1、The Future of Wi-Fi in Low-Power IoT Devices2Importance of Low Power in Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is continuously evolving and adding more features like higher throughput,support for denser deployments,and support for low-power devices all while staying backward compatible with previous versions.As a result,Wi-Fi

2、 has emerged as the best wireless protocol to connect devices to the internet.Wi-Fi wasnt necessarily thought of as being a battery-friendly solution,but things are changing.With new developments,coupled with vendors like Silicon Labs innovating on new solutions,Wi-Fi has become a very viable choice

3、 for low-power or battery-operated devices.3Introduction to Wireless ConnectivityThere are a large number of wireless protocols being used in IoT devices,including Wi-Fi,classic Bluetooth,Bluetooth Low Energy(LE),Zigbee,Thread,and cellular.The choice of wireless communication protocols for a particu

4、lar device depends upon the application,size,cost,power,and several other factors.For example,Bluetooth LE is a good choice for short range,low throughput communication because it doesnt consume much power and it is lower in cost than some other protocols.Of the protocols mentioned above,Wi-Fi is th

5、e most ubiquitous.Commonly used to connect wireless things to the internet,Wi-Fi uses existing infrastructure and is experiencing massive growth in annual deployments:3-4 billion units per year(smartphones,etc.)800 million are“things”(IoT type products)200 million are battery powered(need low power)

6、Significant gains in power efficiency and cost reduction in Wi-Fi solutions have enabled this growth.Wi-Fi 4 is widely deployed today,and Wi-Fi 6 will further increase the deployment of IoT products.The chart below shows a simplified view of various protocols and their applications.On the X axis is