Enhancing IoT Communication and Localization via Smarter Antenna

TL;DR

Wi-Pro is introduced, a system which seamlessly integrates today's WiFi protocol with smart antenna design to enhance the communication and sensing capabilities of existing IoT devices and achieves up to 150\% data rate improvement, up to five times range improvement, accurate direction finding, and localization on single-chain IoT devices.

Abstract

The convergence of sensing and communication functionalities is poised to become a pivotal feature of the sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. This vision represents a paradigm shift in wireless network design, moving beyond mere communication to a holistic integration of sensing and communication capabilities, thereby further narrowing the gap between the physical and digital worlds. While Internet of Things (IoT) devices are integral to future wireless networks, their current capabilities in sensing and communication are constrained by their power and resource limitations. On one hand, their restricted power budget limits their transmission power, leading to reduced communication range and data rates. On the other hand, their limited hardware and processing abilities hinder the adoption of sophisticated sensing technologies, such as direction finding and localization. In this work, we introduce Wi-Pro, a system which seamlessly integrates today's WiFi protocol with smart antenna design to enhance the communication and sensing capabilities of existing IoT devices. This plug-and-play system can be easily installed by replacing the IoT device's antenna. Wi-Pro seamlessly integrates smart antenna hardware with current WiFi protocols, utilizing their inherent features to not only enhance communication but also to enable precise localization on low-cost IoT devices. Our evaluation results demonstrate that Wi-Pro achieves up to 150\% data rate improvement, up to five times range improvement, accurate direction finding, and localization on single-chain IoT devices.

Figures (17)

• Figure 1: Wi-Pro Overview. (a) Wi-Pro amplifies the signal transmitted or received by each IoT device in the direction of the access point and in the frequency used by that device to enhance the data rate and communication range. (b) Wi-Pro enables an IoT device with a single transceiver chain to localize other WiFi devices seamlessly.
• Figure 2: OFDM vs OFDMA Technology. OFDMA enables multiple users to share the channel simultaneously, where the data of each user is transmitted on a subset of the channel bandwidth.
• Figure 3: FSA Principle. (a) FSA is a passive structure which forms beams in different directions. The beam angle depends on the frequency of transmitted or received signal. (b) When the signal enters into the FSA structure, the signal experiences a linearly increasing phase shift at each antenna element, which combines the signal power constructively forming a beam. Specifically, the phase shift, which dictates the beam's direction, varies according to the signal frequency.
• Figure 4: Wi-Pro's Antenna Components
• Figure 5: Wi-Pro's antenna design