Use of Low-Cost Printed Sensors with RF Energy Harvesting for IoT

The massive deployment of smart sensor nodes within the Internet of Things (IoT) world is an upcoming reality, where the expenses, security and energy sources will be the most critical issues to be addressed. In this context, the employment of low-cost printed sensors and RF energy harvesting (RFEH) appear as a solution for both costs and energy supply affairs toward the series production of intelligent systems. The proven capability of RF energy harvesting of feeding ultra-low power sensor nodes as part of a wireless sensor network (WSN) fits with the novel and emerging development of diverse printed sensors with ultra-low power requirements, showing both technologies low costs in production and maintenance (no battery needs), besides other advantages. In this paper, we demonstrate the combination of both growing technologies for a use in IoT with a novel under-development smart transceiver, fulfilling the requirements of real applications in terms of functionalities and costs.