensors in the homes of participants in the experiment. The sensors transmitted monitoring data over Wi-Fi and were located at the reception edge of the router.
Sometimes IoT devices “dropped out” of the network for a long time. Once, the laundry basket prevented the sensor from working — it blocked the signal. Therefore, specialists from the university needed a mechanism that determined whether the device was functional or broke and needs to be replaced.
The solution was the new ONPC RF protocol – On-Off Noise Power Communication. It runs on top of 802.11 Wi-Fi and determines the status of a device based on frequency fluctuations in network noise. The new approach allowed working with gadgets that are installed outside the standard radius of the Wi-Fi router and are 67 meters away from it.
How does he work
When the sensor transmits data, the total noise level in the wireless network increases. Conversely, noise is reduced when packet broadcasting ceases. University engineers have developed a software controller for routers, which takes this feature into account when monitoring the network.
The system was called Stayin 'alive and it manages the functionality of ONPC. When the controller realizes that it has not received data from the IoT device for a long time, it switches the router to ONPC mode and searches for special identification noise on the air. This noise is generated by turning the smart device transmitter on and off at regular intervals.
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The sequence is broadcast every time the IoT device disconnects from Wi-Fi. When the controller detects the corresponding identifier on the air, it concludes that the device is working – it’s simply not a network. Otherwise, he sends a notification to the administrator about a potential breakdown.
ONPC Features
The developers say that their protocol so far has low bandwidth – it transmits only one bit per second. However, they will continue to work on the technology. In the future, the system will find application not only as a mechanism for monitoring the performance of smart devices.
On its basis, you can build garage door sensors, air quality monitors, irrigation systems and many other small smart gadgets. A single-bit channel is enough for them to turn on and off.
The authors also note that in some cases, ONPC can reduce network bandwidth by 20%. The culprit is the CSMA multiple access technology, which pauses frame transfer when changing the router mode. Although the speed drops only for devices in the immediate vicinity of the Wi-Fi access point.
Similar solutions
In addition to ONPC, there are other solutions for transmitting data over long distances. Among the most promising can be noted the MAC protocol LoRaWAN, which is used to collect data from the gadgets of the Internet of things: counters and sensors. At the end of the summer, engineers from Spain broke the record for transmission distance for LoRaWAN devices. They sent a packet to a distance of 766 kilometers. The broadcast was conducted from the rheostat to the base station at a ski resort in the mountains.
/ Unsplash / Webaroo
But although the LoRaWAN protocol is capable of transmitting data over much greater distances than Wi-Fi, it uses lower frequencies and requires a specific infrastructure for operation.
ONPC, in turn, is compatible with conventional routers. A team of engineers from Brigham Young University even notes that in the future their solution can be applied to other wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth. True, it is still unknown how the protocol will manifest itself in an environment with strong "noise pollution" like shopping centers, where a large number of smartphones are concentrated.
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