NASA Wi-Fi Chip Set to Extend Smart Tech Battery Life

The smart tech revolution has completely changed the way we experience the world. Yet despite the cutting edge advancements that are continually emerging, users are still plagued with the constant fear of a dead device. Smartwatches are packed full of exciting features however this goes hand in hand with the ever present concern of rapidly depleting battery life. Until now! The bright sparks at NASA have just revealed a brand spanking new Wi-Fi chip that could see wearable tech boast better signal-emitting capabilities, lower energy usage rates and faster transfer speeds.

NASA and UCLA unite

The invention is the result of a collaboration between NASA and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Together, Adrian Tang and Mau-Chung Frank Chang developed a next generation Wi-Fi chip that represents a new era of functionality for the market. Tang is an in-house researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory while Chang is a professor at UCLA. The pair claims that the chip slashes power use by 100x which results in a rapidly extended battery life. Tang and Chang envision that the chip be rolled out to wearable electronics in order to offer owners even better battery retention rates.  

"The idea is if the wearable device only needs to reflect the Wi-Fi signal from a router or cell tower, instead of generate it, the power consumption can go way down (and the battery life can go way up)," explains Tang in an official statement.

Next generation technology

So how does the chip work? Traditional smart tech devices send a signal to a router. The router then responds by pinging a new signal back to the device. In comparison, the Wi-Fi chip reflects a constant signal sent from a specialised router. This eliminates the need for the device to send out its own unique signal, thus significantly extending battery life. The specialised router features intelligent capabilities that allow it to cut out background signals and detect the device specific data.

“Because you’re only imprinting on a Wi-Fi signal, you’re not generating it, you don’t need power,” says Tang.

And best of all, the lower energy usage rates don’t have a negative impact on data transfer speeds. The researchers maintain that they’ve hit speeds of 330 megabits per second which is much faster than most home broadband connections! Talks are currently underway for NASA and UCLA to bring a commercial partner on-board in order to take the technology to the masses. Watch this space!

Want to know more about the technologies set to shape the future? ‘Life Science Research: Tomorrows Trends and Technologies’ explores the Life Science sector, the 2014 LifeSight report and the key issues and prospects that offer us a unique glimpse into current and developing trends within the life arena.