A Mathematical Framework, Simulation, and Measurement of Harmonic Identification Systems

Abstract

The main focus of this research paper is to develop a realistic mathematical framework to accurately characterize the performance of the harmonic identification system. This mathematical framework incorporates the essential factors that affect the harmonic identification system such as, the radiation pattern and polarization of the reader and transponder antennas, the angle of incidence and reflection, conversion efficiency of the non-linear element, besides the environmental effects which are multipath and clutter reflections. To validate the proposed analytical model, simulations and measurements are conducted using a state-of-the-art transponder equipped with a Schottky diode that exhibits non-linear characteristics in output power. The performance of the transponder is evaluated in both scenarios, with and without environmental reflections, where a significant drop in the backscattered signal is observed due to the multipath reflections. Accordingly, a Ray-tracing model is utilized to investigate the environmental reflections, and thus the system performance could be evaluated analytically. The close agreement between the results obtained from developed analytical framework and Ray-tracing simulations together with the corresponding measurements demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed analytical framework in accurately predicting the performance of the harmonic identification systems.

Keywords

• Harmonic transponder
• non-linear RFID
• mathematical framework
• simulation
• measurement