Multifrequency Continuous-Wave Radar Approach to Ranging in Passive UHF RFID

In this paper, we present the extension of a recently published two-frequency continuous-wave (CW) ultra-high-frequency RF identification ranging technique to multiple carriers. The proposed system concept relies on exact phase information; hence, the passive tag cannot be accurately modeled as a frequency-flat linear device. A linearized model of the tag´s reflection coefficient is devised to bridge the gap between the nonlinear reality and the linear CW radar theory. Estimation error bounds are derived and effects caused by noise and multipath propagation are analyzed in detail. It has been found that systematic errors introduced by the tag´s reflection characteristic cannot be compensated by using multiple carriers due to large variations caused by detuning. Nonetheless the system, while being vulnerable to multipath propagation effects, still performs well under line-of-sight conditions; mean average errors below 15% of the true distance are possible in typical fading environments..