Millimeter-Wave Multi-Channel Backscatter Communication and Ranging with an FMCW Radar

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Wireless Communication Systems
• Radar Technology

Background:

• Integrated systems for communication and sensing are crucial for advanced applications.
• Existing radio frequency (RF) tag solutions face limitations in data rate and multi-target discrimination.
• Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar offers precise ranging capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a multi-channel backscatter communication and radar sensing system.
• To develop a novel packaging solution for active RF tags enabling high-speed data transmission.
• To enable simultaneous radar ranging and uplink data communication from multiple RF tags.

Main Methods:

• Integration of FMCW radar ranging with simultaneous uplink data transmission from a self-packaged active RF tag.
• Development of a novel package for the RF tag to support high data rates (32-QAM up to 2.5 Gbps, QPSK up to 8 Gbps).
• Implementation of spread spectrum coding for multi-tag data separation in a shared frequency band.

Main Results:

• Proof-of-concept simulations and measurements validating the proposed system.
• Demonstration of a 625 Mbps data rate in a dual-tag scenario.
• Successful data separation for tags located at arbitrary positions without adjacent channel interference.

Conclusions:

• The proposed system effectively integrates backscatter communication and radar sensing.
• The novel RF tag packaging enables high-speed data transmission and robust multi-tag operation.
• This technology paves the way for advanced sensing and communication applications using RF tags.