AI-Optimized Wake-Up Radio Systems for 6G IoT

Authors

  • Haider ALRikabi Department of Electrical Engineering, Wasit University, Wasit, Iraq.
  • Ibtihal R. Niama ALRubeei Department of Electrical Engineering, Wasit University, Wasit, Iraq
  • Abdul Hadi M. Alaidi Department of Computer Science, Wasit University, Wasit, Iraq.
  • Haider TH. Salim ALRikabi Department of Electrical Engineering, Wasit University, Wasit, Iraq.
  • Iryna Svyd Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, The department of Computer Engineering and Electronics, 57 Shevchenko Str., Ivano-Frankivsk, 76018, Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29194/NJES.29020260

Keywords:

6G, IoT, Wake-Up Radio, TinyML, Reinforcement Learning, C-DRX, Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Battery life is the hard constraint for massive Internet-of-Things (IoT) at 6G scale. Wake-up radios (WuRs)—ultra-low-power auxiliary receivers that “listen” for short wake-up signals while the main transceiver sleeps—offer orders-of-magnitude energy savings, but suffer from false wake-ups, long tail latency under bursty traffic, and sensitivity/coverage limits. This paper proposes an end-to-end AI-optimized WuR stack that combines (i) a TinyML classifier embedded in the WuR path to suppress false triggers and adapt detection thresholds, and (ii) a reinforcement-learning (RL) scheduler at the base station or gateway that co-optimizes wake-up signaling with 3GPP NR DRX/C-DRX timers. The proposed method, tested using a trace-driven simulator calibrated with published WuR power/latency figures, the approach reduces node-average energy by 41–72% versus strong baselines, while meeting 99% latency targets and cutting false wake-ups by >80%.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

M. M. Hosseini, A. Amini, S. M. R. Hashemi, H. R. Khosravi, and M. R. Javan, "The revolutionary impact of 6G technology on empowering health and building a smart society: A scoping review," Comput. Biol. Med., vol. 194, p. 110496, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110496 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110496

R. Chataut, M. Nankya, and R. Akl, "6G networks and the AI revolution-Exploring technologies, applications, and emerging challenges," Sensors, vol. 24, no. 6, p. 1888, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24061888 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s24061888

Y. L. Lee, D. Qin, L.-C. Wang, and G. H. Sim, "6G massive radio access networks: Key applications, requirements and challenges," IEEE Open J. Veh. Technol., vol. 2, pp. 54-66, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/OJVT.2020.3044569 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/OJVT.2020.3044569

S. Wang, T. J. Odelberg, P. W. Crary, M. P. Obery, and D. D. Wentzloff, "Low-power wake-up receivers for resilient cellular Internet of Things," Information, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 43, 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/info16010043 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/info16010043

Y. Liu, Z. Wang, J. Xu, C. Ouyang, X. Mu, and R. Schober, "Near-field communications: A tutorial review," IEEE Open J. Commun. Soc., vol. 4, pp. 1999-2049, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCOMS.2023.3305583 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCOMS.2023.3305583

R. Kumar, V. Jain, L. W. Yie, and S. Teyarachakul, Convergence of IoT, Blockchain, and Computational Intelligence in Smart Cities. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003353034 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003353034

K. Boutiba and A. Ksentini, "On using deep reinforcement learning to balance power consumption and latency in 5G NR," in Proc. ICC, 2023, pp. 6218-6223. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICC45041.2023.10279727 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICC45041.2023.10279727

M. Bordin, A. Zanella, M. Zorzi, A. Testolin, and M. Polese, "Design and evaluation of deep reinforcement learning for energy saving in open RAN," in Proc. IEEE CCNC, 2025, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/CCNC54725.2025.10976108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/CCNC54725.2025.10976108

N. El Zarif, M. A. Hemmat, T. Dupuis, J.-P. David, and Y. Savaria, "Polara-Keras2c: Supporting vectorized AI models on RISC-V edge devices," IEEE Access, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3498462 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3498462

W. Wu, X. Wang, A. Hawbani, L. Yuan, and W. Gong, "A survey on ambient backscatter communications: Principles, systems, applications, and challenges," Comput. Netw., vol. 216, p. 109235, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2022.109235 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2022.109235

M. U. Sheikh, B. Xie, K. Ruttik, H. Yiğitler, R. Jäntti, and J. Hämäläinen, "Ultra-low-power wide range backscatter communication using cellular generated carrier," Sensors, vol. 21, no. 8, p. 2663, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21082663 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s21082663

C. A. Alabi, A. L. Imoize, M. A. Giwa, N. Faruk, and S. T. Tersoo, "Artificial intelligence in spectrum management: Policy and regulatory considerations," in Proc. ICMEAS, vol. 1, 2023, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMEAS58693.2023.10379314 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMEAS58693.2023.10379314

