The era of ubiquitous, affordable wireless connectivity has opened doors to
countless practical applications. In this context, ambient backscatter
communication (AmBC) stands out, utilizing passive tags to establish
connections with readers by harnessing reflected ambient radio frequency (RF)
signals. However, conventional data detectors face limitations due to their
inadequate knowledge of channel and RF-source parameters. To address this
challenge, we propose an innovative approach using a deep neural network (DNN)
for channel state estimation (CSI) and signal detection within AmBC systems.
Unlike traditional methods that separate CSI estimation and data detection, our
approach leverages a DNN to implicitly estimate CSI and simultaneously detect
data. The DNN model, trained offline using simulated data derived from channel
statistics, excels in online data recovery, ensuring robust performance in
practical scenarios. Comprehensive evaluations validate the superiority of our
proposed DNN method over traditional detectors, particularly in terms of bit
error rate (BER). In high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions, our method
exhibits an impressive approximately 20% improvement in BER performance
compared to the maximum likelihood (ML) approach. These results underscore the
effectiveness of our developed approach for AmBC channel estimation and signal
detection. In summary, our method outperforms traditional detectors, bolstering
the reliability and efficiency of AmBC systems, even in challenging channel
conditions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Communication