RFocus: Practical Beamforming for Small Devices

Abstract: To reduce transmit power, increase throughput, and improve communication range, radio systems---such as IoT sensor networks, Wi-Fi and cellular networks---benefit from the ability to direct their signals, to ensure that more of the transmitted power reaches the receiver. Many modern systems beamform with antenna arrays for this purpose. However, a radio's ability to direct its signal is fundamentally limited by its size. Unfortunately practical challenges limit the size of modern radios, and consequently, their ability to beamform. In many settings, radios on devices must be small and inexpensive; today, these settings are unable to benefit from high-precision beamforming. To address this problem, we introduce RFocus, which moves beamforming functions from the radio endpoints to the environment. RFocus includes a two-dimensional surface with a rectangular array of simple elements, each of which functions as an RF switch. Each element either lets the signal through or reflects it. The surface does not emit any power of its own. The state of the elements is set by a software controller to maximize the signal strength at a receiver, with a novel optimization algorithm that uses signal strength measurements from the receiver. The RFocus surface can be manufactured as an inexpensive thin wallpaper, requiring no wiring. This solution requires only a method to communicate received signal strengths periodically to the RFocus controller. Our prototype implementation improves the median signal strength by 10.5x, and the median channel capacity by 2.1x.