5G Internet of Things (IoT), as promised, requires more robust and scalable communication systems. These systems must deliver significantly higher data rates and less power consumption per device.Backscatter radios, passive sensors that radiate rather than reflect energy, are well-known for their simplicity and low cost. However, they can be a key enabler in the future. They also have low data rates and rely heavily on the environment.Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Nokia Bell Labs have developed a low-cost backscatter radio that supports high-throughput communication and fast data transfer at 5G speeds. This is in contrast to previous methods which required multiple transistors and were expensive.Researchers have demonstrated that passive devices can transmit data from any environment using a unique modulation technique in the 5G 24-28 Gigahertz bandwidth. These findings were published in Nature Electronics earlier this month.Traditional mmWave communications (also known as the very high frequency band) is considered "the last miles" for broadband. It provides wireless links that are both point-to point and point-tomultipoint. This band has many benefits, including a wide available GHz bandwidth that allows for very high communication rates and the ability to install large antenna arrays electrically, enabling beamforming capabilities on-demand. These mmWave systems are dependent on expensive components and systems.The Struggle for Simplicity Versus Price"Typically it was simplicity versus cost. One transistor could do simple tasks, or multiple transistors were needed for more complicated features. This made them very expensive," stated Emmanouil Manos Tentzeris (Ken Byers Professor in Flexible Electronics at Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, (ECE). "Now, we have increased the complexity making it extremely powerful and very cost-effective, so we are getting the best of both."Advertisement"Our breakthrough is being capable of communicating over 5G/millimeterwave (mmWave), frequencies without having to actually have a full mmWave Radio transmitter. Only one mmWave transistor and much lower frequency electronics such as those found in cell phones and WiFi devices are required. Ioannis (John) Kimionis is a Georgia Tech Ph.D. grad now on the technical staff at Nokia Bell Labs. He said that electronics' power consumption and silicon costs are lower. Our work can be applied to any mobile or fixed device and is scaleable for all types of digital modulation.Researchers are the first to utilize a backscatter radio to transmit gigabit-data rates mmWave communications. This reduces the complexity of the front-end to one high-frequency transistor. The researchers' breakthrough involved modulation and adding intelligence to the signal driving the device.Kimionis stated that the RF front-end was the same for scaling up data rates without adding transistors to the modulator. This makes it scalable and scalable.A host of Smart IoT Sensors powered by the Xerox Optical Power SupplyThis technology opens up many IoT 5G applications including energy harvesting. Georgia Tech researchers demonstrated this using a Rotman lens, which collects 5G electromagnetic energies from all directions.AdvertisementTentzeris stated that backscatter technology has additional uses. These include smart home sensors to monitor temperature, chemical and gases; smart home sensors to detect frost on crops; and even tracking livestock.They also developed an early proof-of-concept of backscatter modulation. This was awarded the third prize at 2016 Nokia Bell Labs Prize. Kimionis, an ECE doctoral student at Georgia Tech, was working alongside Tentzeris in ATHENA, which develops novel technologies for electromagnetic and wireless, as well as sub-terahertz, applications.Additive Manufacturing is a key enabler for low cost.Kimionis views the backscatter tech breakthrough as a sign of his desire to "democratize communication.""Throughout my career, I have searched for ways to make communication more efficient and less expensive. Because the front end of our solution is so simple, it can be printed electronic. It is possible to print an mmWave antenna array which can support a low power, low-complexity and low-cost transmitter.Tentzeris believes that affordable printing is crucial for their backscattering technology market. Georgia Tech is a leader in inkjet printing on almost all materials (paper, plastics and glass) and was the first institute to use 3D printing in millimeter frequency ranges in 2002.Apostolos Georgiadis and Spyridon Nekos Daskalakis were also part of this collaboration. They were both former visiting professors at Georgia Tech and are now faculty members of Herriot-Watt University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences.This work was made possible by the National Science Foundation EFRI, Defense Threat Reduction Agency DTRA and the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Marie Sk?odowska -Curie grant agreement).
