Low powered wi fi

5 Low Power Wi-Fi modules for your IoT project

As the Internet of Things (aka IoT) is becoming more popular day by day, and as there are many kinds of IoT devices in any environment, in some cases, power consumption is a significant concern, since some of the devices work with low-capacity batteries or ones that you cannot charge very often. In those cases, lowering power consumption is the key to keep the devices running until their battery can be charged again, and maybe the key to success for the project.

One of the parts that most consumes power is the Wi-Fi chipset; this can be caused by many factors, such as:

• Powering the antenna
• Microprocessor
• Chipset firmware
• Reach of the antenna (or lack of it)

Because this is a problem that many IoT developers face, hardware companies are developing new low-power Wi-Fi chipsets with similar quality to the high-consumption ones, so the batteries last longer.

Here are some of the chipsets we have found interesting for IoT:

Redpine Lite-Fi

This device includes an ultra low power Wi-Fi processor and supports IEEE 802.11-n networks. It also offers backward compatibility with 802.11a/b/g standards. This is an excellent choice as it can be operated in multiple temperature environments from -40ºC to 85ºC. It supports several interfaces: SDIO v1.2/2.0, I2C, SPI, GPIO, and UART; and an essential feature: it supports WMM and WMM Power Save, so you are going able to transmit from single data, to VoIP, even video.

For more information about Redpine Lite-Fi, visit Redpine Lite-Fi RS9110

Marvell 88W8977 SoC

This is a great device that includes not only low power Wi-Fi but also Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It is a very versatile device and has a sleep and a standby mode, both for lowering power consumption. This module comes with dual-core CPUs that run at a maximum rate of 160MHz.

It also includes a sleep clock to manage power and reduce consumption. Compliant with 802.11n, supports security standards (TKIP/AES/WAPI), and QoS 802.11e standard for video transmission. The only interfaces it provides are SDIO 3.0 and High-speed UART. It is a very good option when you need both Wi-Fi and BLE in the same device.

You can find more information about this device at Avastar 88W8977 System-on-Chip

Silicon Labs Wizard Gecko WGM110

A new device brought to us by Silicon Labs, targeted for applications that need good RF performance. The WGM110 implements the IEEE 802.11b/g/n standards and security protocols and is build on an ARM Cortex-3 processor. The most outstanding feature of this product is that it comes with an SDK, allowing faster development and deployment of the software applications. It is a very interesting feature that outstands as well because it comes with a USB interface, making communication with it faster. This device can be accessed by multiple interfaces, as they are UART, SPI, and USB. It is suitable for a wide range of temperatures (-40ºC to 85ºC).

It features maximum power consumption of 261 mA for TX current at +16 dBM. Definitely, it is worth a try.

More information on this module can be found here: Wizard Gecko WGM110 Wi-Fi® Module

Zentri AMW007 ‘Spectre’ Wi-Fi Module

The Zentry AMW007 is an extremely tiny component that is very suitable for small IoT devices, with dimensions as small as 12 x 11 x 1.8mm (0.47″ x 0.43″ x 0.08″). This minimal module is especially handy for your smallest device projects. It features several operation modes (Active receive: 65mA, Standby: 0.9mA, Wi-Fi Powersave: 0.86mA, Sleep: 0.31mA, Deep Sleep: 60μA) to help reducing power consumption. This will help you not only to develop a small IoT solution but a solution with great autonomy. Like the other modules, it implements the IEEE 802.11b/g/n standards and common security protocols (including WEP, WPA, WPA2-PSK). The microprocessor is a 32-bit that runs at 80MHz, and the temperature range is between -40ºC and 85ºC. It comes with ZentriOS preloaded, and Zentri Mobile App SDK is available to help developing applications faster.

This is a very tiny module you should give a try.

More information about it can be found at Zentry AMW007′ Spectre’

LSR TiWi-BLE

Here is another module that, apart from Wi-Fi, also allows Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communications. What is interesting about it is that it comes with a small U. The FL socket provides a faster and easier way to connect the antenna (which is shared by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth).

