A chipless light switch for smart‐homes

Abstract

Abstract The limited and inconvenient functionality of conventional light switches is out of pace with current advancements in wireless sensors. A chipless RFID light switch (CLS) that is passive, battery‐free and relocatable and maintains the convenience of having physical buttons for controlling lightbulbs or other electrical devices is introduced. These characteristics have been achieved by attaching single‐pole‐single‐through toggle switches to the edges of radio frequency spiral resonators. The status of the switches activates or deactivates the resonators, allowing the CLS tag to passively communicate the status of the switches. A CLS tag with two ID resonators (used for tag identifications), and two measurement resonators [MRs] (connected with switches and used to communicate the status of the switches) was designed and fabricated using a 1‐mm‐thick FR4 substrate. Measurement results showed resonant frequencies at 1115 and 1220 MHz corresponding to the ID resonators and frequencies at 848 and 971 MHz corresponding to the MRs. Turning the switches OFF and ON successfully activated and deactivated the MRs.

Keywords

• chipless RFID
• industry 4.0
• intelligent sensors
• Internet of Things
• light switch