Practical Backscatter Communication Systems for Battery-Free Internet of Things: A Tutorial and Survey of Recent Research

TLDR

Backscatter is an emerging ultralow‑power wireless communication paradigm that offers sub‑milliwatt power consumption, making it a competitive core technology for IoT applications. The article offers a signal‑processing tutorial and survey of recent research on bistatic backscatter systems, while also discussing real‑world applications and open questions. The authors present a signal‑processing tutorial and survey of recent research on bistatic backscatter systems. The article aims to illuminate low‑power wireless connectivity design for building and deploying IoT services in real‑world settings.

Abstract

Backscatter presents an emerging ultralow-power wireless communication paradigm. The ability to offer submilliwatt power consumption makes it a competitive core technology for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this article, we provide a tutorial of backscatter communication from the signal processing perspective as well as a survey of the recent research activities in this domain, primarily focusing on bistatic backscatter systems. We also discuss the unique real-world applications empowered by backscatter communication and identify open questions in this domain. We believe this article will shed light on the low-power wireless connectivity design toward building and deploying IoT services in the wild.