Potential Chipless RFID Sensors For Food Packaging Applications A Review

9618 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO.
17, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Potential Chipless RFID Sensors for Food

Packaging Applications: A Review
Parya Fathi , Student Member, IEEE, Nemai C. Karmakar, Senior Member, IEEE,
Mita Bhattacharya, and Sankar Bhattacharya
Abstract —Recently, there is an increasing demand for food

safety and quality monitoring in the agrifood sector, need-
ing active and smart packaging. Radio Frequency Identifi-
cation (RFID) has the potential to become one of the most
promising technology for the food industry since it can satisfy
all the requirements of a sensor and identification in food
safety monitoring, packages tracking, inventory control, early
warning, and easy check-out. The purpose of this paper is
to introduce the recent advancement of the chipless RFID
humidity, temperature, gas, pH, and bio-sensors, as these
types of sensors are required for evaluating the quality of the
food in the food industry. Additionally, the paper explains the
requirements of the food industry for quality monitoring of the
food products, covers the existing challenges of chipless RFID sensor technology, and highlights the future direction of
the research.
Index Terms — Sensors, radio frequency identification, chipless RFID, food packaging.
I. I NTRODUCTION proposed for smart-packaging realization. Indicators often

provide visual information about the quality of the food using
S MART packaging has brought a significant paradigm shift
in the food industry. The primary purpose of packaging
was to protect the product; however, this was not enough
colour changes or colour diffusions along a solid line inside
the package [2], whereas sensors can provide more information
to meet the demands in the food industry. Smart packaging about the quality of food and package integrity by monitoring
interacts with the product in real-time and provides crucial gas concentration, pH, temperature or humidity. For example,
data for food safety and security. There are various types of a miniaturized electronic nose has been introduced in [3] using
perishable products, such as fruit, vegetables, meats, and fish. three Metal oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors to effectively
These products require specific conditions (e.g., temperature, measure three different gas level concentrations and evaluate
humidity) to remain and arrive fresh at their destination. the freshness of the food. The electrical tongue in [4] and
In some cases, it takes several days to export or import these food sniffer in [5] are two more sensor types that have been
products. Hence, there is a demand to make the packaging developed to assess the food quality by measuring pH and
active and intelligent to ensure the quality and freshness of gas concentration level, respectively. Although available chem-
food at the end of the food chain where consumers reside [1]. ical sensors technically are capable of measuring different
Indicators, sensors (none electromagnetic transduction parameters to assess food quality, they are too rigid, large,
based ones), and RFID are three systems that have been and not appropriate for low-cost item-level sensors that can
evaluate the freshness of the food at the package level. Hence,
Manuscript received March 30, 2020; accepted April 22, 2020. Date the challenges in the food industry that are still needed to be
of publication May 6, 2020; date of current version August 5, 2020. The
associate editor coordinating the review of this article and approving it for
overcome are [6].
publication was Prof. Guiyun Tian. (Corresponding author: Parya Fathi.) • Decreasing the size and rigidity of sensors.
Parya Fathi and Nemai C. Karmakar are with the Department • Reducing the fabrication costs.
of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, Monash Univer-
sity, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia (e-mail: parya.fathi@moansh.edu; • Enhancing the robustness and sensitivity of the sensors.
nemai.karmakar@monash.edu). • Considering the food safety matters.
Mita Bhattacharya is with the Department of Economics, Monash • Complying with the food industry legislation.
University, Caulfield, VIC 3145, Australia (e-mail: mita.bhattacharya@
monash.edu). RFID technology is potentially a promising solution to meet
Sankar Bhattacharya is with the Department of Chemical Engi- these demands. The technology has previously been introduced
neering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia (e-mail:
sankar.bhattacharya@monash.edu). for the identification purposes of tracking food products during
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSEN.2020.2991751 distribution and storage. Later, by developments of RFID sen-
1558-1748 © 2020 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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FATHI et al.: POTENTIAL CHIPLESS RFID SENSORS FOR FOOD PACKAGING APPLICATIONS 9619
Fig. 1. Block diagram of prevalent RFID system [9].
Fig. 2. The framework of chipless RFID sensors in food packaging

