Josef Preishuber-Pfluegl

Simulation based verification of energy storage architectures for higher class tags supported by energy harvesting devices

Abstract Enhanced RFID tag technology especially in the UHF frequency range provides an extended functionality like high operating range and sensing and monitoring capabilities. Such complex functionality requires extended system structures including data acquisition units, real time clocks and active transmitters that cause a high energy consumption of the tag and require an on-board energy store (battery). Since the lifetime is a key parameter for the reliability of an RFID system, the energy budget of the higher class tag has to be as balanced as possible. This can be achieved by using energy harvesting devices as additional power supplies. The PowerTag 1 project and thus this paper propose special energy storage structures, which interface energy harvesting devices and deal with their special requirements to be used with battery-driven higher class UHF RFID tags. Different implementation variants of such structures are compared by using accurate simulation models of various parts of the system. The results of the simulation are compared to provided manufacturer performance parameters of a state-of-the-art higher class UHF RFID system.

Power Management Strategies for Battery-driven Higher Class UHF RFID Tags Supported by Energy Harvesting Devices

The next generation of RFID tags (higher class tags -HCT) especially in the UHF frequency range provides extended functionality like high operating range and sensing and monitoring capabilities. Such functionality requiring extended system structures including data acquisition units, real time clocks and active transmitters causes a high energy consumption of the tag and requires an on board energy store (battery). As a key parameter of the reliability of an RFID system is the lifetime, the energy budget of the HCT has to be as balanced as possible. The PowerTag1 project and thus this paper deals with proposing special power management algorithms in combination with the use of energy harvesting devices to support the on board battery and thus to extend the lifetime of the HCT contemporary providing high level computational functionality.

Simulation Based Verification of Energy Storage Architectures for Higher Class Tags supported by Energy Harvesting Devices

Enhanced RFID tag technology especially in the UHF frequency range provides extended functionality like high operating range and sensing and monitoring capabilities. Such functionality requiring extended system structures including data acquisition units, real time clocks and active transmitters causes a high energy consumption of the tag and requires an on board energy store (battery). As a key parameter of the reliability of an RFID system is the lifetime, the energy budget of the higher class tag has to be as balanced as possible. This can be achieved by using energy harvesting devices as additional power supply. The PowerTag1 project and thus this paper proposes special energy storage structures interfacing energy harvesting devices and dealing with their special requirements for the use with battery-driven higher class UHF RFID tags. Different implementation variants of such structures are compared by using accurate simulation models of the various parts of the system. The results of the simulations are compared to manufacturer given and guaranteed system performance parameters of a state-of-the-art higher class UHF RFID system.

Lifetime extension of semi-passive UHF RFID tags using special power management techniques and energy harvesting devices

Nowadays requirements on RFID systems are going beyond simple identification of objects; sensing and monitoring and thus autonomous operation, large memory areas in combination with high computational capabilities as well as high operating ranges are needed. This requires a revision of the formerly passive tag architecture adding various functional blocks and the most significant change of adding an energy reservoir to the formerly pure passive operating tags. As a key parameter of the reliability of an RFID system is the lifetime, a key topic for the development of enhanced tag architectures is the power management mechanism. It includes to operate the tag with the lowest possible energy, but even to ensure to keep its energy budget as balanced as possible. The PowerTag1 project and thus this paper deals with proposing special power saving mechanisms in combination with the use of energy harvesting devices to harvest power from the environment for the support of the on board battery.