Chipless RFID SAW sensor system-level simulator

Abstract

Chipless RFID SAW technology has been identified as a possible solution for NASA's long term needs for ground, space-flight, and space-exploration sensor requirements. SAW has many unique advantages over possible competing technologies, which include the following properties: passive, radiation hard, operable over wide temperature ranges, small, rugged, inexpensive, and identifiable. The purpose of this paper is to define a system simulation environment for SAW sensors; not on any particular sensor. For remote sensing, it is beneficial to be able to simulate effectively the sensor environment prior to fabrication. This paper will use previously presented orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) sensor tags. The parameters of interest are the transmitter, channel characteristics, target, and the receiver output. The simulations utilize a SAW device coupling of modes (COM) model and combined with the RF system parameters. This provides an accurate simulation tool for the overall system when performing analysis on important parameters, such as signal to noise ratio (SNR), SAW coding type, and range effects. Theoretical system performance of a multi-frequency SAW RFID sensor system utilizing multiple targets will be discussed.