Low-cost wireless power efficiency optimization of the NFC tag through switchable receiver antenna

Zhao Yi; Li Huaye; Naderiparizi Saman; Parks Aaron; Smith Joshua R.; Zhao Yi; Li Huaye; Naderiparizi Saman; Parks Aaron; Smith Joshua R.

doi:10.1017/wpt.2018.1

2018 Volume 5

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Low-cost wireless power efficiency optimization of the NFC tag through switchable receiver antenna

1.
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
2.
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

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Author Bio:
Yi Zhao received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Washington, Seattle in 2016.

Huaye Li received a B.S. in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering from University of Washington, Seattle in 2017.

Saman Naderiparizi A fifth-year Ph.D. student in the University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering in Seattle, WA.

Aaron Parks received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Washington in 2017.

Joshua R. Smith received his Ph.D. in 1999 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering department of University of Washington, Seattle
Corresponding author: Joshua Smith Email: jrs@cs.washington.edu

Wireless Power Transfer 2018, 5(2): 87-96 | Cite this article

Abstract

Near-field communication (NFC) readers, ubiquitously embedded in smartphones and other infrastructures can wirelessly deliver mW-level power to NFC tags. Our previous work NFC-wireless identification and sensing platform (WISP) proves that the generated NFC signal from an NFC enabled phone can power a tag (NFC-WISP) with display and sensing capabilities in addition to identification. However, accurately aligning and placing the NFC tag's antenna to ensure the high power delivery efficiency and communication performance is very challenging for the users. In addition, the performance of the NFC tag is not only range and alignment sensitive but also is a function of its run-time load impedance. This makes the execution of power-hungry tasks on an NFC tag (like the NFC-WISP) very challenging. Therefore, we explore a low-cost tag antenna design to achieve higher power delivered to the load (PDL) by utilizing two different antenna configurations (2-coil/3-coil). The two types of antenna configurations can be used to dynamically adapt to the requirements of varied range, alignment and load impedance in real-time, therefore, we achieve continuous high PDL and reliable communication. With the proposed method, we can, for example, turn a semi-passive NFC-WISP into a passive display tag in which an embedded 2.7″ E-ink screen can be updated robustly by a tapped NFC reader (e.g. an NFC-enable cell-phone) over a 3 seconds and within 1.5cm range.
- NFC,
- Wireless Power,
- Display,
- Antenna optimization

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Zhao Y, Li H, Naderiparizi S, Parks A, Smith J R. 2018. Low-cost wireless power efficiency optimization of the NFC tag through switchable receiver antenna. Wireless Power Transfer 5(2): 87-96 doi: 10.1017/wpt.2018.1

Zhao Y, Li H, Naderiparizi S, Parks A, Smith J R. 2018. Low-cost wireless power efficiency optimization of the NFC tag through switchable receiver antenna. Wireless Power Transfer 5(2): 87-96 doi: 10.1017/wpt.2018.1

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Low-cost wireless power efficiency optimization of the NFC tag through switchable receiver antenna

1.
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
2.
Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Author Bio:
Yi Zhao received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Washington, Seattle in 2016.

Huaye Li received a B.S. in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering from University of Washington, Seattle in 2017.

Saman Naderiparizi A fifth-year Ph.D. student in the University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering in Seattle, WA.

Aaron Parks received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Washington in 2017.

Joshua R. Smith received his Ph.D. in 1999 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering department of University of Washington, Seattle
Corresponding author: Joshua Smith Email: jrs@cs.washington.edu

Wireless Power Transfer 5, Article number: 10.1017/wpt.2018.1 (2018) | Cite this article

Abstract: Near-field communication (NFC) readers, ubiquitously embedded in smartphones and other infrastructures can wirelessly deliver mW-level power to NFC tags. Our previous work NFC-wireless identification and sensing platform (WISP) proves that the generated NFC signal from an NFC enabled phone can power a tag (NFC-WISP) with display and sensing capabilities in addition to identification. However, accurately aligning and placing the NFC tag's antenna to ensure the high power delivery efficiency and communication performance is very challenging for the users. In addition, the performance of the NFC tag is not only range and alignment sensitive but also is a function of its run-time load impedance. This makes the execution of power-hungry tasks on an NFC tag (like the NFC-WISP) very challenging. Therefore, we explore a low-cost tag antenna design to achieve higher power delivered to the load (PDL) by utilizing two different antenna configurations (2-coil/3-coil). The two types of antenna configurations can be used to dynamically adapt to the requirements of varied range, alignment and load impedance in real-time, therefore, we achieve continuous high PDL and reliable communication. With the proposed method, we can, for example, turn a semi-passive NFC-WISP into a passive display tag in which an embedded 2.7″ E-ink screen can be updated robustly by a tapped NFC reader (e.g. an NFC-enable cell-phone) over a 3 seconds and within 1.5cm range.

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