sors and a large amount of research in this area, the perspective applications.
of applying RFID technology to monitoring food quality inside
the individual packages has also emerged [6]. The near field power [15]. Typically, chipless tags are mostly comprised
communication (NFC), chipped RFID, and chipless RFID are of a dielectric substrate and conductive patterns placed or
the three different types of RFID that have been proposed to printed on the substrate. They may or may not have a ground
sense, obtain, and transmit the information of the atmosphere plane depending on the approach used for realizing them [16].
condition and identification of the package to a remote NFC Moreover, chipless RFID tags also have better functionality in
or RFID reader [7], [8]. a severe and harsh environment and it is possible to print them
NFC technology uses the advantage of electromagnetic on their support like the barcode tag, using conductive ink.
induction between two loops of antennas in both the tag Therefore, even though the cost of the chipless RFID tags is
and the reader and the data transmission happens based on expensive now, there is more room for cost reduction of them
inductive coupling between them. Therefore the technology in comparison to their chipped counterparts [17].
is suitable for very short-range applications (1-2 cm) and Chipless RFID sensors have got applications in sensing var-
guarantees very simple reader structure, which is available in ious physical parameters such as applied pressure, crack detec-
recent mobile phones [10]. tion, local temperature, gas concentration, humidity, pH, and
RFID guarantees longer reading ranges and have the poten- bacteria concentration. Identifying these physical parameters
tial to adopt a very simple tag structure compared to NFC have tremendous applications in the structural health monitor-
at the expense of complex reader structure. A typical RFID ing of public installation, precision agriculture, manufacturing,
system comprises three major components, as presented in and smart food packaging [18]. Chipless RFID technology
Fig. 1. A tag/sensor contains identification and environmental suggests sensor functionality with simple structures and
information. A reader that generates an interrogation signal potentially low-cost compared to UHF RFID and NFC. Hence,
and a middle-ware which is an interface or software to transfer it offers a promising solution for monitoring food atmosphere
information from the reader to the computer and vice versa [9]. conditions inside and outside the packages, where the cost is
RFID sensors can be broadly classified into two groups: an outstandingly significant factor for commercialization.
active and passive. Active RFID sensors have onboard power Most of the review studies in the literature like [19]–[22]
supplies (such as batteries) to power integrated circuit (IC) of have investigated the RFID sensor technology generally, with
sensors. The IC carries out all the communications between the its possible applications. However, in this paper, we have done
tag and the reader. Battery and IC in these types of tags provide a review specifically on chipless RFID sensors that potentially
high data capacity handling and a wide range of operations at can be used in food packaging applications. Fig. 2 shows the
the expense of high complexity, cost, and weight. The passive framework of the technology in food packaging applications.
UHF RFID sensors require electromagnetic power to turn on Section II introduces a chipless RFID senor system. Section III
the IC to read/write the data. They scavenge energy from reviews different tag types for ID generations. Section IV
the UHF RFID reader, which is usually an expensive device includes sensing methods, which is followed by section V
($1000-$2000). The IC in the tag determines the reading range reviewing smart materials. Section VI investigates poten-
in UHF tags, which becomes lower (about 2-3 m) when they tial chipless RFID sensor for food packaging applications.
are integrated with a sensing device [11]. The passive UHF Section VII highlights the current research challenges and
sensors are commercially available, and several studies about future research directions in this research field and finally,
them can be found in the literature [12]–[14]. section VIII concludes the paper.
The presence of IC in all chip-based RFID tags guaran-
tees high accuracy in reading process, but may increase the II. C HIPLESS RFID S ENSOR S YSTEM
complexity and cost of the tag and makes it less robust and Fig. 3 illustrates a complete block diagram of a chipless
not easy to be integrated with package; however, in chipless RFID sensor system. An ultra-wideband signal generated in
counterpart absence of IC suggests potentially low-cost, simple the reader illuminates the tag. The reader’s antenna accumu-
structure, longer storage life, robustness, and lower radiated lates the signal reflected from the tag. The reflected signal
9620 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO. 17, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Fig. 4. Frequency-domain chipless RFID tag. The tag is based on a

circuit approach. It is comprised of two transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx)
antenna and spiral resonators arranged along a transmission line to act
as an RF filter and used to code information [29].
Fig. 3. Typical block diagram of chipless RFID sensor system. [23].

position modulation (PPM). This type of tags is widely used
contains the ID and sensing data of the tag, as indicated in in crack sensors where the cracks in sensors cause open circuit
Fig. 3, which is being decoded by the reader. The tag part terminations and change the distances between two echoes
of the chipless RFID sensor system has two parts: The part [26]. TDR-based sensors can be read at a longer distance using
for ID generation, and the part that measures the changes UWB pulse readers [27]. The cost of these types of readers is
of the physical parameters [23]. To acquire physical sensing low in comparison to other commercialized frequency-based
information from a chipless tag, one needs to monitor and readers such as Vector Network Analyzer (VNA); However,
investigate the EM response. recently, a none commercialized linear stepped frequency
continuous-wave (LSFCW) reader has also been proposed in
III. C HIPLESS RFID TAGS FOR ID G ENERATION [28] for chipless RFID, which is comparable in terms of
price with the IR-UWB readers. The major drawback of time-
Recently, chipless RFID tags are used for many purposes.
domain reflectometry tags is their significant dimension. There
The ultimate objective in all of them is to create an identifiable
should be a minimum distance between two reflector lines
signature, whether in the frequency domain (FD) or time
when coding a higher number of bits, which results in a larger
domain (TD). Here we categorize tags in four types: time-
tag size [27]. Super wideband width technology is a method
domain reflectometry (TDR)-based, frequency modulation-
introduced in [18] to further increase the bandwidth of the
based, hybrid-based, and image-based tags.
interrogator signal and as a result, illuminate a signal with
a shorter width in time. This method increases the coding
A. Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR)-Based Tags capacity of the tag in the same tag area; however, it would
A UWB pulse from a reader interrogates this type of consequently lead to an expensive reader.
tag, and it captures a series of pulses reflected from the
tag to decode the data. Surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based
RFID tag is one of the primarily introduced tags, which is B. Frequency-Based Tags
TDR based. SAW-tags are developed based on a transition Frequency-based tags encode data in the frequency range
between the electrical field and acoustic wave by utilizing using resonators and RCS scatterers. Both planar and non-
an interdigital transducer (IDT). IDT transforms the electrical planar structures are proposed for frequency-based tags. Two
signals to surface acoustic waves. The surface acoustic waves, typical approaches of circuit-based and RF coding particles-
propagating alongside the tag substrate, which is usually based (REP) exist to realize planar tags. In the transmission
made of a material with strong piezoelectricity, strike the line approach, the resonators are aligned along the transmis-
reflectors placed at specific positions. The reflected wave has sion lines, as shown in Fig. 4. The absence or presence of the
coded information about the position of the reflectors, which resonators is encoded as a bit ‘0’ or a bit ‘1’, respectively.
transforms into an electrical signal by mean of IDTs. That The encoded bits determine the identification of the tag [29].
is to say: the encoding method is formed on the time delays Alongside its advantages, the circuit-based approach has a
of the reflected pulses [24], [25]. Although SAW-based RFID drawback of having a low quantity of information and sensitive
tags are the only commercially available chipless RFID tags, antenna matching.
they have several drawbacks. They are not fully planar, have a RF-coding particles-based approach suggests an alternative
complex structure, and have a non-convenient manufacturing way of implementing frequency domain chipless tags in which
process. the reception, transmission, and filtering part of the tag are not
The other type of TDR-based sensors is printable ones. separated from each another. In other words, in this type of
They are realized using the transmission line to yield pulse tags, the structure itself operates as reception, transmission,
fully discussed in IV, would be exacerbated in the hybrid tags.

