Towards Real-Time Fine-Grained Tracking in Distributed Large-Scale RF Tag Systems

一个可扩展的无线系统，可以连续，准确，同时跟踪多个人的运动和检测他们的细粒度的身体运动将使许多新的现实生活中的应用，如诊断运动障碍，连续监测儿童的行为，并提醒照顾者的老年人福尔斯在真实的时间的发展。本计画的目的是设计并实作一个以无线射频标签为基础的无线感测系统。来自密歇根州立大学的一组研究人员将通过信号处理、数学建模、算法和协议设计、机器学习、优化、雷达设计和谐波标签制造方面的创新，解决理论和实验方面的根本挑战。无线跟踪系统将使人们能够监测养老院老年居民的活动，同时保护他们的隐私，预测和预防他们可能的福尔斯，并指导他们进行医生建议的锻炼。它还将能够以非侵入性方式持续监测儿童的行为和活动，从而能够对儿童的身心发展进行数据驱动的研究。研究结果将广泛传播给研究界，以便研究结果可以重复，并将编写教材，丰富学生的学习经验。本计画旨在设计并实作一个可扩充的无线标签追踪系统，具有大覆盖范围、分散式感测、阅读器间协调、多标签同时追踪以及高时间分辨率等特性。它包括三个互补的研究重点。第一个目标是通过协调和同步位置分布式射频（RF）阅读器来精确定位，为大规模标签跟踪系统开发细粒度跟踪解决方案。它将开发新技术，通过优化信号处理算法，阅读器间通信和协调协议，标签调度和资源分配，最大限度地提高标签跟踪的时间分辨率。第二个目标是开发技术，使同步多标签跟踪类似于蜂窝网络中的多用户MIMO（多输入多输出）的想法。它将显著提高标签跟踪的时间分辨率，特别是在标签密集的情况下。第三个重点是利用窄带谐波标签和微型多普勒雷达进行运动跟踪。它将推进谐波射频标签和雷达的设计和制造，用于频率选择性多标签操作，并探索谐波标签在跟踪应用中的性能限制。此外，该项目包括系统实施和实验评估的重要组成部分，最终目标是展示其实际应用。该奖项反映了NSF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。

A scalable wireless system that can continuously, accurately, and simultaneously track multiple people's movements and detect their fine-grained body motions will enable the development of many novel real-life applications, such as diagnosing movement disorders, continuously monitoring children's behaviors, and alerting caregivers of elderly falls in real time. The objective of this project is to design and implement such a wireless tracking system by employing radio frequency (RF) tag based wireless sensing technology. A team of researchers from Michigan State University will address the fundamental challenges in both theory and experiments through innovations in signal processing, mathematical modeling, algorithm and protocol design, machine learning, optimization, radar design, and harmonic tag fabrication. The wireless tracking system will make it possible to monitor the activities of elderly residents in nursing homes while preserving their privacy, predict and prevent their possible falls, and guide them to perform doctor-suggested exercises. It will also enable the continuous monitoring of children’s behaviors and activities in a non-invasive manner, making it possible to conduct data-driven studies of children’s physical and mental development. The research findings will be broadly disseminated to research community for reproducibility of results, and educational materials will be created to enrich students’ learning experience. This project aims to design and implement a scalable wireless tag tracking system that features large coverage area, distributed sensing, inter-reader coordination, simultaneous multi-tag tracking, and high resolution in time. It comprises three complementary research thrusts. The first thrust will develop fine-grained tracking solutions for a large-scale tag tracking system by coordinating and synchronizing location-distributed radio frequency (RF) readers for precise localization. It will develop new techniques to maximize the time resolution of tag tracking through optimizing signal processing algorithms, inter-reader communication and coordination protocols, tag scheduling, and resource allocation. The second thrust will develop techniques to enable simultaneous multi-tag tracking similar to the idea of multi-user MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) in cellular networks. It will significantly improve the time resolution of tag tracking, especially in tag-dense scenarios. The third thrust will focus on motion tracking using narrowband harmonic tags and micro-Doppler radar. It will advance the design and fabrication of harmonic RF tags and radars for frequency-selective multi-tag operations, and explore the performance limits of harmonic tags in tracking applications. In addition, this project includes a strong component of system implementation and experimental evaluation, with the ultimate goal of demonstrating its real-life applications.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.