HaLow is a technology we've talked about for a while now, going back to 2016 when we first covered it. It's an extension of Wi-Fi, designed specifically for the Internet of Things.
Fast forward eight years, and it looks like HaLow is finally making big strides. Morse Micro recently pulled off something impressive: they demonstrated the world's first live use of Wi-Fi HaLow, also known as 802.11ah, with a range of 3 kilometers. They set a record for a long-range video call, spanning almost two miles.
So, what exactly is HaLow? It's a type of Wi-Fi that's low-power and long-reaching, based on the IEEE 802.11ah standard. It operates in the sub-GHz range, which means it can go through obstacles like walls and buildings. This allows it to connect lots of IoT devices over much longer distances while using way less power. In fact, it can cover 10 times the range, 100 times the area, and 1000 times the volume of regular Wi-Fi.
Morse Micro showed off their HaLow chops in San Francisco's Ocean Beach neighborhood. They used their own system-on-chip (SoC) to make it happen. The demo proved HaLow's ability to reach far distances in real-life situations. Even when the call stretched to three kilometers, the speed dropped from 17Mbps to 1Mbps, but it still held up well enough to keep the call going.
But HaLow isn't just about distance. It's also super power-efficient. This means it can make batteries last way longer. For gadgets powered by coin batteries, this could be a game-changer, letting them run for months without needing a change.
Michael De Nil, the CEO of Morse Micro, was understandably proud of their achievement. He called it a major milestone for Wi-Fi, highlighting its incredible reach, low power usage, and high throughput. He sees Wi-Fi HaLow as the leader in the IoT world.
However, HaLow isn't the only player in town. It's got competition from technologies like LoRa/LoraWAN, which also offer low power and long range. Then there's NB-IoT, an extension of LTE, which can handle low-bandwidth communication on mobile networks.
In the end, while HaLow faces competition, its recent demonstration shows it's a force to be reckoned with in the world of IoT connectivity.