Doctoral Candidate in RF

Title:
Chipless RFID detection based on Doppler effect for Gesture Recognition Applications

Laboratory : LCIS - ORSYS Group

LCIS
50, rue Barthélémy de Laffemas,
BP 54
26902 Valence cedex 9,
France
http://lcis.grenoble-inp.fr/le-laboratoire/

LCIS
The research developed within the ORSYS (Optoelectronic and RF Systems) group considers signals
and technologies for RF, including Wireless systems. Main projects focus on the design, optimization
and characterization, as well as practical implementation. The ORSYS staff members have large
expertise in applied Electromagnetism, and RF domains, as well as the integration and miniaturization
of systems for communication and sensing. RFID and UWB technologies are among the most studied
solutions. More recently metamaterials and nanotechnologies, due to their enabling properties, are
part of our research projects.
The group has acquired many research facilities such as professional platforms for RF and
Electromagnetic simulation in addition to several RF test and measurement setups including anechoic
chamber.
The successful applicant will be joining the ORSYS group led by Prof. Etienne Perret, ERC grant
holder, and the research aims associated to his ERC project untitled “Analysis and synthesis of
wideband scattered signals from finite-size targets – aspect-independent RF analog footprint”
(ScattererID - https://www.scattererid.eu/) to develop the future of the chipless RFID technology.

Project summary:

The need for information identification and capture is a matter of prime importance in modern
societies. Every sectors of society rely on the identification of data exchanged, the updating of the
data recorded on a tag and the measurement of physical parameters. The ability to make objects
interact with one another or with humans is an important factor in many applications, all the more so if
this interaction can occur without human presence. The way to reduce power consumption, improve
the communication quality-of-service and enhance connectivity has become key issues for lots of
industries. Researchers need to consider the multiple factors simultaneously to design state-of-the-art
RF devices for the next generation of identification services. One important direction is to develop low-
power, low cost tags for wireless identification and sensing. Lots of improvements have been done
today on communication systems based on electronic devices where an integrated circuit is at the
heart of the whole system. The democratisation of these chipped based systems like the RFID one will
give rise to environmental issues in the future. However, these improvements pave the way for the
development of new concepts based on approaches where the presence of the chip is not mandatory.
These approaches are based on radar or reflectometry principles; these are non-invasive techniques
but they require specific theoretical and practical developments. The difficulty is to be able to retrieve a
small signal coming from a totally passive label placed in an unknown and movable environment. The
objective of this project is to introduce the paradigm of RF communication system based on chipless
labels, i.e. tags without any chip, bringing an ID, able to communicate with radio waves and having
extremely low costs. This project aims at showing that it is possible to associate the paper based
chipless label ID with other features like the ability to write and rewrite the ID, or a sensor function.

The possibility to detect tag displacements and to link specific displacements to actions is investigated
in this project. The phase and the magnitude of the backscattered signal around the resonance

Laboratoire de Conception et d’Intégration des Systèmes

LCIS, 50, rue B. de Laffemas - BP 54 - 26902 VALENCE CEDEX 9 - FRANCE
Tél. +33 (0)4 75 75 94 49 - Fax +33 (0)4 75 75 94 50
Courriel : secretariat.lcis@grenoble-inp.fr - Site internet : http://lcis.grenoble-inp.fr
frequency of the tag scatterers can be used to compute the position of the current tag and then to
detect tag displacements [Bar19]. However more relevant information could be extracted based on the
Doppler effect. Indeed, tag motion (a tag can be considered as a target) induces a Doppler frequency
shift. From a theoretical and practical point of view, the detection of this frequency could potentially
increases significantly the read range of chipless tags. This is due to the fact, that only the signal
coming from this moving tag will produce this frequency, so it will be possible to isolate easily the
signal coming from the tag to the backscattered signal coming from the surrounding environment.
Form general radar theory, micro-Doppler effect [Chen06] could also the used to increase the
performance in reading of chipless tags. Indeed, micro-Doppler effect can be observable when any
target undergoes micro-motion dynamics (such as mechanical vibrations or rotations). In such a case
Doppler modulations are induced on the returned signal from these micro-motion dynamics.

[Bar19] N. Barbot, E. Perret, “Accurate Positioning System Based on Chipless Technology” Sensors,
2019, 19, 1341. This article belongs to the Special Issue Passive Electromagnetic Sensors for
Autonomous Wireless Networks.

[Che06] V. C. Chen, F. Li, S. -. Ho and H. Wechsler, "Micro-Doppler effect in radar: phenomenon,

model, and simulation study," in IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 42, no.
1, pp. 2-21, Jan. 2006, doi: 10.1109/TAES.2006.1603402.

Main goals:

The main goal of the work is to show that the general performance of chipless RFIS systems can be
significantly improved by using the Doppler effect. This work will be done theoretically and practically.
New Chipless tags optimized for this purpose will be introduced. A new way to interrogate chipless tag
will also be introduced. The results of this work will be applied to develop Gesture Recognition
Applications. Sensor applications will be also considered.

Candidate profile: Master of Science in Electrical Engineering - RF/Microwaves. A good level of

spoken and written English is required.

Keywords : Radio systems, RF design, Radar approaches, chipless RFID.

Software : CST, HFSS, Matlab

Where: LCIS, Grenoble Institute of Technology, Valence, France

When: 1. October 2020 – 30 September 2023

How to apply: Interested candidate should send a detailed CV, motivation letter and the contact
details of three references by email to Etienne Perret | Etienne.Perret@lcis.grenoble-inp.fr

Net income around 1420 € / months

Laboratoire de Conception et d’Intégration des Systèmes

LCIS, 50, rue B. de Laffemas - BP 54 - 26902 VALENCE CEDEX 9 - FRANCE
Tél. +33 (0)4 75 75 94 49 - Fax +33 (0)4 75 75 94 50
Courriel : secretariat.lcis@grenoble-inp.fr - Site internet : http://lcis.grenoble-inp.fr