IEEE 802.11-enabled wake-up radio system: design and performance evaluation

Abstract

Today, the vast majority of personal communication devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and logically wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access points feature IEEE 802.11 chipsets. In turn, wake-up radio (WuR) systems are used to reduce the significant energy waste that wireless devices cause during their idle communication mode. A novel WuR system is introduced that enables any IEEE 802.11-enabled device to be used as a WuR transmitter without requiring any hardware modification. The corresponding developed WuR receiver achieves a remarkably low power consumption of 10.8 µW and operates in the Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz band. By means of thorough physical tests, it is shown that the proposed IEEE 802.11-based WuR system enables important energy savings.