In recent years, passive radio frequency (RF) tags that
communicate using modulated backscatter radiation have shown great
potential for use in inventory management, parcel and postal
tracking, for use as remote sensors, and in a host of other Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) applications. However, for the
widespread use of these tags to become reality, much basic
research is needed to reduce the cost, increase the range, and
increase the reliability of the RF tag. This research seeks to
enhance the performance of passive RF tags by developing a series
of tests, or radio assay, to measure the following: the
performance of RF tag antennas as a function of antenna material
and manufacturing technique and the antenna performance when
attached to various materials. The radio assay experiments are
designed for RF tag antennas that operate in the far field of the
tag reader and communicate using modulated backscatter radiation
at 915 MHz. Three flexible, folded dipoles, printed on plastic
substrates, were measured in the radio assay experiments. The
results of the experiments include the following: the antenna gain
penalty (relative to a baseline antenna) for each antenna material
and manufacturing technique, the antenna gain penalty (relative to
the free space antenna gain) due to material losses when the tag
antenna is attached to an object, and the benefits (in terms of
antenna gain) of tuning each tag antenna to the material to which
it is attached. The results are presented in a form to aid RF
engineers in the design of RF tag system link budgets.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/7112 |
| Date | 17 May 2005 |
| Creators | Griffin, Joshua David |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 4444198 bytes, application/pdf |
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