Why Is This Wireless Power System A Breakthrough For Efficiency?
By Emily Newton
Energy and spectral efficiency are crucial considerations for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). While most system architectures approach these as separate considerations, they may grow closer together in the future. A new wireless power transfer technology could prove a critical step forward in terms of both energy and communication.
SWIPT-NOMA-DAS: The Next Step In Wireless Power Transfer
Wireless power transfer itself is not new. Nikola Tesla was the first to experiment with it in the early 1900s and inductive charging is now standard in smartphones. However, the practice has struggled to overcome range constraints.
Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) holds even more potential for the IIoT, as it combines wireless charging with normal IoT communications. This concept, too, has seen rising research interest but has failed to reach its promised value. While scientists have achieved simultaneous power and data transfers, there’s usually a significant drop in energy at a certain distance.
A new solution from a team at the National Korea Maritime and Ocean University may change that. The technology introduces a distributed antenna system (DAS) and a nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system to SWIPT. Appropriately dubbed SWIPT-NOMA-DAS, it’s more than five times more efficient than a conventional SWIPT-NOMA system.
How It Works
The underlying concept behind SWIPT-NOMA-DAS is similar to other IIoT technologies, such as 5G small cells and edge computing. It uses a central base station to initiate the data and power transmission and a network of small antennas to carry the signal further. As a result, both signals can reach further without the loss that SWIPT normally incurs.
Researchers devised an optimal solution by applying a three-step algorithm to the problem. In the first step, they addressed the central IoT controller's energy needs, including determining how much power it needs for both wireless power transfer and data transmissions.
The second step considered the specifics of that overall power. Using the level of energy determined in the first stage, scientists identified how much needed to go toward communication and how much should go toward energy harvesting applications.
In the final step, the team simulated an outage. They tested situations where the IoT hub cannot provide enough power or data to fuel normal network operations. That way, they were able to see what to prioritize across the edge network to maintain critical operations even in an unideal scenario.
Efficiency Benefits Of SWIPT-NOMA-DAS
The resulting energy and data transfer solution is more efficient than both a SWIPT-NOMA system without a DAS and a SWIPT-DAS network using orthogonal multiple access. It’s a considerable step forward for IIoT efficiency in several categories.
Combining Power And Information Transfer
The most obvious efficiency benefit of SWIPT-NOMA-DAS is that it combines power and information transmissions. Instead of allocating a given amount of energy for each task, an IIoT system architecture could complete both simultaneously. Sending each signal along the same network, in turn, reduces the need to power multiple transmission systems.
Avoiding significant signal losses is an important step for this technology. Previous attempts either failed to maintain data integrity at distance or encountered limits on power transfers. That’s a substantial roadblock in the IIoT, where such inefficiencies could lead to safety issues.
Some safety sensors use sophisticated algorithms for complex scanning to monitor work environments. Consequently, any power or data signal interruptions could limit their AI functionality, potentially leading them to miss hazards. Because SWIPT-NOMA-DAS ensures reliability in both areas, it prevents such outcomes while enabling less energy consumption.
Increased Energy Efficiency
It’s also worth considering how SWIPT-NOMA-DAS is more energy-efficient than previous attempts at combined data and power transfers. The three-step algorithm ensures the system maintains reliable operations with as little electricity as necessary at each stage of the process.
The IIoT is meant to reduce electrical consumption in many areas, so it’s important to reduce its own energy needs. Considering the production of IoT semiconductors alone could require 35 exajoules by 2035, these systems must operate as efficiently as possible. SWIPT-NOMA-DAS could be a crucial part of the puzzle.
SWIPT-NOMA-DAS does not require much electricity to run its infrastructure, thanks to the three-step iterative algorithm. It also does not lose much energy in wireless power transfers, ensuring facilities can charge more IIoT devices with the same level of electrical withdrawals. As a result, the IIoT networks it enables could become as energy efficient as possible despite larger device footprints.
Improved Spectral Efficiency
SWIPT-NOMA-DAS’s spectral efficiency deserves attention, too. Most current wireless power transfer technologies do not travel far. As a result, they may reduce wire-related clutter in an operating environment but provide few benefits beyond that, as devices must still reside next to charging stations. This new solution finally enables greater distance.
The study did not specify how far SWIPT-NOMA-DAS signals travel, but it did say it significantly improved IIoT spectral efficiencies. Even if it means an advancement of just a few feet, it could have promising implications for IIoT systems architecture.
A more functional wireless power transmission system means a single, efficient base hub could energize a greater number of IIoT devices. Facilities could then focus on improving the energy optimization of one central distribution system instead of tweaking several. It could also minimize transmission-related losses to ensure every connected device gets the electricity it needs.
Implications For IIoT System Architecture
As this technology matures, it could enable substantial improvements in IIoT systems architecture. Currently, energy consumption and data transmission are often a trade-off. Wi-Fi is excellent for data processing but consumes considerable amounts of electricity, whereas RFID is highly efficient but can only manage minimal data. SWIPT-NOMA-DAS could provide the best of both worlds.
IIoT architecture could also reduce complexity by avoiding wires or figuring out the power system for each device. Many, if not all, endpoints could use the same network for energy harvesting as they do for data transfers. It may become easier to design a well-functioning network without crowding factory floors as a result.
Wireless Data And Power Transfer Is the Future Of The IIoT
Combining information transmissions and wireless power transfer is a complex undertaking. Even with the advent of SWIPT-NOMA-DAS, this technology is likely a ways away from being commercially viable, especially at an industrial scale. However, recent breakthroughs are a promising sign.
The IIoT is getting closer to a point of simultaneous data and energy transfers. When it does, it could alter the future of network architecture and industrial efficiency.