Localization and Tracking of Passive RFID Tags Based on Direction Estimation

TLDR

RFID is expanding into applications that require precise localization of multiple closely spaced tags, demanding high‑accuracy yet low‑complexity tracking methods. The study investigates whether direction‑of‑arrival (DOA) estimation can be applied to localize and track passive RFID tags. The authors assess DOA estimation methods across stationary and moving target scenarios to determine their suitability for RFID localization and tracking. Performance analysis and simulations demonstrate that simple DOA estimation methods yield satisfactory localization accuracy.

Abstract

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is poised for growth as businesses and governments explore applications implementing RFID. The RFID technology will continue to evolve to meet new demands for human and target location and tracking. In particular, there are increasing needs to locate and track multiple RFID-tagged items that are closely spaced. As a result, localization and tracking techniques with higher accuracy yet low implementation complexity are required. This paper examines the applicability of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation methods to the localization and tracking problems of passive RFID tags. Different scenarios of stationary and moving targets are considered. It is shown through performance analysis and simulation results that simple DOA estimation methods can be used to provide satisfactory localization performance.