A new passive RFID tag system by dual excitation port antenna

and frequency doubler

Shota Komatsu, Toshiro Kodera
Department of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering, Meisei University, Tokyo, 1918506, Japan

Abstract RFID systems is widely utilized for various distri-
bution system for rapid and correct object transportation. In
this paper, a new RFID tag consisting of an antenna with dual
excitation ports and frequency doubler is proposed. In order
to establish the whole system, additonal horn pair operating f0
and 2f0 are required, where the identication condition depends
on frequency, transmit/receive antenna directional off-set and
polarisation shift. As a proof of concept, system operation of
3 6 GHz is conrmed.
Index Terms RFID, passive RFID tag, frequency doubler,
second resonance
2.9 GHz and 2f0 = 5.8 GHz and interconnected frequency
doubler. The second resonance radiation provides normal-
null radiation [4] and the reception of doubled frequency
signal requires off-set angle . The angle is a member
for RFID system establishment. In addition, ports of antenna
are set up as orthogonal for higher isolation, so polarisation
angle for maximum signal reception has rotation shift p . The
parameters f0 , , and p are the key to establish the proposed
system.

I. I NTRODUCTION III. A NTENNA AND DOUBLER DESIGN AND EVALUATION

Object identication system in distribution network is in-
dispensable for rapid object transportation. RFID [1], [2] is 34.2 mm 9.2 mm
2.5 mm
well established technique to control object in distribution port 2
1.4 mm
ow and they have still progress for more accurate and rapid port 2
34.2 mm

identication [3]. In this paper, new RFID system consisting

of the tag with two ports antenna with frequency doubler and
the reader by angle and polarization off-set horn antenna pair,
where the frequency of operation and antenna angle setup 11.6 mm
18.8 mm

y
in addition to doubler connection and general patch antenna 0.7 mm

radiation property are the key for identication. As a proof of port 1 x port 1
concept, 2.9 5.8 GHz system is evaluated and the prototype
(a) (b)
system works as expected.
II. P RINCIPLE OF O PERATION Fig. 2. Two ports patch antenna conguration.

2.9 GHz spectrum

(12 dBm) analyzer 10
0
|S11|, |S22| (dB)

-10
2.9 GHz -20
polarization -30 |S11| = -38 dB
14 cm shift (2.87 GHz)
-40 |S22| = -48 dB
(5.71 GHz)
5.8 GHz
-50
port 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
f (GHz)
port 2
doubler Fig. 3. Simulated reection coefcient for each port in the structure
of g. 2.
dual-ports patch antenna
Fig. 1. System conguration of the proposed RFID system. Fig. 2 shows two ports patch antenna conguration in the
system of g. 1. A 34.2 mm square patch are arranged on
Fig. 1 shows the proposed system conguration. RFID tag dielectric substrate (r = 2.2, t = 0.8 mm) with two excitation
part consists of two ports patch antenna working for f0 = ports. Two ports are orthogonal in order to maximise port

978-1-5090-1038-7/17/$31.00 2017 IEEE 145

isolation. Excitation position and strip line width are optimized 0
for impedance matching to Z0 = 50 . -30 30
Fig. 3 shows the simulated reection coefcient for each
port in the structure of g. 2(a), where well matched response
-60 60
is cormed for port #1 at f0 and port #2 at 2f0 . Simulation
is performed by commercial simulator CST Microwave Studio
For the reection coefcient evaluation for each port, remain
ports are connected to Z0 .
-90 90
simulation (5.74 GHz) -15 -5 5 15
10 (dBi)
experiment (5.80 GHz)
0
Fig. 6. Comparison of measured and simulated radiation pattern for
|S11|, |S22| (dB)

-10 2f0 , which shows clear normal-null radiation.

