Active UWB Reflector for RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks

Author

Lazaro, Antonio ; Ramos, Angel ; Villarino, R. ; Girbau, David

Author_Institution

Electron., Electr. & Automatics Eng. Dept., Univ. Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

Volume

61

Issue

9

fYear

2013

Firstpage

4767

Lastpage

4774

Abstract

In this paper, we present an active ultra-wideband (UWB) reflector for radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor applications. The tag is composed of a receiver UWB antenna connected to a broadband amplifier. Its output is connected to a cross-polarized transmit antenna. In order to increase the battery lifetime, an UHF link is used to wake up the microcontroller. It modulates the radar cross section of the tag by turning the amplifier bias on and off. The amplitude of the reflected UWB pulse sent by the UWB reader is modulated as a result. The basic theory of operation of ultra-wideband radio identification systems is explained in this paper. A proof of concept using commercial components and experimental results obtained with an ultra-wideband radar are presented.

Keywords

microcontrollers; radar antennas; radiofrequency identification; transmitting antennas; ultra wideband antennas; ultra wideband communication; ultra wideband radar; wideband amplifiers; wireless sensor networks; RFID; UHF link; UWB pulse; UWB reader; active UWB reflector; active ultrawideband reflector; battery lifetime; broadband amplifier; cross-polarized transmit antenna; microcontroller; radar cross section; radiofrequency identification; receiver UWB antenna; ultrawideband radar; wireless sensor networks; Active antennas; radio frequency identification (RFID); transponder; ultra-wideband (UWB);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2013.2269473

Filename

6542657