Holographic Communication using Intelligent Surfaces

Holographic communication is intended as an holistic way to manipulate with unprecedented flexibility the electromagnetic field generated or sensed by an antenna. This is of particular interest when using large antennas at high frequency (e.g., the millimeter wave or terahertz), whose operating condition may easily fall in the Fresnel propagation region (radiating near-field), where the classical plane wave propagation assumption is no longer valid. This paper analyzes the optimal communication involving large intelligent surfaces, realized for example with metamaterials as possible enabling technology for holographic communication. It is shown that traditional propagation models must be revised and that, when exploiting spherical wave propagation in the Fresnel region with large surfaces, new opportunities are opened, for example, in terms of the number of orthogonal communication channels.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Comm. Magazin

Passive millimeter-wave RFID using backscattered signals

In this paper we investigate the possibility to jointly adopt millimeter-wave technology with passive RFID based on backscattered signals, which paves the way to new identification and localization applications for next 5G scenarios. In particular, we assess the feasibility of this solution by comparing it with the passive RFID in the microwave UWB band. Results show that, despite the high path-loss at 60 GHz, it is possible to achieve interesting performance thanks to the less stringent requirements in terms of emitted power with respect to the UWB technology. Moreover, the possibility of localizing tags with a single reader is foreseen thanks to the adoption of narrow-beam antennas and beamsteering operations

A Low Complexity Scheme for Passive UWB-RFID: Proof of Concept

International audiencePassive UWB-RFID technology represents an emerging solution capable of guaranteeing extremely low energy consumption and high-accuracy localization at the same time. One of the most critical tasks is the acquisition of the tag code at reader side, which can be complex, time-and resource-consuming when multiple UWB tags are deployed. This letter proposes a simple and effective approach, based on a specific assignment strategy of the tag code, which drastically simplifies code acquisition by guaranteeing high tag detection performance. A real system implementation adopting this strategy is shown to prove its feasibility in terms of real-time multiple tags detection and localization

High-Accuracy Tracking Using Ultrawideband Signals for Enhanced Safety of Cyclists

In this paper, an ultrawideband localization system to improve the cyclists’ safety is presented. The architectural solutions proposed consist of tags placed on bikes, whose positions have to be estimated, and anchors, acting as reference nodes, located at intersections and/or on vehicles. The peculiarities of the localization system in terms of accuracy and cost enable its adoption with enhanced risk assessment units situated on the infrastructure/vehicle, depending on the architecture chosen, as well as real-time warning to the road users. Experimental results reveal that the localization error, in both static and dynamic conditions, is below 50 cm in most of the cases

Casting signal processing to reall-world data

This chapter presents the results of a testing and validation activity carried out to analyze the performance of signal-processing techniques related to positioning and navigation. The steps included the setup of a measurement campaign and the setup of a shared database, the usage of this database to test algorithms, and the development of a software defined radio (SDR)-based architecture for a GNSS receiver, to be used for advanced laboratory tests on innovative GNSS-related signal processing algorithms. During the measurement campaign, a total of 22 ZigBee-based devices, model CC2430 made by Texas Instruments, were used to measure RSS values. Each of them is a single chip solution which integrates microprocessor and radio interface compliant with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard at 2.4 GHz. Two UWB-based devices, model PulsOn220 made by Time Domain, were used to perform TOA ranging measurements in both static and dynamic scenarios. During the test, the receiver in light-indoor condition could autonomously track only one satellite, identified as PRN 9. This PRN was also tracked by the aiding user; therefore, it was used to estimate the clock offset among the two PCs.Postprint (published version