Power-optimized waveforms for improving the range and reliability of RFID systems

Abstract

A major limitation in passive radio frequency identification (RFID) is the read range from the reader to tag, which is limited by the power available to the radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC). The power-optimized waveform (POW) is a new type of multiple-tone carrier and modulation scheme that is designed to improve the read range and power efficiency of charge pump-based passive RFICs. This paper presents the POW concept, an estimation of effects on existing class 1 generation 2 RFID systems, several example POWs, simulation results, and measurement results of read range gains using a POW.