CAREER: Long-Range Near Field Communication for Ultra-Dense Internet of Things

物联网（Internet of Things, IoT）可以通过连接日常事物，为我们日常生活的智能化管理提供必要的信息，从而提高生活质量。然而，超密集物联网设备的部署受到频谱稀缺性的限制。使用高频（HF）频段磁信号的近场通信（NFC）具有较短的通信范围，对现有无线应用产生的干扰可以忽略不计。此外，NFC信号可以有效地穿透各种材料，提供可靠的通信通道。如今，NFC标签已被用于零售、医疗、服装行业和农业等领域。然而，由于通信范围有限，这些标签通常是手动扫描的，无法支持自动物联网应用。该项目旨在开发一种远程NFC系统，该系统可以使用移动机器人自主读取超密集NFC标签。将设计本地化和各种传感算法，以充分利用无处不在的NFC标签的潜力，提高生活质量和工作效率。该项目还通过将研究活动与诺福克州立大学现有的本科和研究生课程相结合来支持教育，诺福克州立大学是历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）之一，并与包容性工程联盟中的其他少数族裔服务机构（msi）分享研究成果和推广材料。将追求以下四个研究方向，以实现开发具有网络，传感和定位功能的超密集物联网框架的目标。首先，该项目将使用线圈阵列、自干扰消除和磁盲波束形成来设计远程NFC读取器，以扩展现有NFC系统的通信范围。将考虑靠近阅读器或标签的高介电常数和高导电性材料的存在，并研究其对无线通信性能的影响。其次，设计强耦合标签的防碰撞协议。将开发和分析方向划分多址，以允许多个NFC标签访问无线信道并减少误读率。第三，在标签耦合和随机方向约束下，开发标签方向感知和定位算法。最后，还将通过开发近场安全传输策略来考虑和解决长通信范围产生的安全和隐私问题。将开发可重构测试平台来验证所提出的方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Internet of Things (IoT) can improve the quality of life by connecting everyday things and providing essential information for intelligent management of our daily life. However, the deployment of ultra-dense IoT devices is constrained by the spectrum scarcity. The Near Field Communication (NFC) using high-frequency (HF) band magnetic signals has a short communication range which generates negligible interference with existing wireless applications. Also, NFC signals can efficiently penetrate through various materials and provide a reliable communication channel. Nowadays, NFC tags have been used in retail, medical, clothing industry, and agriculture among others. However, due to the limited communication range, these tags are usually scanned manually, which cannot support automatic IoT applications. This project aims to develop a long-range NFC system that can read ultra-dense NFC tags autonomously using mobile robots. Localization and various sensing algorithms will be designed to fully leverage the potential of ubiquitous NFC tags to improve the quality of life and working efficiency. This project also supports education by integrating research activities with existing undergraduate and graduate curricula at Norfolk State University, which is one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and sharing research outcomes and outreach materials with other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in the Inclusive Engineering Consortium. The following four research directions will be pursued to achieve the objective of developing a framework for ultra-dense IoT with networking, sensing, and localization capabilities. First, this project will design long-range NFC readers using coil arrays, self-interference cancellation, and magnetic blind beamforming to extend the communication range of existing NFC systems. The existence of high-permittivity and high-conductivity materials that are close to the reader or tags will be considered, and their impacts on wireless communication performance will be studied. Second, anti-collision protocols for strongly coupled tags will be designed. The Orientation Division Multiple Access will be developed and analyzed to allow multiple NFC tags to access the wireless channel and reduce the misreading ratio. Third, tag orientation sensing and localization algorithms will be developed under the constraints of tag coupling and random orientation. Last, the security and privacy issues created by the long communication range will also be considered and addressed by developing near field secure transmission strategies. Reconfigurable testbeds will be developed to verify the proposed approaches.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.