RF Power Detector for Location Sensing

Recently, RFID has become popular in the field of remote sensing applications. Location awareness is one of the most important keys to deploying RFID for advanced object tracking. Generally, multiple reference RF stations or additional sensors are used for the location sensing with RFID, but, particularly in indoor environments, spatial layout and cost problems limit the applicability of those approaches. In this paper, we propose a novel method for location sensing with active RFID systems not requiring the need for reference stations or additional sensors. The system triangulates the position of RF signal source using the signal pattern of the loop antenna connected to the power detector. The power detector consists of a signal strength detector and a signal analysis unit. The signal analysis unit indicates the signal strength and serial number using the signal from the strength detector, and provides the direction of the signal to the application target. We designed three different signal analysis units depending on the threshold type. The developed system can sense the direction to the transponder located over 10 m away within the maximum error of $5^{\circ}$. It falls within a reasonable range in our normal office environment.