SMART ACK

Owned by Matthias Kassner
11-Jul-2024
2 min read

SMART ACK is a feature designed to minimize the energy consumption required for bi-directional communication between one energy-constrained device (the SMART ACK Sensor) and one not energy-constrained device (the SMART ACK Controller).

One example for a SMART ACK use case would be the communication between an energy-harvesting heating valve (the SMART ACK Sensor) and a line-powered room thermostat (the SMART ACK Controller).
Here, we have two directions of communication:

  • The user select the target room temperature at the room thermostat which would need to be communicated from the room thermostat to the heating valve

  • The heating valve measures various parameters (such as the current temperature or its current opening status) which need to be communicated from the heating valve to the room thermostat

This use case is illustrated below.

 

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SMART ACK Use Case Example

The main constraint for this use case is the energy available in the the heating valve for radio communication (transmission or reception).

  • Transmission
    The amount of energy required for transmission is dependent on the length of the telegram to be transmitted and on the transmission (update) rate of these telegrams. This energy consumption can for instance be optimized by using short telegrams and providing updates only if required (if a parameter significantly changes)

  • Reception
    The amount of energy required for reception is dependent on the time for which the receiver needs to be active. Energy-constrained devices can only receive for very short period of time

The goal of SMART ACK is to provide a mechanism whereby an energy-constrained device can retrieve information (transmit a request, receive a response) from a line-powered device with minimal required energy.