Revisiting FM Frequency-band for IoT Devices

What is it about?

Wireless communication remains a significant power-consuming task for embedded systems. When exacerbated by increased wireless contention, it results in frequent re-transmissions and, consequently, rapid battery depletion in wireless embedded systems. We introduce TunnelRadio, which is our ongoing effort to design low-power radio transmitters that achieve significant energy efficiency compared to commodity radio transceivers. Specifically, wedesignTunnelRadioto broadcast signals in the FM broadcasting band for IoT devices.

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Photo by Israa Ali on Unsplash

Photo by Israa Ali on Unsplash

Why is it important?

While FM broadcasts remain prevalent, they are gradually being supplanted by alternative mediums (such as internet radio or DAB), with plans underway in many regions to phase out FM radio entirely. Indeed, the usage of FM radio on smartphones is also dwindling. In response to this challenge, we present our ongoing work on designing low-power transmitters, TunnelRadio. They can perform FM transmissions while maintaining a power consumption comparable to FM backscatter systems. This approach allows us to address the challenge posed by the phasing out of FM broadcasts, thereby unlocking this promising spectrum for WES deployments.