Title:  Long-range Fine-scale RF Positioning Systems Using Tunneling Tags

Committee:

Dr. Gregory Durgin, ECE, Chair , Advisor

Dr. David Taylor, ECE

Dr. Ying Zhang, ECE

Dr. Andrew Peterson, ECE

Dr. Billy Kihei, KSU

Abstract: Fine-scale positioning systems using inexpensive, low-power, and reliable smart tags enables numerous commercial and scientific applications. This dissertation proves that using the received signal phase (RSP)-based positioning method along with tunneling backscatter communication at 5.8 GHz breaks the range limit of fine-scale RFID localization. Experimental results yield a one-dimensional distance estimation error of less than 1% at ranges of 100 m when a clear line-of-sight (LoS) is available in indoor and outdoor environments. Experimental results also demonstrate that the RSP-based positioning technique allows estimating a mobile reader's two-dimensional position with an average error of 0.17 m in an outdoor environment. A channel sounder is also implemented using the same hardware configuration, which further increases the accuracy in multipath environments. Calculation based on the system specifications projects a sub-meter level accuracy at ranges of 1000 m is feasible using the proposed method.