Poster Abstract: Battery-free and Passive Wake-up Receiver for Underwater Communication

Underwater Wireless Networks (UWNs), together with Underwater Wireless Sensor Nodes (UWSNs), are key enablers for various underwater activities in the fields of research, surveillance, rescue, and even military usage. In order to fulfill their mission in remote areas and harsh environments, UWSNs must meet high standards. Since the deployment of such a device is very costly and labor extensive, a long lifetime, high reliability, as well as no maintenance, are highly desirable. However, to achieve this goal, the overall power consumption of a UWSN needs to be reduced. By combining energy harvesting capabilities with a power-efficient wake-up circuit, the constant power drain in idle state can be heavily reduced, and even prevented. This paper presents a maintenance free and energy-neutral wake-up receiver for underwater communication that targets the challenge of the energy limitations of underwater communication frontends with the potential to expand the usability of the Internet of Things (IoT) beyond the water surface. This is achieved by hybrid energy and information transmission combined with a passive wake-up receiver that entirely eliminates radio frontend idle consumption.