Wi-Fi HaLow - An 802.11 standard for the IoT

The IoT (Internet of Things) is an innovative concept that enables physical objects to communicate with each other or with other entities over the Internet. Compared with conventional computer networks, IoT networks are resource-constrained and have critical requirements. In particular, they must support a large number of devices, while guaranteeing them fair access to the network. These devices are often powered by unreliable energy sources, requiring the implementation of new mechanisms to optimize energy consumption.

The standard 802.11ah also known as Wi-Fi HaLow, is one of the technologies designed to meet these needs. Traditionally, Wi-Fi provides high throughput to a few dozen stations over a few dozen meters. In comparison, HaLow Wi-Fi can provide connectivity to more than 8,000 stations, minimize power consumption and offer extended geographic coverage to 1 km. The standard was finalized in 2016, and the first evaluation boards appeared in 2021. This technology is starting to be implemented in a significant way in solutions that meet different IoT use cases.

In this article, we present HaLow Wi-Fi technology and provide an overview of the main features and different mechanisms that enable it to meet IoT requirements. A theoretical and practical evaluation of these performances is also proposed, in order to consider and discuss the implementation of this technology in different IoT application domains.