A Simple Guide to Low-Power Wireless Technologies: Balancing the Tradeoffs for the Internet of Things and Medical Applications

In recent years, low-power radio has expanded to encompass a broad range of wireless technologies, architectures, standards, and applications. The Internet of Things (IoT) and implantable electronics have multiplied the use cases for standard commercial architectures, such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, and near-field communication (NFC), while also opening the door for more exploratory radio architectures like duty-cycled wake-up radio systems, ultranarrow-band radios, and ultrawideband (UWB) impulse radios (IRs), to name just a few.