Passive UHF Location SEnsing (PULSE)

在TINA项目中，剑桥大学已经证明了以一种新的方式使用低成本UHF RFID技术的可行性，以提供（i）增强的标签读取范围（到> 10 m），（ii）增加的（100%）标签阅读概率和（iii）定位无源标签的能力，分辨率约为1 m。这是通过将定制的RFID阅读器与分布式天线系统相结合来实现的。以协作方式使用分布式天线的能力用于消除无线电传播衰落的影响，并且还允许开发已经在RFID固件上实现的算法，以从各个天线获取RF信息并使用该信息来生成位置信息。TINA项目导致了两个正在进行的专利申请，以保护上述概念。这些对无源UHF RFID的增强已经产生了很大的兴趣，无论是在学术意义上-我们已经在邀请论文和5个国际会议上的主题演讲中介绍了结果-还是在商业上跨多个部门。因此，PULSE项目旨在进一步推动该技术的商业化。该公司将通过以下方式实现这一目标：（i）建立一个适合向客户演示的原型系统;（ii）与商业伙伴合作，更好地了解市场机会，并专注于零售业，开发基于原型定位系统的应用演示，并实地试用这种方法。这种双管齐下的方法将允许确定商业化的最佳途径，并与法官商学院的MBA学生合作，将导致商业计划，以规划这条路线。

Within the TINA project, Cambridge University has demonstrated the feasibility of using low cost UHF RFID technology in a new way to provide (i) enhanced tag read range (to >10m), (ii) increased (100%) tag reading probability and (iii) the ability to locate the passive tag to approximately 1m resolution. This has been achieved by combining a customised RFID reader with a distributed antenna system. The ability to use the distributed antennas in a collaborative manner acts to remove the effect of radio propagation fades and also has allowed the development of algorithms, which have been implemented on RFID firmware, to take the RF information from the individual antennas and use this to generate the location information. The TINA project resulted in two ongoing patent applications to protect the concepts described above.These enhancements to passive UHF RFID have generated a great deal of interest, both in an academic sense - we have presented the results in invited papers and a keynote at 5 international conferences - but also commercially across a variety of sectors. The PULSE project therefore seeks to further the commercialisation of the technology. It will do this via (i) building a prototype system suitable for demonstration to customers and (ii) working with commercial partners to understand better the market opportunities and, concentrating on the retail sector, develop an application demonstration based on the prototype location system and field trial this approach. This twin pronged approach will allow the identification of the best route to commercialisation and, working in collaboration with MBA students from the Judge Business School, will result in business plans to map this route forward.