D. K. McCormick, 802.11ba Battery Life Improvement-IEEE Technology Report on Wake-Up Radio, pp. 1-56, 2017.

M. C. Caballé, A. C. Augé, E. Lopez-Aguilera, E. Garcia-Villegas, I. Demirkol, and J. P. Aspas, "An alternative to IEEE 802.11ba: Wake-up radio with legacy IEEE 802.11 transmitters," IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 48068-48086, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2909847 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2909847

A. Höglund, M. Mozaffari, Y. Yang, G. Moschetti, K. Kittichokechai, and R. Nory, "3GPP Release 18 wake-up receiver: Feature overview and evaluations," IEEE Commun. Standards Mag., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 10-16, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOMSTD.0001.2400002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOMSTD.0001.2400002

W. Chen and P. Jain, "3GPP Release 18 overview: A world of 5G-Advanced," ATIS Org., vol. 2, 2023.

R. Piyare, A. L. Murphy, C. Kiraly, P. Tosato, and D. Brunelli, "Ultra low power wake-up radios: A hardware and networking survey," IEEE Commun. Surveys Tuts., vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 2117-2157, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2017.2728092 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2017.2728092

H. Bello, Z. Xiaoping, R. Nordin, and J. Xin, "Advances and opportunities in passive wake-up radios with wireless energy harvesting for IoT applications," Sensors, vol. 19, no. 14, p. 3078, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19143078 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s19143078

R. Fromm, O. Kanoun, and F. Derbel, "An improved wake-up receiver based on the optimization of low-frequency pattern matchers," Sensors, vol. 23, no. 19, p. 8188, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23198188 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s23198188

S. Basagni, F. Ceccarelli, C. Petrioli, N. Raman, and A. V. Sheshashayee, "Wake-up radio ranges: A performance study," in Proc. IEEE WCNC, 2019, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/WCNC.2019.8885974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/WCNC.2019.8885974

S. Mahlknecht and M. S. Durante, "WUR-MAC: Energy efficient wakeup receiver-based MAC protocol," IFAC Proc. Vol., vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 79-83, 2009. https://doi.org/10.3182/20090520-3-KR-3006.00012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3182/20090520-3-KR-3006.00012

V. R. K. Ramachandran, E. D. Ayele, N. Meratnia, and P. J. Havinga, "Potential of wake-up radio-based MAC protocols for implantable body sensor networks (IBSN)-A survey," Sensors, vol. 16, no. 12, p. 2012, 2016. https://doi.org/10.3390/s16122012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s16122012

X. Wang, Y. Zhang, L. Chen, J. Liu, H. Huang, and T. Zhang, "A task-driven design approach for 6G AI-native architecture," Engineering, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2025.09.005

F. Zhu, L. Chen, Y. Wang, H. Zhang, Z. Li, and S. Xu, "Wireless large AI model: Shaping the AI-native future of 6G and beyond," arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.14653, 2025.

B. Li, T. Liu, W. Wang, C. Zhao, and S. Wang, "Agent-as-a-Service: An AI-native edge computing framework for 6G networks," IEEE Netw., 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/MNET.2024.3520987 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MNET.2024.3520987

H. A. Mutar, B. Duraković, A. A. Almisreb, J. Šutković, and I. Svyd, "Investigation of AI with OpenCV-Python for detecting diabetes," in Recent Trends and Applications of Soft Computing in Engineering (RTASCE), Sarajevo, Cham, 2025, pp. 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82881-2_14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82881-2

A. H. M. Alaidi, Z. A. Ramadhan, J. Alrubaye, H. Mutar, and I. Svyd, "AI-based monkeypox detection model using Raspberry Pi 5 AI Kit," Sustain. Eng. Innov., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-14, 2025. https://doi.org/10.37868/sei.v7i1.id393 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37868/sei.v7i1.id393

W. Saad, C. Chaccour, C. K. Thomas, and M. Debbah, Foundations of Semantic Communication Networks. John Wiley & Sons, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394247912 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394247912

N. Li, Y. Zhao, H. Zhang, L. Chen, X. Wang, and T. Zhang, "Towards AI-native RAN: An operator's perspective of 6G Day 1 standardization," arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.08403, 2025.

X. You, Y. Huang, C. Zhang, J. Wang, H. Yin, and H. Wu, "When AI meets sustainable 6G," Sci. China Inf. Sci., vol. 68, no. 1, p. 110301, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-024-4257-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-024-4257-6

Downloads

Published

26-07-2026

How to Cite

[1]
H. ALRikabi, Ibtihal R. Niama ALRubeei, Abdul Hadi M. Alaidi, H. T. S. ALRikabi, and Iryna Svyd, “AI-Optimized Wake-Up Radio Systems for 6G IoT”, NJES, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 260–272, Jul. 2026, doi: 10.29194/NJES.29020260.

Similar Articles

101-110 of 179

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.