-20 via

-30 |S11| = -24 dB |S11| = -22 dB

(2.89 GHz) (5.81 GHz) diode
-40 (SMS3923-011)

-50 port 1 port 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
f (GHz)
Fig. 4. Measured reection coefcient for the antenna prototype,
which shows good agreement in frequency to g. 3. (a) (b)

Fig. 4 shows the measured reection coefcient for each
port in the structure of g. 2(b), where well matched response
is cormed for port #1 at f0 and port # 2 at 2f0 as expected in
simuation. As same as simualtion, these reection coefcient
are evaulated by terminating Z0 at remaining port.
0
-30 30
-60
-90
simulation (2.87 GHz) -15 -5
experiment (2.90 GHz)
Fig. 5. Comparison of measured and simulated radiation pattern for
f0 .
Next, radiation patterns for f0 and 2f0 are examined both by
simulation and measurement. Fig. 5 presents the comparison
of measured and simulated radiation pattern for f0 by port #1
excitation, where port #2 has Z0 termination. Maximum gain
for normal direction is measured for 2.7 dBi. For the same
antenna (g. 2), radiation pattern is measured at 6 GHz by
port #2 excitation. As is well known [4], clear normal-null
radiation is realized for second resonant frequency. In general
application, this radiation pattern is useless but it plays key
role in the presented system.
Fig. 7. Prototype doubler consisting of diode (SMS3923-011LF)
and short and open stub. (a) conguration. (b) actual device picture.
The last component to be explained is frequency doubler
in gs. 6. As a most fundamental conguration of frequency
doubler, diode input has shorted-stub and open stub for output
to maximize doubled frequency component output [5]. The
dimension is determined for f0 = 2.9 GHz operation.
Fig. 8 plots the measured doubler response, with average
60 conversion gain of 20 dB. This conversion loss is not
comparable to the commercially available doubler but this one
is employed for the proposed system in order to show the proof
of concept.
90 IV. S YSTEM SETUP AND MEASUREMENT
5 15
(dBi) Finally, the antenna of g. 2 and doubler of g. 7 are
combined for the proposed system explained in g. 1. The
actual setup picture is shown in g. 9. Variable microwave
signal generator (HP8350B) emit the signal of 3.0 GHz
through horn antenna and the reected 6 GHz component is
collected by another horn antenna.
Fig. 10 shows the measured signal strength of reected
signal by the proposed RFID passive tag. Off-set angle
in g. 1 is set up as 52 and polarization shift p as 40
for maximum 2f0 component. Emission signal to the tag
is at 3 GHz with 12 dBm through 1 dBi horn antenna.
Horn antennas and the tag surface are separated by 14 cm.
Considering high conversion loss in the prototype system
(20 dB, as in g. 8), a distinct doubled frequency component
of 5.8 GHz can be observed. The magnitude of the doubled

146
 frequency component greatly depends on both the off-set angle
0 and the polarization angle of the reception horn antenna p ,
as expected.
-10
V. C ONCLUSION
output (dBm)

-20 New RFID system consisting of two ports antenna and

frequency doubler, where the identication condition depends
-30
on frequency, horn antenna off-set and polarisation shift is
-40 proposed. As a proof of concept, system operation of 36 GHz
is conrmed.
-50 input (2.90 GHz)
output (5.82 GHz) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
-60
-20 -16 -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 12 This work has been carried out under the sponsorship
input (dBm) KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity # 26289106.

Fig. 8. Measured doubler response, with average conversion gain

R EFERENCES
of 20 dB. [1] S. Kim et. al., No battery required: Perpetual RFID-enabled wireless
sensors for cognitive intelligence applications, IEEE Microwave maga-
zine, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 66-77, July 2013.
[2] K. Finkenzeller, RFID Handbook: Fundamentals and Applications in
Contactless Smart Cards, Radio Frequency Identication and Near-Field
Communication, Wiley, 2003.
[3] D. Allane, G. Vera, Y. Duroc, R. Touhami, S. Tedjini,Harmonic Power
Harvesting System for Passive RFID Sensor Tags, IEEE Trans. MTT,
Vol. 64, No. 7, pp. 2347-2356, Jul. 2016.
[4] J. D. Kraus, R. J. Marhea, Antennas, McGraw-Hill, 2001.
[5] D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, Wiley, 4th ed., 2011.

Fig. 9. Measurement setup

-20
-30
-25 dBm
output (dBm)

-40 (2.90 GHz)

-50
-49 dBm
-60
(5.80 GHz)
-70
-80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
f (GHz)
Fig. 10. Measured signal strength of reected signal by the proposed
RFID passive tag.

147