Everactive, a maker of self-powered IoT systems, has joined the Next G Alliance - a group developing guidance for North America’s leadership in 6G. This is the first time that an ultra-low-power, self-sustaining (battery-free) technology in the form of active devices is being represented in planning the roadmap for 6G.
The Next G Alliance was established by ATIS, the North American operating partner for the 3GPP, and is a group committed to ensuring that the US is prepared for the next generation of wireless. The group cites growing competition around the globe in the pursuit of technology roadmaps and market dominance in some of the most critical technologies and wireless infrastructure as the key impetus to gather industry leaders around wireless standards.
While other companies have proposed “zero-power systems” similar to RFID tags in 5G and now 6G, the Everactive devices are active, not passive. For the first time, this is a vision that could reach the full potential of the IoT - many hundreds of billions of devices connected over a future worldwide 6G cellular network.
Everactive CTO and Co-founder Dr David Wentzloff serves on the National 6G Roadmap committee in addition to 3 working groups: Applications, Green G, and Spectrum Technology.
“As far as the future of cellular connectivity, we’re not just focusing on the needs of cell phones,” said Wentzloff, who is also a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of Michigan. “We need to focus also on the needs of IoT devices to shape the future of batteryless devices to connect directly to cellular networks. As the global mindset evolves from making more energy, to using less energy and harnessing the energy all around us, we’re eager to bring the batteryless perspective to this important conversation to help determine the future of 6G.”
