Design and Optimization of Passive UHF RFID Systems

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method relying on small chips and antennas. This book examines the analysis, design and optimization of UHF passive RFID systems for long-range applications. It presents a linear two-port model for an N-stage modified-Greinacher full wave rectifier, predicting the overall conversion efficiency at low power levels where the diodes are operating near their threshold voltage. The output electrical behavior of the rectifier is calculated as a function of the received power and the antenna parameters, and the two-port parameters values are computed for particular input voltages and output currents for the complete N-stage rectifier circuit using only the measured I-V and C-V characteristics of a single diode. Included is an experimental procedure to measure how impedance modulation in the tag affects the signal at the reader, and a useful tool for choosing the most appropriate impedances.