On-chip power and radio - page 3

Then there is radio. We don't want to use complex "standard" radios like Bluetooth and WiFi. These were created by large committees from many companies to handle a wide set of use cases. The ZOZ has only one use case: it transmits only ZOZ instructions, pairs of numbers. There is very little overhead in this protocol and so ZOZ radio packets are much smaller and less frequent.

Going back to basic principles, if we take a piece of wire and hang it in the air, we have a radio receiver. Add a single transistor and we have a transmitter.

Numerous companies and university labs are currently researching low-power short-range communications, although they are not fundamentally concentrating on Simplicity as a Basic Goal. They are looking to solve wider use cases, and they are constrained by the desire to be compatible with existing products in existing markets.

Ambient backscatter, Near-field communication, and capacitive coupling are a few promising technologies.

Power and radio are the two needed pieces to produce WIZ and ZOZ sensor "motes". We don't quite have what we need yet, but there are many promising technologies, and there are large market pressures to develop them. So I hope for a bright future here.