In most of the hybrid tags, extra components and extra signal
processing tasks are required in the reader to deliver reading
capability at the expense of additional reader costs and extra
processing time. Therefore, the hybrid tag design should be
chosen so carefully to convey the least possible complexity
and cost to the reader [38].
D. Image-Based Tags
Image-based tags, which are also known as spatial domain
tags, represent a new method of data coding to increase the
coding capacity in a chipless RFID system. The EM image
Fig. 5. Frequency-domain chipless RFID tag. The tag is based one
RF-coding particles approach. The structure itself acts as reception, of the tag carries the data encoded on the surface of the tag
transmission, and filter [30]. so that the reader should accurately scan the tag surface to
obtain the data. This is not possible unless an interrogating
and filter devices at the same time. Fig. 5 presents a circular signal over 10 GHz illuminates the tag. In the previous kind
ring patch as an example of an RF-based coding particle tag. of tags, the reader illuminates the whole area of the tag and
The design comprises three circular resonators, where each receives the data in the back-scattered signal. On the contrary,
of them denotes a resonance frequency and data code [30]. in spatial-based ones, the reader scans each area of the tag
Therefore, this type of tags receive illuminating signal and re- surface, and then it extracts the whole image of the tag, which
radiate it back. The mass production of chipless RFID is highly contains data. Very high data capacity of up to 98 bits in
dependent on the cost of individual tags. Hence, the REP the tag area of 11.9 cm × 5 cm have been achieved using
approach is notably a desirable approach due to a simple spatial domain tags. However, there are major challenges with
structure and easy fabrication. In addition to planar tags, such a coding method related to the reader, which should have
non-planar frequency-domain tags are also proposed in the an antenna to precisely scan a very small portion of the tag
literature to realize sensors. For example in [31], a magnetic area [39].
material-based chipless RFID temperature sensor has been
IV. S ENSING M ETHODS
introduced where three different layers of magnetic materials
change the magnetic spectrum according to the changes in Two principle design parameters can be varied to detect
temperature. the physical changes in tags: changes in dimension of the
resonant structure (variations in physical and electrical length),
changes in the material of the structure such as permittivity
C. Hybrid Tags of the substrate [40]. The possible way to transform a tag
One of the biggest challenges in chipless RFID technology to a sensor in chipless RFID systems for food packaging
is to increase the coding efficiency of the tags. The higher applications is to use sensitive smart/functional materials. The
the number of bits embedded in a small area of a tag, smart (stimuli-dependant) materials can be the substrate of the
the more efficient tags we would have. Hence, there is a sensor structure [41], mounted on the tag structure [42], and
huge demand for encoding a higher number of bits with fewer connected to the tag structure as sensor [43].
resonators. Hybrid coding techniques are proposed to meet this The smart materials provide variable conductivity, permit-
demand. Hybrid tags can encode the data using a combination tivity, or permeability with the change of physical parameters
of different coding techniques such as frequency-phase [32], such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, pH, and the
time-frequency group delay [33], time-frequency non-group presence of noxious gases. A change in permeability or per-
delay [34], frequency-polarisation [35], frequency-amplitude mittivity will have an impact on the resonance frequency of the
[36], and modulated encoded [37]. structure, and a change in conductivity will induce a change
Arnaud Vena at al in [32] has increased the coding capacity in the backscattered signal level. Ultimately, a chipless RFID
to 22.9 bits using the combined phase deviation and frequency sensor can be modeled as an antenna loaded with variable
shift encoding technique through five resonators within a small impedance. The impedance is sensitive to different physical
dimension of 2 cm × 4 cm. A different type of hybrid coding parameters. Fig. 6(a) shows a sensor model that is comprised
technique is proposed in [36], where different RCS levels are of an antenna connected to a variable resistance. The changes
coded alongside the frequency position (FP) technique. The in resistance will increase or decrease the reflected power level.
coding capacity of 15 bits is achieved within the tag size of Conversely, by changing the imaginary part of the impedance,
3 cm × 4 cm. Although hybrid tags have higher data capacity, the frequency shift will occur, as shown in Fig. 6(b). In the
they are not easy to be decoded in a reader. For example in latter case, the load could be a capacitor with a variable
[32] the author has used both resonance frequency and phase permittivity sensitive to physical parameters [44].
to encode the data, so the reader should accurately be able to
decode phase and frequency. Failure in decoding one or both V. S MART M ATERIALS
of these parameters will result in a false reading. All of the Smart materials are the fundamental elements of chipless
existing challenges in single dimension coded tags, which are RFID sensors. They represent sharp chemical or physical
Fig. 7. Smart material classification (adopted from [23]).
conductivity within the temperature range of -10 to 80◦ [15].

