Long-Range Wireless Interrogation of Passive Humidity Sensors Using Van-Atta Cross-Polarization Effect and Different Beam Scanning Technique

Dominique Henry (1) , Jimmy G D Hester (2) , Hervé Aubert (1) , Patrick Pons (1) , Manos M. Tentzeris (2)

1 LAAS-MINC - Équipe MIcro et Nanosystèmes pour les Communications sans fil
2 ECE GeorgiaTech - School of Electrical and Computer Engineering - Georgia Insitute of Technology

This paper presents a method for the remote interrogation of batteryless humidity sensors based on statistical estimations and three-dimensional beam scanning techniques. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a Van-Atta reflectarray sensor is interrogated with a 24 GHz Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave transceiver at various reading ranges. The extension of the proposed approach to passive or moving sensors is reported and measurement results are discussed. The relative humidity is derived from the statistical analysis of multidimensional radar echoes, while method is proposed to detect the sensor among clutter without knowing its exact position. Moreover it is demonstrated that the cross-polarization effect of the Van-Atta reflectarray combined with the 3D beam scanning technique allows the indoor measurement of the relative humidity up to 58 meters.

Mots clés: Internet of Things; Flexible electronics; Direction-of-Arrival analysis; Chipless sensors; Batteryless sensors; Radar imaging; Remote sensing; Antennas arrays; Microstrip antenna arrays; RFID sensors

Domaines: Electromagnétisme; Traitement du signal et de l'image [eess.SP]; Electronique

Dominique Henry, Jimmy G D Hester, Hervé Aubert, Patrick Pons, Manos M. Tentzeris. Long-Range Wireless Interrogation of Passive Humidity Sensors Using Van-Atta Cross-Polarization Effect and Different Beam Scanning Technique. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2017, 65 (12), pp.5345-5354. ⟨10.1109/TMTT.2017.2769055⟩. ⟨hal-01710107⟩