IEEE Virtual Journal on RFID — Issue 15

Editorial Note: This issue is part three in a three part series on the future of physical layers for RFID. In this part the following topics are covered: (1) Fine-scale Motion Capture: RFID Systems Achieve Millimeter-level Accuracy, and (2) The ComSoc Roundup: Selected Recent RFID Papers from IEEE Communications Society.

IEEE Virtual Journal on RFID — Issue 14

Editorial Note: This issue is part two in a three part series on the future of physical layers for RFID. In this part the following topics are covered: (1) Propagating on Objects: Wideband Antennas Resist On-Object Degradation, and (2) The Next Frontier: Millimeter-Wave Backscatter Communication.

IEEE Virtual Journal on RFID — Issue 13

Editorial Note: This issue is part one in a three part series on the future of physical layers for RFID. In this part the following topics are covered: (1) Resurrection of the Esaki Diode: Tunneling Becomes Cool Again, and (2) Retrodirectivity for RFID: Orientation-Independent Tag Design with Gain.

A Multi-modulation Retrodirective Feed Network for Backscatter Communications

Mohammad Alhassoun, Francesco Amato, Gregory D. Durgin
2017 IEEE 28th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC)

This paper presents a new device for implementing a retrodirective backscatter modulator — an antenna + RF structure that reflects microwaves back to their source, while also adding information.  The technique is extremely flexible and low-power, although only practical at microwave bands when the wavelength becomes several centimeters or shorter.