Toward Realization of Long-Range Wireless-Powered Sensor Networks

As the era of Internet of Things (IoT) emerges, powering massive IoT devices becomes a great challenge in need of immediate attention. This challenge can be resolved by radio frequency (RF) wireless power transfer (WPT) technology that remotely supplies power to a distant sensor device. In this article, we discuss the issues arising in designing wireless-powered sensor networks (WPSNs). We have built a prototype WPSN testbed with a large-scale antenna array. By demonstrating that a sensor node can perpetually operate up to the distance of 50 meters with self-powering, we validate the potential of turning the WPSN concept into reality.