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Wi-fi backscatter: internet connectivity for RF-powered devices

Authors:

Shyamnath Gollakota,

Joshua R. Smith,

David WetherallAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCOMM '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM conference on SIGCOMM

Pages 607 - 618

https://doi.org/10.1145/2619239.2626319

Published: 17 August 2014 Publication History

Abstract

RF-powered computers are small devices that compute and communicate using only the power that they harvest from RF signals. While existing technologies have harvested power from ambient RF sources (e.g., TV broadcasts), they require a dedicated gateway (like an RFID reader) for Internet connectivity. We present Wi-Fi Backscatter, a novel communication system that bridges RF-powered devices with the Internet. Specifically, we show that it is possible to reuse existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide Internet connectivity to RF-powered devices. To show Wi-Fi Backscatter's feasibility, we build a hardware prototype and demonstrate the first communication link between an RF-powered device and commodity Wi-Fi devices. We use off-the-shelf Wi-Fi devices including Intel Wi-Fi cards, Linksys Routers, and our organization's Wi-Fi infrastructure, and achieve communication rates of up to 1 kbps and ranges of up to 2.1 meters. We believe that this new capability can pave the way for the rapid deployment and adoption of RF-powered devices and achieve ubiquitous connectivity via nearby mobile devices that are Wi-Fi enabled.

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Cited By

Wu WGong W(2025)Concurrent WiFi backscatter communication using a single receiver in IoT networksComputer Networks10.1016/j.comnet.2024.111029(111029)Online publication date: Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2024.111029
Cheng DWu FZhang CSun JLiu Y(2025)Machine Learning for Ambient Backscatter Channel Estimation and Signal Detection: Opportunities and ChallengesSmart Grid and Innovative Frontiers in Telecommunications10.1007/978-3-031-78806-2_1(3-19)Online publication date: 9-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-78806-2_1
Chae YLin ZBae KKim SPathak PVanbever LZhang I(2024)mmCombProceedings of the 21st USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation10.5555/3691825.3691919(1713-1729)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3691825.3691919
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Wi-fi backscatter: internet connectivity for RF-powered devices
1. Networks
  1. Network types
    1. Mobile networks
    2. Wireless access networks

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCOMM '14: Proceedings of the 2014 ACM conference on SIGCOMM

August 2014

662 pages

ISBN:9781450328364

DOI:10.1145/2619239

General Chairs:
Fabián E. Bustamante
Northwestern University, USA
,
Y. Charlie Hu
Purdue University, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Arvind Krishnamurthy
University of Washington, USA
,
Sylvia Ratnasamy
University of California, Berkeley, USA

ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review Volume 44, Issue 4
SIGCOMM'14
October 2014
672 pages
ISSN:0146-4833
DOI:10.1145/2740070
Editors:
Konstantina Papagiannaki
Telefonica Research, Barcelona, Spain
,
Katerina Argyraki
EPFL, Switzerland
,
Hitesh Ballani
Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK
,
Fabián Bustamante
Northwestern University, USA
,
Joseph Camp
SMU, USA
,
Augustin Chaintreau
Columbia University, USA
,
Phillipa Gill
Stony Brook University, USA
,
Marco Mellia
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
,
Bhaskaran Raman
IIT Bombay, India
,
Joel Sommers
Colgate University, USA
,
Aline Carneiro Viana
INRIA, France
Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2014 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 17 August 2014

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SIGCOMM'14

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SIGCOMM

SIGCOMM'14: ACM SIGCOMM 2014 Conference

August 17 - 22, 2014

Illinois, Chicago, USA

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SIGCOMM '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 45 of 242 submissions, 19%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 462 of 3,389 submissions, 14%

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Cited By

Wu WGong W(2025)Concurrent WiFi backscatter communication using a single receiver in IoT networksComputer Networks10.1016/j.comnet.2024.111029(111029)Online publication date: Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2024.111029
Cheng DWu FZhang CSun JLiu Y(2025)Machine Learning for Ambient Backscatter Channel Estimation and Signal Detection: Opportunities and ChallengesSmart Grid and Innovative Frontiers in Telecommunications10.1007/978-3-031-78806-2_1(3-19)Online publication date: 9-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-78806-2_1
Chae YLin ZBae KKim SPathak PVanbever LZhang I(2024)mmCombProceedings of the 21st USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation10.5555/3691825.3691919(1713-1729)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3691825.3691919
Li XYuan YAn YJiang B(2024)A BLE 5.0 Extended Advertising Backscatter with Commodity Devices in Passive IoT ScenariosElectronics10.3390/electronics1305096113:5(961)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13050961
Dauny RGu XDejous CHemour S(2024)A ZeroPower DC voltage-to-RF impedance converter enabling sustainable & frugal wireless sensor networks2024 54th European Microwave Conference (EuMC)10.23919/EuMC61614.2024.10732406(1126-1129)Online publication date: 24-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.23919/EuMC61614.2024.10732406
Padmal MPiumwardane DRohner CVoigt T(2024)Channel Estimation for Analog Backscatter TagsProceedings of the First International Workshop on Radio Frequency (RF) Computing10.1145/3698386.3699989(1-7)Online publication date: 4-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3698386.3699989
Waghmare AChatterjee IIyer VPatel S(2024)WatchLink: Enhancing Smartwatches with Sensor Add-Ons via ECG InterfaceProceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3654777.3676329(1-13)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3654777.3676329
Wang BZhu FLi WYang ZJin MTian XOkoshi TKo JLiKamWa R(2024)Frequency-agile OFDM BackscatterProceedings of the 22nd Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services10.1145/3643832.3661873(252-264)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643832.3661873
Wang SYan YHan FTian YDing YYang PLi XOkoshi TKo JLiKamWa R(2024)MultiRider: Enabling Multi-Tag Concurrent OFDM Backscatter by Taming In-band InterferenceProceedings of the 22nd Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications and Services10.1145/3643832.3661862(292-303)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643832.3661862
Liang ZXing GXu CDavies N(2024)SRIS: Self-powered Reconfigurable Intelligent SurfacesProceedings of the 25th International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications10.1145/3638550.3641124(66-72)Online publication date: 28-Feb-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3638550.3641124
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