A new feature called Wi-Fi HaLow will support the low-power transmission of sensors such as security cameras while greatly improving their signal coverage. This month, the Wi-Fi Alliance was announced
A new feature called "Wi-Fi HaLow" will support the low-energy transmission of sensors such as security cameras while greatly improving their signal coverage. This month, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced its latest HaLow certification program. As a new feature that supports long-distance, low-energy Wi-Fi transmission below 1GHz spectrum, it promises a range of more than 1000 meters, making it ideal for adoption by a variety of IoT/smart home gadgets.
(Pictured: Wi-Fi Alliance |.) PDF）
the number of cloud-connected devices worldwide is expected to soar to more than 30 billion by 2025 – more than double the current 13.8 billion iot devices.
Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance, said that this is good news for smart home sensors, security cameras, and industrial and agricultural IoT devices.
HaLow certification further expands Wi-Fi's leading role in the IoT space to address security and customer operational use cases that require long distances and lower power.
As the IoT market continues to grow, there are more and more opportunities to simplify connectivity, and Wi-Fi HaLow is built on top of the universally trusted wireless Internet technology.
based on this, Wi-Fi HaLow can pave the way for emerging IoT applications that benefit a large number of homes, businesses and industries.
The Wi-Fi Alliance notes that HaLow's long-range/lower power consumption, thanks to its use of sub-1GHz bands to send signals, is much lower than the 2.4/5GHz band used by most home Wi-Fi network devices.
While higher frequency bands are better suited for large amounts of data transmission, lower frequencies of through-wall/coverage are also more advantageous. HaLow is suitable for sensors that send relatively little data, as well as other devices that need to transmit over long distances.
In addition, Wi-Fi HaLow helps extend battery life, and the Wi-Fi Alliance promises that low-power connectivity is necessary for applications such as sensors, personal wearables, and utility meters that require years of battery operation.
The benefits of building on existing Wi-Fi technologies are numerous, including multi-vendor interoperability, strong WPA3 security, ease of setup, and seamless integration of IP networks.
Phil Solis, research director at IDC, noted that the company has been committed to Wi-Fi HaLow for many years, and its shipments expect to exceed 10 million in 2022, covering the industrial, smart home, smart city, and retail markets.
It's important to note, though, that HaLow isn't the only new wireless standard that promises to dramatically improve coverage.
For reference, Amazon's Sidewalk low-power IoT network solution proposed earlier this year relies on a combination of Bluetooth low energy + LoRa signals, but it also requires devices to use their own LoRa RF components to achieve remote connectivity.