The temperature-dependent behavior of Stanyl polyamide and
Alumina have been studied in [45] and [46], respectively. Both
materials exhibit an increase in their relative permittivity with
the temperature increments. Investigating thermoresponsive
materials in literature, we might find other materials such as
Nanostructured Metal Oxide and Graphene Oxides [47]. The
electrical behaviors of these materials have not been studied.
Moreover, they may not be suitable for food packaging appli-
cations where a temperature violation limit of 7◦ should be
recorded.
B. Humidity Sensitive Materials

Humidity sensitive materials are capable of absorbing water
molecules. Consequently, their electrical properties alter. Sili-
con nanowires [48], Kapton, Polyvinyl Alcohol [15], Graphene
Fig. 6. Chipless RFID sensors principles (a) conductivity variations and
(b) permittivity variations [44]. Oxide [49], and a kind of biopolymer (Wheat gluten) [50] have
been investigated for humidity sensor realization. Because the
changes to environmental factors such as humidity, temper- relative permittivity and/or conductivity of these materials is
ature, the concentration of gases, pH, and light. Therefore, dependent on the humidity of the surrounding environment.
they are appropriate for sensor applications in RF devices. Although there are numerous materials available to detect
Fig. 7 presents the smart material classification under four humidity variation, not many research studies have focused
different categories for sensing application in food packaging. on the material suitable for food packaging applications.
Humidity, temperature, gas concentration, and pH changes are In such an application, the sensors are usually placed inside the
the key indicators for food spoilage; hence, in this section, package to sense humidity. The foods like cereal, meat, potato
we present a review of smart materials sensitive to these chips should be kept under a specific humidity level (around
particular parameters. 25% for cereal [51]) to remain crispy and fresh. Therefore,
bio-compatibility of smart materials and their ability to detect
humidity changes in lower humidity levels are still key chal-
A. Temperature Sensitive Materials
lenges for the realization of chipless RFID humidity sensors
There are several smart materials sensitive to the tem-
in food packaging.
perature. For example, the temperature-dependent behavior
of Phenanthrene, Ionic Plastic Crystal, Stanyl polyamide,
and Alumina have been investigated for chipless RFID sen- C. Gas Sensitive Materials
sors realization. Phenanthrene is sublimation material with a The materials proposed for gas detection in chipless RFID
transitional temperature of around 80◦ . In this temperature, sensors are predominantly single and multi-walled carbon
a sudden increase occurs in the permittivity of the substance. nanotubes films, exhibiting sensitivity to carbon dioxide
The permittivity of it remains constant if no de-sublimation and Ammonia gases [23], [52]. The conductivity of these
occurs. Therefore, Phenanthrene is suitable for memory sensor materials alters in the presence of targeted gas. Therefore,
realization, where certain temperature violations should be they result in changes in electrical response. Zinc oxide and
recorded. The study on the electrical behavior of P14 P F6 Tin oxide are other reported gas-sensitive materials which are
salt, which is a candidate from the group of Ionic Plastic mostly used to detect hydrogen, and Nitrogen dioxide gases,
Crystal material, shows that there is a significant increase in respectively [53], [54].
D. pH Sensitive Materials
PEDOT is a conducting polymer and it is the only material
that has been found for pH sensing applications. PEDOT
shows high conductivity at the low pH level, and its conduc-
tivity gradually decreases for pH up to 11 [15]. pH is one of
the key parameters to detect acidic and alkaline of the food
inside food packages to wirelessly monitor food spoilage in the
cold chains. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the research
on pH-sensitive smart materials and correlated chipless RFID
sensor realization is limited.
VI. P OTENTIAL C HIPLESS RFID S ENSORS FOR F OOD

PACKAGING A PPLICATIONS
Chipless RFID technology can bring numerous benefits in
the field of smart food packaging and might play a crucial
role in the near future. The logistic chain is becoming more
complicated for chilled food. The destinations are far from
the origins of food sources, which involves ship transport, air
transport, and more intermediate points in the logistic chain.
As a result, to ensure food safety and quality, various regu-
lations are being established in different countries to provide
more information and control on the food products from the
source and processing stages up to distribution and supply
chain. Therefore, there is a high demand in the food industry
to trace and monitor food products. The RFID technology has
considerable potential to pave the way in the development
of new and inexpensive sensors to meet these demands and
monitor and trace the foods in the food chain [55].
In addition to specific ID detection for tracing function-
alities, chipless RFID sensors can provide more information
about freshness, the integrity of the packaging, surrounding
temperature, and microbiological changes inside the food
[56]. All chipless RFID sensors are electromagnetic (EM)
transduction based. In other words, their EM responses are
correlated with physical parameters. The changes in physical
parameters induce changes in electrical properties of the tag
structure and consequently change the EM responses. Tem-
perature, pH-level, gas, relative humidity, and biosensors are
the most potential sensors that can be used for sensing the Fig. 8. Time domain humidity sensor (a) structure of the tag
condition of the food packages in the food industry. Therefore,
(b) RCS of the sensor tag for a relative humidity variation of 60.2 −88
(c) group delay variation of the sensor tag near fundamental frequency
more elaborations on them are provided in the following sub-
sections, and Table I provides a summary of them at the end

