Wi-Fi HaLow Power Consumption

Low power consumption is key to successful battery operated IoT solutions. Use of a low power solution translates into smaller batteries that last longer, hence reducing both the solution cost and the maintenance cost of battery-powered IoT solutions. This paper starts with a brief overview of Wi-Fi HaLow technology. To provide a reference for power consumption data, the energy capacities of two popular batteries are provided. The energy requirements of the different technologies are examined through four IoT use cases; actuator, sensor, continuous receive and continuous transmit. Each of these use cases presents a different challenge, requiring different low power modes and features.

The paper is concluded with a chart comparing power consumption and range of Wi-Fi HaLow with five other technologies; IEEE802.15.4 (Zigbee/Thread), Bluetooth Low Energy, IEEE802.11n (Wi-Fi 2.4GHz), Sigfox and Lora.