Battery replacement is a significant barrier to adoption of The primary challenges for NZE communications include:

IoT solutions at a massive scale. In many cases, the cost of

replacing the battery is two orders of magnitude higher than
the device cost itself, limiting the number of devices deployed.
The limitations of batteries necessitate the need for Near-
Zero Energy (NZE) devices that are capable of connecting
and communicating over the cellular network. These
communications are expected to prioritize energy efficiency
and range over reliability, latency, and throughput. A NZE
device takes advantage of ultra-low-power radio circuits
(e.g., nano-Watt receivers) that could be powered by energy
harvested from ambient energy sources (e.g., solar power,
thermal energy, wind energy, salinity gradients, kinetic energy)
or from dedicated RF-based signals. NZE communication
will enable a wide range of IoT use cases to operate from
harvested energy alone, therefore eliminating the battery
and the limited lifetime and maintenance costs. NZE
devices can dramatically scale the adoption of IoT devices,
allowing devices to be placed in more locations without the
requirement for battery replacement.
RE Solar Kinetic Chemical Heat
> Providing stable power from potentially
intermittent sources of harvested energy, given the
extremely low complexity and small form factor of
NZE devices.
> Given the limited amount of harvested energy,
how to fulfill the communication requirement
in typical NZE communications use cases and
scenarios.
> Support of NZE devices at a massive scale should
not degrade the performance of other existing
devices in the same and adjacent spectrum
bands.
> Encryption/authentication can be burdensome
for computation-and power-limited devices, so
protecting user privacy and system security in
NZE communications is a concern that needs to
be addressed.

In order to make NZE communications in 6G a reality, the

following key research topics need to be further investigated.
At the device level, these are:

> Exploring new air interfaces.

> Circuit-level solutions for energy storage.

Energy Harvesting RF

> Reducing the power consumption of the radio and

Power Energy modem to a level that can be supported by energy
Storage MCU Sensor
Management harvesting in a small form factor device.

Device > RF-powering technology to support RF-based

energy harvesting over a larger range/coverage
(e.g., energy-efficient beamforming-based energy
harvesting at the device).

> Cost-effective mechanisms to deploy NZE

Mobile terminated devices for very long lifetimes (20+ years) from
the perspective of both device management and
physical deployment (e.g., no physical Subscriber
- Local cell
Mobile originated
- Private Identity Module (SIM) cards).
Network

Key research topics at the network and system level, including

the device, involve:

> Waveform design for the purpose of energy

Mobile terminated
harvesting for NZE devices, as well as for
achieving ultra-low device power consumption
associated with transmission and reception of 6G
- gNB
connectivity.
- WAN Mobile originated

Figure 3.2.3: NZE communication will enable a wide range of IoT

> Co-existence with non-NZE devices needs to be
use cases. NZE device operating from harvested energy (upper), and addressed.
network diagram showing diversity of connections (lower).
> Developing spectrum-sharing techniques and
signaling that efficiently utilize spectrum for high

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