LOW POWER RADIO FREQUENCY COMMUNICATION
First Claim
1. An RF tag for use in a sensor network, the tag comprising:
- an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC);
a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power;
one or more sensors for sensing;
a backscatter communicator to backscatter energy to communicate; and
a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors, and the backscatter communicator, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the backscatter communicator to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system and tag for low power radio frequency communication is described. In one embodiment, the RF tag comprises: an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing; a backscatter communicator to backscatter energy to communicate; and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors, and the backscatter communicator, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the radio to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An RF tag for use in a sensor network, the tag comprising:
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an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC); a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power; one or more sensors for sensing; a backscatter communicator to backscatter energy to communicate; and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors, and the backscatter communicator, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the backscatter communicator to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A communication system comprising:
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an access point coupled to provide access to a network; an RF tag to communicate wirelessly with the access point, the tag comprising an energy harvesting unit operable to convert incident RF energy to direct current (DC), a storage unit operable to store recovered DC power, one or more sensors for sensing, a backscatter communicator to backscatter energy to communicate, and a microcontroller coupled to the energy harvesting and storage units, the one or more sensors, and the backscatter communicator, the microcontroller operable to wake up from a sleep state and cause the backscatter communicator to communicate sensed data from at least one of the one or more sensors while powered by energy previously harvested and stored by the energy harvesting and storage unit. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for communicating information wirelessly using a tag, the method comprising:
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converting incident RF energy to direct current using an energy harvesting unit of the tag; monitoring RF communications with the tag; performing pattern matching on the RF communications with a pattern detector of the tag; generating an interrupt to a microcontroller in response to pattern matching detecting a match; performing a sensing operation under control of the microcontroller; and transmitting a backscatter pattern via a backscatter communicator of the tag. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification