Wi-Fi Alliance, a non-profit body of WiFi providing companies, has unveiled its low-power WiFi solution called Wi-Fi HaLow (pronounced as “halo”).
If compared to the traditional WiFi, the new product doubles the distance and cuts the power consumption. Wi-Fi HaLow is designed specifically for smart homes.
The alliance, which refers to 802.11ah as HaLow, said that the technology would be best-suited for the large numbers of new connected devices predicted to be in use soon across many different areas, including auto, smart home, industrial, and retail.
Moreover, HaLow will interoperate with existing 802.11x devices, bringing the Internet of Things firmly into the 6.8-billion-strong ecosystem of WiFi devices, the group said in its announcement. Like existing WiFi, 802.11ah will provide IP-based connectivity, allowing devices to communicate with a broad range of other hardware.
Wi-Fi HaLow extends WiFi into the 900 MHz band, enabling the low power connectivity necessary for applications including sensor and wearables. Wi-Fi HaLow’s range is nearly twice that of today’s WiFi, and will not only be capable of transmitting signals further, but also providing a more robust connection in challenging environments where the ability to more easily penetrate walls or other barriers is an important consideration.
“Wi-Fi HaLow is well suited to meet the unique needs of the smart home, smart city, and industrial markets because of its ability to operate using very low power, penetrate through walls, and operate at significantly longer ranges than Wi-Fi today,” said Edgar Figueroa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi HaLow expands the unmatched versatility of Wi-Fi to enable applications from small, battery-operated wearable devices to large-scale industrial facility deployments – and everything in between.”
Image Credit: Wi-Fi Alliance