for a relative humidity variation of 60.2 − 88 [57].
of this section.
delay line relative humidity (RH) sensor. It is made of two
orthogonally polarized Tx and Rx antennas and a C section
A. Humidity Sensors dispersive delay line loaded with Carbon nanowires. The
Humidity is one of the main physical parameters which properties of Silicon nanowires deposited on the C section
highly affects food preservation. Humidity sensors can make vary with humidity absorption. In other words, the permittivity
a revolution in food conversation management, monitoring and losses changes in the Silicon nanowire superstrate, which
transport, and storage of perishable foods such as fruits, consequently changes the radar-cross-section (RCS), phase,
vegetables, meats, and fish in the food industry [58]. These and group delay of the back-scaterring signal of the sensor.
products require to be stored under very strict conditions in The group delay and RCS variation are depicted in Fig. 8(b)
terms of humidity as well as temperature to arrive fresh at and Fig. 8(c), respectively for a relative humidity variation
their destination. of 60.2% − 88%. The proposed sensor has a sensitivity
Several studies have been conducted to develop chipless of 1.07 d B/%R H magnitude variations and 0.79 ns/%R H
humidity sensors in the literature. A time-domain humidity group delay variations. The sensitivity of Silicon nanowire to
sensor has been developed in [57] using Silicon nanowires as RH has been proven in this study; however, the tag is time-
a smart material. Fig. 8 illustrates a retransmission dispersive domain based, which is large and can only store one bit of data.
TABLE I
S UMMARY OF D IFFERENT T YPES OF C HIPLESS RFID S ENSORS P OTENTIALLY A PPLICABLE IN F OOD PACKAGING
A circuit-based frequency domain chipless RH sensor is in addition to one bit for sensing functionality at the expense
developed in [42] to increase the data bit. As illustrated in of a large structure.
Fig. 9, the tag structure comprises two orthogonal polarized To further reduce the size, a humidity sensor is developed
Tx/Rx antennas connected to a transmission line with a series [58] using the frequency domain REP approach. Polyvinyl
of four coplanar waveguides (CPW) based stepped impedance alcohol polymer is used as a smart material to sense humidity.
resonators (SIRs). Each of the resonators rejects to pass the As shown in Fig. 10, a square patch loaded with several slots
signal at a distinct frequency and encode one bit of data. are used for data encoding, and a single inductive-capacitive
Kapton HN polyimide is coated on one of the resonators resonator (ELC) is proposed to be used as a humidity sen-
to sense RH variations, and the other three resonators are sor. The permittivity of the Polyvinyl alcohol changes with
kept for data coding. The permittivity of polyimide alters, humidity level, which in turn shifts the resonance frequency
due to humidity absorption. Consequently, the structures’ of the structure. For the relative humidity between (55−65)%,
resonance frequency shifts for one of the resonators to show the resonant frequency shift sensitivity is 7.9 M H z/%R H
humidity variations. The proposed sensor has a sensitivity of which is enhanced to 12.6 M H z/%R H for RH (65 − 75)%.
0.2M H z/%R H for low humidity level from (65 − 80)%, and The measurement accuracy of the reader is directly correlated
sensitivity of 0.64M H z/%R H for higher than 80% humidity with the frequency resolution (resonators quality factor) and
level. The structure provides three extra bits for data encoding its ability to cancel out the background interference. The tag
Fig. 9. Circuit-based frequency domain multi-SIR based four bit chipless

RFID humidity sensor. [42].
Fig. 12. Chipless RFID humidity sensor based on finite artificial

Fig. 10. Fabricated chipless RFID humidity sensor. ELC resonator is impedance surface, (a) structure, (b) normalized reflection coefficient
covered with PVA polymer for humidity sensing [58]. of the tag for different relative humidity levels [41].
the loops controls the quality factor, whereas the number of

loops dominates the RCS level. Silicon nanowires are used as
smart materials deposited on the tag where the electric field is
at its maximum. The authors have tried to increase the quality
factor of the tag in this work, but they have not addressed the
robustness of the structure for real environmental measurement
where the tag might be illuminated in any directions in real
environmental measurement. It also may be attached to objects
which may damage the co-polarized response. On the other
hand, the authors have addressed the challenge that exists in
chipless RFID technology due to the absence of transmission
Fig. 11. Square loop chipless RFID humidity sensor, (a) the tag structure protocol where it is a difficult task to detect more than one
(b) EM response of the tag separated using spectral gating [44].
tag in the interrogation zone of a reader. Spectral separation
has been proposed to alleviate this problem. A frequency
proposed in this work is co-polarized, unlike [57] and [42]. window is allocated for each sensor, as shown in Fig. 11(b).
When the tag is co-polarised in the chipless RFID systems, The resonance frequency of the tag can move freely in the
the transmitted and received signals have the same polarisa- allocated band to encode RH level. The sensitivity of the
tions. Hence, it is sensitive to the background interference. proposed humidity sensor is 1.5 MHz per 1% of RH.
In addition, the proposed tag in [58] has less quality factor A finite Artificial Impedance Surface (AIS) is used in
and low RCS level. Therefore, it would not be suitable for [41] as a chipless RFID sensor. The proposed structure is
real applications. shown in Fig. 12(a). It is comprised of a finite Frequency
A possible way to increase the sensitivity of the backscat- Selective Surface (FSS) mounted on a cardboard substrate
tered frequency domain tags to permittivity changes and con- with a metallic ground plane on the back. The FSS is inkjet-
sequently achieve an advanced design is to search for designs printed on a thin sheet of a Mitsubishi paper. A thin layer
with a high-quality factor which has RCS for proper detection of Polyvinyl alcohol and Aluminum Oxide is coated on the
by the reader. To this end, a co-polarized frequency domain structure to allow the ink to be deposited appropriately on the
tag has been proposed in [44]. The structure of the tag is paper. The paper with the coating layer on it acts as smart
composed of several square loops of the same size placed material because of its electric properties change with the RH
close together, as shown in Fig. 11(a). The distance between level variations. The level of RH is based on the AIS resonance
Fig. 15. The structure of the fully printed chipless RFID gas detection
Fig. 13. Slot resonator based chipless RFID humidity sensor [48]. sensor [64].
a cross-polarized tag does not include the back-scattered

