Chipless RFID with Fully Inkjet Printed Tags: A Practical Case Study for Low Cost Smart Packaging Applications

Chipless RFIDs are a disruptive technology that acts as a moderate solution between conventional barcodes and chipped RFIDs. These devices allow for cost savings compared to chipped RFIDs and can be identified even with an obstructed view of the tag. One category of chipless RFID is known as the radar cross section (RCS) backscattered chipless RFID. RCS Chipless RFID tags operate by physically encoding data with carefully designed resonating elements. These resonating elements are short electrically coupled resonators that backscatter an interrogating signal based on their frequency dependent RCS signature. In this study, we investigate through simulation and experimental results the properties of four inkjet printable RCS backscattered chipless RFID designs. Each of the designs have different resonating elements that effect the tags reading range, readability, tag size, bandwidth utilization, and polarization dependence. The goal of this study is to give insight into how each of these designs will function in future smart packaging applications.