Abstract
Internet-of-Things applications based on backscatter radio principles have appeared to address the limitations of high cost and high power consumption. While radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensor nodes are among the most commonly utilized state-of-the-art technologies, their range for passive implementations is typically short and well below 10 m being impractical for “rugged” applications where approaching the tag at such proximity, is not convenient or safe. In this work, we propose a long-range “zero interception” ambient backscatter (LoRAB) communication system relying on low power sensor (tag) deployments. Without employing a dedicated radio transmission, our technology enables the “zero interception” communication of the tags with portable receivers over hundreds of meters. This enables low-cost and low-power communications across a wide range of missions by using chirp spread spectrum (CSS) modulation on ambient FM signals. A laboratory prototype exploiting commercial components (laptops, DAQ, software-defined radios (SDR) platform) have demonstrated the potential by achieving 130 m tag-to-reader distance for a low bit rate of 88 bps with the modulator current consumption at around 103 nA.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 4151 |
Journal | Sensors |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 11 |
Early online date | 30 May 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2022 |
Keywords
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- backscatter communication
- low power communications
- radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) sensors
- software defined radios (SDRs)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Analytical Chemistry
- Information Systems
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Biochemistry
- Instrumentation
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering