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

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Privitera, Marco, Ballo, Andrea, Ahmed, Karim Ali, Grasso, Alfio Dario, Alioto, Massimo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Privitera, Marco
Ballo, Andrea
Ahmed, Karim Ali
Grasso, Alfio Dario
Alioto, Massimo
author_facet Privitera, Marco
Ballo, Andrea
Ahmed, Karim Ali
Grasso, Alfio Dario
Alioto, Massimo
contents 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.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_05479
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sub- μ W Battery-Less and Oscillator-Less Wi-Fi Backscattering Transmitter Reusing RF Signal for Harvesting, Communications, and Motion Detection
Privitera, Marco
Ballo, Andrea
Ahmed, Karim Ali
Grasso, Alfio Dario
Alioto, Massimo
Signal Processing
Systems and Control
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.
title Sub- μ W Battery-Less and Oscillator-Less Wi-Fi Backscattering Transmitter Reusing RF Signal for Harvesting, Communications, and Motion Detection
topic Signal Processing
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05479