signal from background objects. Hence, it is more robust to
background changes. A humidity sensor proposed in [59] has
a cross-polar response. The tag structure alters an incident
vertical polar electrical field into a horizontal direction, and
the reader accumulates both co- and cross-polar responses for
detection. Since the signals reflected from other background
objects are co-polar, having a cross-polarization feature in tags
will highly increase the robustness of detection. The structure
of the proposed tag, which is designed on the substrate of
Taconic TLX-8 is illustrated in Fig. 14. A coating layer of
Fig. 14. The structure of the cross-polar humidity sensor [59]. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is proposed as a chemical interactive
material (CIM), which, as mentioned, is sensitive to the RH
frequency shifts, as can be observed in Fig. 12(b). The results level of the environment. The frequency shifts occur with
show that the frequency shift of 270 MHz happens for relative respect to relative humidity change of the structure. This struc-
humidity variations from 50% to 90%, which indicates a ture may help to eliminate the interference from objects around
high sensitivity of the chipless tag to small changes of RH the tag and increase the robustness of detection; however, it is
level. The reliability and robustness of the proposed sensor not direction insensitive. To conclude, there are still challenges
are analyzed statistically. The results illustrated a low error in realizing chipless RFID sensors for real-world applications.
probability in this case. In spite of high sensitivity and low More elaboration on the challenges is highlighted in
error probability of the sensor in measurement, the structure section IV.
is complex, bulky, and is not suitable to be mounted on the
food packages. B. Gas Sensors
Another humidity sensor is proposed in [48]. The scatterers Gas sensors play a crucial role in the food industry. They are
are slotted resonators etched on an FR4 substrate, as shown used in food packaging to detect the gaseous changes inside
in Fig. 13. It is comprised of a sensor unit and a coding the package. It includes Oxygen sensors, Carbon dioxide
unit. Silicon nanowires coated on the sensor unit provides sensors, Ethanol sensor, etc. [61]. Food packaging is usually
sensing ability. Similarly, the variation of RH is correlated with done under modified atmosphere conditions of several gases
frequency shifting. From the measurement results, a sensitivity such as nitrogen (N2 ), Carbon dioxide (CO2 ), Ammonia,
of 2.9 M H z/%R H is achieved for RH 30% to 70%, and as the Hydrogen, and Oxygen (O2 ) to reduce spoilage and micro-
RH level increases, the sensitivity alters to 4.8 M H z/%R H bial growth rate, [62]. Carbon dioxide in food packages
which is almost the doubled sensitivity. The author achieved reduces the metabolic rates of microbes. Therefore, in modi-
excellent consistency and hysteresis performance, which is fied atmosphere food packages, the concentration of CO2 gas
highly desirable for long term applications. On the contrary, can give a noticeable sign of food freshness and safety. Any
the proposed tag is not direction insensitive, and it has different decrease in the concentration of CO2 in the package headspace
back-scattered power levels when illuminated by EM wave in is a sign of leakage. Moreover, when the food inside a package
different directions. Furthermore, the tag is co-polarized and starts to deteriorate, the spoilage is detectable by monitoring
not robust to the background interference. Therefore, it is not several parameters such as acidity, pressure, heat production,
desirable for real applications. and CO2 level. Hence, gas sensors can be utilized to detect
It is efficient for chipless RFID tags to have a cross-polar spoilage as well [63].
response in order to increase detection robustness in a Several RFID gas sensors have been developed until now,
harsh environment [60]. The back-scattered signal from a but not many of them are chipless. Therefore, a substantial
cross-polarized tag has two orthogonal components (co-polar investigation needs to be done in this specific field. An inkjet-
and cross-polar responses). The cross-polar response of printed frequency-based chipless RFID gas sensor is proposed
Fig. 16. The sensor design with inkjet-printed SWCNT film as a

load [52]. Fig. 17. The structure of time-coded chipless RFID temperature
sensor [43].
in [64] for CO2 detection as shown in Fig. 15. It is

