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Passive sensor system powered by wireless power transmission

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KEYWORDS: Backscatter, Wireless power transmission, Passive sensors
SUMMARY:
Network of wireless and passive sensors (without batteries), using a set of unique sensors which use a frequency for the data transfer (obtained by sensors) and another frequency for the reception of energy that is emitted by transmitters that power the sensors. For this, only a central data reception and wireless transmission structure is required which communicates with each of the sensors independently. These sensors have low power consumption and high data rates (up to 960 Mb/s).
TRL:
4
Field tests performed with prototypes.

Background and description

Wireless sensors, which transmit the collected information without the need of wiring, have gained increasing commercial importance. These sensors can be used in a wide range of situations, from environmental monitoring to farm and industrial control. However, most sensors still need to use batteries, which increases maintenance and environmental costs.
The presented sensors are an alternative since they do not require any type of battery and receive energy through a specific frequency emitted by an energy transmitter. These passive sensors gain even more relevance if sensor networks are formed, in which several nearby sensors detect and transmit environmental data. These sensors can have the capability of reusing ambient electromagnetic waves to perform the communication (e.g. Wi-Fi, Blue-tooth, LoRa, etc.).

Applications

  • Collection of environmental data (e.g. farm fields, inside buildings)
  • Accesses control (e.g. parking lots, buildings)
  • Uses requiring high transmission rates (e.g. audio or video sensors)

Benefits

  • Compared to traditional sensors: lower cost (no batteries, of any kind) and increased convenience (no battery change, no wiring)
  • Compared to other passive sensors: lower power consumption, higher data transmission rates (up to 960Mb/s) and possibility to use ambient electromagnetic waves (WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRa, etc)

Patents

  • N.B.C. Carvalho, R. Correia, Passive sensor system powered by wireless energy transmission, EP17825932, EPO, Granted, 05-12-2016,
    | Abstract

  • Publications

  • D. Matos, R. Correia, N.B.C. Carvalho, Millimeter-Wave Hybrid RF-DC Converter based on a GaAs Chip for IoT-WPT Applications, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 787 - 790, February, 2021 | Full text (PDF 1 MB) | BibTex
  • D. Belo, R. Correia, Y. Ding, S. Daskalakis, G. Goussetis, A. G. Georgiadis, N.B.C. Carvalho, IQ Impedance Modulator Front-End for Low-Power LoRa Backscattering Devices, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 67, No. 12, pp. 5307 - 5314, December, 2019 | BibTex