For most people, the perception of OPPO may stay in the "stereotype" impression of smartphone terminals. As everyone knows, on the IoT track, OPPO has gone a long way. From the application field, the layout of smart wear, smart home, etc.; from the technical point of view, the application of 5g, uwb and other technologies is also at the forefront.... ..
Just recently, the OPPO Research Institute officially released the "Zero Power Communication" white paper. Based on the current unmet IoT communication needs, it explained the technical positioning and development prospects of zero power communication technology in detail for the first time.
The so-called zero power consumption refers to the use of key technologies such as radio frequency energy harvesting, backscattering, and low-power computing in zero-power communication technology. The zero-power communication obtains energy by collecting radio waves in the space to drive the terminal to work, so the zero-power communication terminal may not use conventional batteries. Further, backscattering and low-power computing technologies can be used to enable the zero-power terminal to implement extremely simple radio frequency and baseband circuit structures, thereby greatly reducing the terminal cost, size and circuit power consumption of the terminal.
Therefore, zero-power communication is expected to realize battery-free terminals and meet the IoT communication requirements of ultra-low power consumption, extremely small size and extremely low cost. It is precisely based on the excellent characteristics of terminals that are battery-free, these terminals are called zero-power terminals, and the corresponding communication process is called zero-power communication.
Based on this concept, it can be seen that this is exactly what we know as passive IoT.
Initial optimistic IoT endpoint scale forecast
And behind the continuously downward data
A very interesting phenomenon. In the past few years, many well-known research institutions in the world have very optimistic forecasts on the number of Internet of Things connections. The following figure is compiled based on the research and forecast data of major institutions on the number of devices:

If this projected volume is reached, it also means that powering the IoT revolution could require a corresponding 41.6 billion batteries to keep these IoT devices collecting, analyzing and sending data. And this will simultaneously trigger a huge logistical challenge.
Although stimulated by the huge market, it has indeed achieved growth and explosion in recent years, but in fact, the overall deployment scale of IoT devices is still far below expectations and plans. The growth rate is also slowing down year by year.
However, the scale development of IoT terminals is not as good as expected. To a certain extent, it is inseparable from the problems of the power supply scheme behind it, which makes it impossible to fully meet the actual application scenarios. The main manifestations are: system risks, maintenance costs and labor costs caused by power supply problems continue to High, limited use places, not conducive to the implementation of the dual carbon policy, complicated wiring, etc.
Therefore, a large part of IoT terminals need a new and sustainable power supply solution, and passive IoT is the root of the problem, because passive IoT can achieve energy self-sufficiency and extremely low maintenance costs and very low cost of ownership.
The passive IoT market pattern is gradually becoming larger
The research on passive IoT is still in the early stage. The weak and unstable energy from the environment and the randomness of energy acquisition in nodes make the connection of passive IoT nodes relatively fragile and it is difficult to maintain continuous connectivity. It restricts the application of passive IoT.
Nevertheless, a large number of enterprises at home and abroad are still working hard. RFID is currently the most widely used and mature passive Internet of Things application, and the current passive communication technology represented by RFID tag has problems such as short communication distance, high cost, and the need for additional radio frequency sources. Special applications such as low-cost and high-capacity logistics and warehousing scenarios, low-cost and low-power smart homes, and extremely small-sized wearables still face great challenges.
In the near future, IoT devices will be able to obtain energy directly through Bluetooth, WiFi, and mobile phone signals, so as to achieve the effect of smaller size, longer life and lower cost.
In addition to RFID, the application of passive Internet of Things is relatively small. Previously, we have summarized the situation of some companies that can query the information. The addition of OPPO has ushered in a new column in this table:

Global Thinking Shift:
From making more energy to using less,
Utilize ambient energy
5G services are far beyond the overall needs of mobile phones and even personal electronics, and this will be even more the case with 6G. Thing-to-thing communication may be more important than human communication.
There has also been a fundamental change in global thinking today, from a previous passion for making more energy to using less energy and utilizing the energy of the surrounding environment, hoping to bring the battery-free perspective to future IoT applications.
Take Next G Alliance, an organization developing 6G in North America as an example. It focuses on R&D, manufacturing, standardization and marketing, and actively formulates a 6G national roadmap to establish core priorities for 6G technology. It is known from public information that the organization is also adding passive features to its 6G planning route.
Previously, the "2021-2041 6G Communication Market, Equipment and Materials" report released by IDTechEx predicted the 6G roadmap and some challenges and opportunities.

(2021-2041 6G Roadmap)

At present, a variety of 6G candidate communication technologies have received extensive attention in the industry. As a new type of communication technology, passive IoT is expected to be deeply integrated with other 6G candidate technologies. Perhaps we can also look forward to seeing some battery-free 6G IoT terminals with the application of 6G in the future.