comprised of two split-ring resonators (SRRs) rotated 90◦
Cattlemen’s Beef Association reported US$1 billion economic
to each other and printed on a polyimide substrate. Carbon
damage per year due to quality loss of beef products in
nanotubes (CNTs) are mounted on one of the resonators to
the United States [68]. As one of the large exporter of
diagnose CO2 concentration changes. Since the electric field
beef products, the Australian beef industry faces similar
is at its maximum in the gap of the SRR, CNTs are deposited
losses. An efficient temperature monitoring technique is highly
in that area. The conductivity of the structure subject to
demanded to reduce such costs. The monitoring techniques
CO2 is modified with the gas concentration. Consequently,
should be applied to all stages in the supply chain from
it will impact the losses of the scatterer and the reflected
primary producers, distributors, retailers, and in last stage
signal strength and bandwidth of the resonance peak. The
consumers. So continuous measurement of the temperature is
resonator with sensitive material resonates with the vertically
a requirement to guarantee proper handling and storage of cold
polarized incident wave and contains information about
chain products.
gas concentration. The second resonator resonating with
The chipless RFID technology can contribute significantly
horizontally polarized wave acts as a magnitude reference to
to this area as it can provide sensing functionality along with
increase sensing accuracy. Furthermore, it gives the ID of the
identification. A time-coded chipless RFID temperature sensor
sensor depending on its resonance frequency. Nevertheless,
is proposed in [43]. The structure of the sensor is comprised of
the structure is sensitive to the direction of the incident field,
an antenna which is connected to Vishay positive temperature
and interference, because it is neither direction insensitive
sensor (PTS) via a meander feed line as shown in Fig 17.
nor cross-polar. Additionally, the sensing takes place by
The sensor can be considered as a scattering antenna with the
monitoring the signal amplitude level, which is prone to more
structural and tag mode RCSs. The structural mode depends
errors.
on the antenna structure; however, the tag mode is a part of the
The potentiality of CNTs to sense a small amount of gas
energy captured by the tag and re-radiated back. The tag mode
concentration has also been proved in [52] as well. A fully
response depends on the delay line connected to the antenna.
printable conformal chipless RFID structure, as shown in
In case of using the structure as a tag, the end of the line is left
Fig. 16 is fabricated on a paper substrate. The CNT film
open to get a higher reflection coefficient l . However, in the
is deposited between two ports of the antenna, which is
case of realizing a sensor, a temperature sensor is connected at
sensitive to the Ammonia gas and alters the load impedance
the end of the line. The resistance of the sensor changes with
in the presence of gas. The changes in the load impedance
temperature, and it modulates the amplitude of the tag mode.
cause mismatch at the antenna port, which increases the
The delay between the structural and the tag modes gives the
power reflection. The sensing functionality is accomplished
identity of the tag, and the amplitude of the tag mode signal
by detecting the reflected power level changes in the reader.
provides information about the temperature. The problem with
In addition to CNTs, there are other materials that are sensitive
this method is in the calibration process. Since the sensor data
to particular gases. In [65], Zinc oxide (ZnO) nano and micro-
are encoded in the amplitude of the signal, it needs to be
rods are used to realize Hydrogen sensor and in [53], ZnO
calibrated for each distance. This issue is addressed in [69],
nanowires are utilized to accomplish a Carbon monoxide (CO)
where an additional open-ended transmission line is added,
sensors. Tin oxides (SnO2 ) also show considerable sensitivity
and the ratio of both tag modes from both T-lines is used
in presence of different gases such as Hydrogen, Nitrogen
for calibration. The time-domain chipless RFID tag has also
dioxide, and Ethanol [54], [66], [67]. Nevertheless, no chipless
been used in [70] to realize a threshold temperature. In this
RFID gas sensor has been reported using these materials, and
work, the delay line of the time domain coded based tag
their EM performance has not been evaluated.
is altered by a thermal actuator shape-memory-alloy (SMA)
compound (nitinol) wire connected to a conductor copper
C. Temperature Sensors sheet. Nitinol thermal switch acts as shape memory. Once the
Temperature is a significant factor in cold chain man- temperature excels threshold temperature, the alloy deforms
agement to have high quality and safe products. National to its memorized position. The deformation disconnects the
Fig. 18. The structure of chipless RFID temperature sensor using

cascaded spiral resonators [45].
delay line from the 50 load, which is connected at the end

