Powering the next billion devices with wi-fi

Abstract

We present the first power over Wi-Fi system that delivers power to low-power sensors and devices and works with existing Wi-Fi chipsets. Specifically, we show that a ubiquitous part of wireless communication infrastructure, the Wi-Fi router, can provide far field wireless power without significantly compromising the network's communication performance. Building on our design, we prototype battery-free temperature and camera sensors that we power with Wi-Fi at ranges of 20 and 17 feet respectively. We also demonstrate the ability to wirelessly trickle-charge nickel---metal hydride and lithium-ion coin-cell batteries at distances of up to 28 feet. We deploy our system in six homes in a metropolitan area and show that it can successfully deliver power via Wi-Fi under real-world network conditions without significantly degrading network performance.