Passive Wireless Channel Estimation in RF Tag Network

We envision a future where every object in our living and working environment will carry one or more RF tags. Based on the backscattering tag-to-tag communication link, these RF tags will be connected in a network without the need for the central interrogating device. We present a novel tag architecture that enables estimation of the parameters of wireless tag-to-tag channel by a passive receiver. Sampling the received baseband signal at different reflecting phases at the backscattering tag enables estimation of amplitude and phase of the tag-to-tag channel. The low-power implementation of the channel estimator, after envelope detection, integrates amplification and filtering of the baseband signal that is followed by analog-to-digital conversion. The channel estimator, implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology, has sensitivity of -45 dBm at 2.5% modulation index and consumes 122 nW.