An Experimental Study of a novel MAC protocol using UHF- RFID Passive Backscatter Modulation for Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Applications

This paper discusses an implantable, low power, wireless, neural signal transmitter, to restore limb mobility in individuals with spinal cord injuries, as part of a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system. Specifically, this paper describes a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system using passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) transmitters operating in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band. This system uses backscatter modulation as its power transfer mechanism. Such low power UHF passive RFID radio technology has shown to have great potential to support invasive BCI applications. The performance of UHF passive RFID technology using a novel MAC protocol in an invasive BCI application is presented. The performance is analyzed using the novel MAC protocol and the following properties namely signal to noise ratio (SNR), received signal strength (RSS) and collision count were calculated and compared with the slotted Aloha protocol as a function of implant depth.