Sub- μ W Battery-Less and Oscillator-Less Wi-Fi Backscattering Transmitter Reusing RF Signal for Harvesting, Communications, and Motion Detection

Abstract

In this paper, a sub-uW power 802.11b backscattering transmitter is presented to enable reuse of the same incident wave for three purposes: RF harvesting, backscattering communications and position/motion sensing. The removal of the battery and any off-chip motion sensor (e.g., MEMS) enables unprecedented level of miniaturization and ubiquity, unrestricted device lifespan, low fabrication and maintenance cost. The uW power wall for WiFi transmitters is broken for the first time via local oscillator elimination, as achieved by extracting its frequency through second-order intermodulation of a twotone incident wave. The two-tone scheme also enables a cumulative harvesting/transmission/sensing sensitivity down to Pmin -19 dBm. Position/motion sensing is enabled by using the harvested voltage as a proxy for the Received Signal Strength (RSS), allowing to sense the chip location with respect to the tone generator(s) shared across tags in indoor neighborhoods.