Dielectric Resonator-Based Passive Chipless Tag With Angle-of-Arrival Sensing

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques 2019-05, Vol.67 (5), p.2010-2017
• Main Authors: Alhaj Abbas, Ali, El-Absi, Mohammed, Abualhijaa, Ashraf, Solbach, Klaus, Kaiser, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angle of arrival; Angle of arrival (AoA); Backscatter; backscatter radio frequency (RF) tag; dielectric resonator (DR); Dielectrics; Frequency ranges; Incident waves; Lenses; Millimeter waves; passive chipless RFID; Radar cross sections; radar cross sections (RCSS); Radar signatures; Radio frequency; Resonant frequencies; Resonant frequency; Resonators; Sensors; Spectral signatures; spherical lens; Tags
• ISSN: 0018-9480; 1557-9670
• DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2019.2901447

Passive chipless tags based on dielectric resonators (DRs) have been proposed for a novel millimeter-wave indoor self-localization system to mark fixed reference nodes. The tags employed in the system provide a unique spectral signature (resonance peaks) with much-increased radar cross section (RCS) by placing several identical DRs at the focal line of a spherical dielectric lens. Resonators of optimized geometry allow a modification of this original DR-lens tag by combining the lens with different size DRs which exhibit resonant frequencies separated by large frequency gaps. For easier manufacturing and testing, a demonstrator tag was designed for a "scaled" frequency range of 5-6 GHz with this configuration and is shown to produce spectral signatures of the monostatic RCS which are uniquely related to the angle of arrival (AoA) of the incident wave from a reader. Simulated signatures of a lens of 120-mm diameter with seven spherical DRs are presented and results are supported by experiment. Correlation processing of the signatures can give a resolution of few degrees in AoA while the bistatic RCS half-power beamwidth is on the order of 20°, and RCS levels of resonant peaks are produced between 0 and −6 dBm 2 .