Fundamental Research on Polarimetrically Coded Radar Barcodes

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Despite intensive research worldwide into chipless RFID in recent years and despite the many potential benefits of the technology, such as zero maintenance requirements and high level of robustness, no sustainable chipless RFID concepts have as yet emerged. The only applications of any significance have been surface acoustic wave RFID tags and basic 1-bit tags for electronic article surveillance. To overcome these limitations, the applicant recently proposed polarimetrically coded radar barcodes as a completely new concept for chipless RFID. A polarimetrically coded radar barcode is a two-dimensional array of partial reflectors each with their own characteristic polarimetric response. A polarimetric imaging radar reads the information stored on the tag remotely. In preliminary research it was shown that the novel approach has the potential to achieve chipless RFIDs with a data capacity of more than 1,000 bits and tag operating temperatures well above 1,000°C. Fundamental research on the design and assessment of polarimetrically coded tags is at the heart of this project. Among the main research elements are coding techniques, designing appropriate reflector structures as well as arranging the structures on the tag in an optimal manner. A key objective of all design considerations is to identify and assess the effects of faults and interference issues on data capacity and detection reliability during the reading process. The impact of tag rotation and tilt and the compensation of these effects will be investigated as well. The system variants previously demonstrates in the preliminary research required artificial, well defined tag / reader arrangements that are impractical for realistic application scenarios. Thus, the overall design goals are: firstly to maximize the data capacity on as small a surface area as possible with efficient design and manufacturing processes and secondly to overcome the above mentioned restrictions in respect to the reading conditions. All these studies relating to the tag and the system concept will provide a comprehensive insight into this novel chipless RFID technology and its potential and limitations. As leading-edge applications and as proof of performance of this innovative technology we will design and experimentally demonstrate chipless RFID tags with a data capacity of more than 1,000 bits as well as tags reaching operating temperatures above 1,000°C under varying reading conditions that are representative for potential practical application scenarios. This project is a major step forward for chipless tag technology in relation to data capacity and to robustness against extreme temperatures. We anticipate that this disruptive technology will break new ground in a range of applications, applications that heretofore could not be pursued with current RFID technologies.