Following the line of the other modules, it also implements the 802.11b/g/n standards and security protocols. It comes with an SPIO interface to interact with it, and it also provides a low power consumption mode.

We hope you liked this post and found it interesting. Please feel free to share it and leave us your thoughts.

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Low-Power Wi-Fi Ideal for Energy Efficient IoT Devices

Wi-Fi may not be the first wireless technology you think of when considering a low-power application, but it should be.

The IoT is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world, with more devices added to the Internet every day. We need access to information and knowledge in the most efficient and secure way possible, and with minimal delay. Consumer electronics, especially wearable devices, are probably the most visible proof of this with more than a billion devices expected to be in use by the end of this year. It’s hard to attribute this proliferation to any one specific protocol. Take a smartwatch, for instance, which might use a Wi-Fi network to sync fitness data, classic Bluetooth to stream audio to earphones, ANT to transmit heart rate sensor data, and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) to send notifications to a smartphone.

Why Wi-Fi Protocol for IoT Devices

Wi-Fi is a widely deployed protocol with more than 22 billion devices, which means that it’s virtually ubiquitous and available in most homes and commercial environments. It has a significantly higher data throughput — almost 10-100x higher than most IoT protocols, which enables audio and video streaming with almost no delay. The high data rates, as well as the range, enable many different applications. Finally, Wi-Fi offers constant cloud connectivity, making gateways unnecessary. With these benefits, Wi-Fi is emerging as an obvious choice for embedded solutions.

Wi-Fi 4 Versus Wi-Fi 5 Versus Wi-Fi 6 for IoT Devices

Looking at the evolution of the Wi-Fi specification, 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) is better suited for IoT applications than 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5). One reason is because 802.11n is dual band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) versus 802.11ac which is single band based on 5 GHz. For embedded applications, the range and better object penetration of 2.4 GHz comes in handy compared to the 5 GHz frequency. Also, the cost and power consumption of 802.11ac-based systems is higher due to the higher protocol complexity. While 11ac does provide enhanced throughput, the data rates provided by 802.11n are more than sufficient for most battery-operated IoT applications. 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) is the latest version of the specification, promising a maximum throughput speed of 9.6 Gbps, compared to 3.5 Gbps on Wi-Fi 5 and 600 Mbps on Wi-Fi 4. Wi-Fi 6 was introduced mainly to address the rapid increase in the number of devices on Wi-Fi networks fueled by the growing demand for IoT devices.

Low Power Wi-Fi Design Decisions for Unique IoT Applications

The low power features available in the latest Wi-Fi standards mean that a lot of today’s IoT devices are «always-on» and connected, with extended battery life due to ultra-low power consumption. For example, a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth LE smart-lock application connects to the cloud via Wi-Fi for remote access and provisions the lock onto the Wi-Fi network using Bluetooth LE. Keep in mind that operations like securing cloud connectivity (TLS certificate exchange), network communication (MQTT to communicate with the cloud), and over-the-air (OTA) updates happen in the background further impacting the system’s current consumption. By optimizing power consumption, the typical battery life for the smart lock staying in an «always connected» mode is three years for a low congestion environment and two years for a dense and congested wireless environment.

Smaller devices like smartwatches pose additional challenges with space and battery life. Small form factor SiP modules are ideal for sleek designs with quick time to market. Wearables often require GPS connectivity for location tracking, Wi-Fi for cloud connectivity, Bluetooth A2DP for music streaming, and Bluetooth LE to connect to sensors. All these operations need to be performed in addition to OTA updates, while extending the battery life as long as possible on a single charge. Wi-Fi client devices in listening mode take as much power as when they are receiving data. For this reason, the «always on» feature of Silicon Labs’ RS9116 family of SoCs is essential in providing high performance with ultra-low power consumption.

With widespread technology like Wi-Fi gaining traction with IoT devices, standalone or in a multiprotocol mode, it provides the immense potential to transform industries. For a more in-depth look at designing low-power Wi-Fi applications, see our whitepaper, “The Future of Wi-Fi in Low-Power IoT Devices.»

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