ONPC is the new protocol that extends the Wi-Fi signal by over 60 meters

Based on tests conducted by Lundrigan, the new ONPC (On-Off Noise Power) protocol it can in fact be adapted to any Wi-Fi device by extending its wireless signal more than 60 meters.

"This is the really interesting thing about this technology: it's all in the software domain"said Lundrigan, professor of computer engineering at BYU."In theory, we could install it on almost all Wi-Fi devices with a simple software update. "

The protocol that hunts for noise

The ONPC is programmed directly on the existing Wi-Fi protocol and shares the same hardware, but while Wi-Fi requires speeds of at least 1 Megabit per second to maintain the signal, ONPC can make the signal stable up to 1 bit per second, ie one millionth of the data rate required by Wi-Fi.

To obtain this capacity, the On-Off Noise Power uses the wireless “noise” that is sent in addition to the data to be transmitted, encoding a binary value that in practice determines a model for turning the signal on and off. By reading this "noise", Wi-Fi routers are able to separate it from traditional and wireless noise interpret it as the issuer's intention to transmit again even if the signal is weak.

If the router hears this code, it understands that the Wi-Fi sensor from which it is receiving is still "alive" and is trying to reach it, and all thanks to the single bit of information of the ONPC protocol.

According to Lundrigan, 1 bit of information is sufficient for many Wi-Fi devices that simply need an on / off message, such as a garage door sensor, an air quality monitoring sensor or even a fire sprinkler system. During their research, the authors successfully applied their ONPC protocol – using an application called "Stayin 'Alive" – extending the range of a standard Wi-Fi device by 67 meters.

With the extension of the signal made possible by the ONPC, BYU researchers intend to integrate Wi-Fi, not replace it, also because it could not do so. For ONPC to exist, Wi-Fi is also required. In particular, only when Stayin 'Alive detects that the Wi-Fi device has lost its connection, it starts transmitting data using ONPC.

Obviously, we talk about extension and not speed, because it is clear that the signal extended by the ONPC can transmit data in smaller quantities, and this is why the researchers immediately associated the protocol with IoT technology objects. However, Lundrigan sets no limits to the malleability of its technology: "All we need is the ability to transmit energy and therefore receive noise measurements. We could also apply it to the cellular network or Bluetooth."