UMass Amherst team develops longer battery life for mobile technology

The prototype radio can be used to lengthen battery life in mass-market, small mobile devices.
The prototype radio can be used to lengthen battery life in mass-market, small mobile devices. | File photo
A University of Massachusetts at Amherst team of computer science researchers has developed a radio technology to improve the battery life of small mobile devices.

The development was outlined in a paper that the team presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s special interest group on data communication conference Thursday in Florianopolis, Brazil.

Professor Deepak Ganesan introduced the audience to this radio technology, which enables small mobile devices to use the battery power of larger communication devices nearby.

“We take for granted the ability to offload storage and computation from our relatively limited personal computers to the resource-rich cloud,” Ganesan said. “In the same vein, it makes sense that devices should also be able to offload how much power they consume for communication to devices that have more energy.”

The prototype radio can be used to lengthen battery life in mass-market, small mobile devices, like smartwatches and fitness trackers. The scientists further hope that their research can implement “energy offload” techniques to lighten and shrink these devices for future inventions.

“Wearable devices are often bulky due to large batteries needed for adequate battery life,” Ganesan said. “Perhaps such energy offload techniques can reverse this trend and enable thinner and lighter devices.”