5G Ambient Backscatter Communications: Achievable Range and Power Levels in an Urban Environment

The ambient backscatter communication (AmBC) is a promising approach for wireless data transmission, ensuring the Internet of Things (IoT) growth. This paper presents a study to assess the power budget when considering the 5G as an ambient radiofrequency (RF) source. The paper aims to pore over the feasibility boundaries, namely the power and range levels in the context of 5GAmBC. The investigation deals with an urban macro-cellular outdoor environment. A line of sight (LOS) bi-static scenario was inspected as a case study, in the 3.5 GHz frequency range. The power levels were evaluated based on convenient propagation models. The obtained results are very helpful for a better understanding of the backscatter communication ranges for 5G systems in the considered environment