and activates the tag mode response of the tag.
A temperature sensor is proposed in [71] to encode the
temperature variations in the frequency domain, which is more
reliable than amplitude coding. The temperature changes are
mapped on the frequency variations using chipless frequency-
coded RFID tags with two resonators. The first resonator is
responsible for encoding the identification, whereas the second
resonator senses the temperature using a negative temperature
coefficient (NTC) resistor. The supplementary device or circuit
used for creating sensing functionality of the structure in this
type of sensors enlarges the structure and makes it expensive Fig. 19. Chipless RFID temperature sensor based on slot antenna,
(a) structure, (b) resonance frequency dielectric variation based on
and complicated for fabrication. Using smart material for temperature [46].
temperature sensing application is an alternative solution that
is proposed to eliminate external temperature sensors in the In all studies above, only real-time monitoring of tem-
RFID technology and further simplify the structure. A chipless perature is addressed. However, it is required to assure a
temperature sensor is proposed in [45] using smart materials. certain temperature threshold in food packaging applications
It is comprised of several spiral resonators coupled to a trans- and perishable item tagging, and preserve items below that
mission line connected to two cross-polar antennas, as shown temperature during the storage time. For example, the milk
in Fig. 18. The large resonator associated with the lowest needs to be maintained below 7◦ C to prevent early deteriora-
resonance frequency has temperature sensing property and is tion [72]. Therefore, in this kind of application, knowing the
modified by Stanyl TE200F6 polyamide (DSM Engineering temperature threshold violation is more important than know-
Plastics). The dielectric constant of Stanyl polyamide has ing the real-time temperature of the item. A temperature RFID
linear variation with temperature, which in turn affects the memory sensor, using a smart material with the irreversible
effective relative permittivity of the structure and shifts the dielectric change, is proposed in [15] to address this issue.
frequency response. Sensing information can be measured Phenanthrene is used as an irreversible smart material. It is
by frequency shifts of the lowest resonance frequency, and mounted on an electric inductive–capacitive (ELC) resonator.
the other three resonators contain identification data. Smart The structure of the resonator is the same as that in Fig. 10.
material has contributed significantly to this structure to reduce As it is clear from the measured resonance frequency of the
the size; however, the tag is still large in comparison to the sensor in Fig. 20, an abrupt frequency shift happens when the
existing RF coding particle counterparts. temperature increases beyond 80◦ C. The permanent frequency
Another wireless chipless temperature sensor is presented shift occurs beyond 80 ◦ C; However, for food item tagging in
in [46] for high temperature application. The structure of food packaging, there is a demand for smart materials which
the sensor, as shown in Fig. 19(a), is composed of a slot guarantee memory sensor in lower temperatures.
antenna formed by platinum covering an Alumina substrate.
The dielectric constant of the alumina increases with tem- D. pH Sensors
perature. The measured resonance frequency and extracted Another indicator of food freshness is its pH level. Micro-
dielectric constant of alumina versus temperature variation are bial activities in food usually result in an increase or decrease
shown in Fig. 19(b). The temperature varies from 50◦ C to of the acidity level, which consequently leads to changes in pH
1000◦C. Consequently, the dielectric varies from 9.7 to 11.2, level in the perishable food. Therefore, knowing the pH level
and frequency shifts happen. The information of the sensor is of food gives information about its freshness and healthiness.
embedded in the frequency shifts, which can be detected by Research in detecting pH level using chipless RFID tags is
the reader. limited, and not many works are done in this area.
Fig. 20. Measured resonant frequency of an irreversible sensor based Fig. 22. Schematic of the bio-sensor developed for detection of E. coli
bacteria in milk [74].
on an ELC resonator versus time for the set temperatures 65, 75, 85,
and 95◦ C [15].
as milk prevents food-borne diseases and provides notable
economic benefits in the food industry.
A near field communication (NFC) RFID system is pro-
posed in [74] for spoilage detection of milk due to E. coli
C3000 bacteria. The structure of the tag, as shown in Fig. 22
consists of an interdigital capacitor with 78 fingers fabricated
on Rogers 3003 connected to a commercially available inducer
of 100 μH . The pads connected to the capacitor used to solder
the inducer and an external coil utilized to read information
by near field coupling. The smart vail mounted on top of the
capacitor acts as a chemical interactive material. It is fabricated
Fig. 21. Circuit diagram of pH sensor [73]. using 3D printing with a thermoplastic VeroWhitePlus poly-
mer. Dextrin-capped gold nanoparticle (d-AuNP) is attached
A near field chipless pH sensor system is proposed in [73] to the smart vail, which is used as a marker to detect E. coli
for food application. The circuit diagram of the sensor is bacteria. Hydroxyl group of d-AuNP with the negative charge
shown in Fig. 21. A coil attached to the sensor is inductively attracts positively charged Amino Acid pocket in the surface
coupled with another interrogator coil. Interrogator coil acts molecules of E.coli bacteria. The attachment of d-AuNP to
as a near field reader and tracks frequency changes. The the bacteria affects the capacitance of the interdigital capacitor,
sensor absorbs acidic or alkaline volatiles from the gaseous which results in frequency shifts of the LC resonator tank. The
space surrounding food into a volume of a hydrogel and resonance frequency of the resonator is correlated inversely
distinguishes the presence of them. The structure of the sensor with the E. coli bacteria concentration. With the increase
consists of a hydrogel coated electrode pair connected to a of bacteria level in milk, more d-AuNP attaches to them,
varactor based capacitor and a coil which forms a resonant which leads to less d-AuNP on the smart vail, and resonance
circuit with a resonant frequency, f0 = 1/2π(L S C(V p H ))1/2 . frequency shifts to lower frequency. Biosensors can play a
The electrode pair provides biasing to the voltage-dependent pivotal role in food packaging, and RFID technology has the
capacitor (varactor), which changes as the pH level of hydrogel potential to have a significant contribution to their realization.
changes, and as a result, the resonance frequency of the However, this field demands more research and studies to
resonator changes. Since the wireless transmission is based on investigate and characterize appropriate chemical interactive
near field induction, the structure of the tag is large and not materials for such applications.
suitable for food packaging applications. Therefore, to monitor
the pH of food packages wirelessly, a far-field frequency VII. C HALLENGES AND F UTURE R ESEARCH
domain chipless RFID sensor would be appropriate. Hence, D IRECTIONS
more research is required on pH-sensitive smart materials Although a large volume of research has been conducted on
characterization and new microwave passive designs suitable the implementation of chipless RFID sensors technology, there
for pH sensing purposes. exist several challenges hindering the commercialization of the
technology. These challenges can be categorized into three
types: electrical, material, and economic challenges. We have
E. Biosensors
elaborated on them in the following section and pointed out
Direct monitoring of food products to detect bacterial the future research directions.
growth and food fraud and adulteration of liquid food is highly
demanded in the food industry. Unfortunately, food counterfeit
and tempering has numerous drawbacks, and it results in hun- A. Electrical Challenges
dreds of deaths and diseases if not controlled [75]. Moreover, 1) Reading Accuracy: Although the chipless RFID tech-
early detection of bacterial growth in some dairy products such nology has been proposed for non-line-of-sight application,
the chipless RFID tags cannot communicate with the reader for the developments of low price robust chipless RFID
antenna if it is oriented in a direction orthogonal to the tag readers, chipless RFID sensors highly demand investigations
direction. Direction insensitive tags are proposed to solve the to increase the quality factor of tags or design new high-quality
problem and mitigate such issues [76]. factor passive microwave resonant structures.
Moreover, interference sources such as RF leakages and 2) Anti-Collision: Another big challenge that we have to
surrounding objects like the human body and other objects deal with in the reading processes arises when the responses
around the tag deteriorate the reflected signal and harden from different sensors and reader signals interfere with each
the detection process. One of the methods to eliminate the other. There are three different forms defined in [85] for
interference is to save the reflection of the signal from the the collision: (i) tag-tag collision, (ii) tag-reader collision,
environment before the start of the tag reading process and (iii) reader-reader collision. The most common type of col-
subtract it from the tag response. This method is not appropri- lision is a tag-tag collision, and it happens when the number
ate for commercialization since it is a time-consuming process. of tags increases in the interrogation zone of the reader. The
Moreover, the surrounding interference might be variable due tags transmit their IDs simultaneously so that the reader fails
to peripheral changes. The time-domain windowing technique to separate their responses from each other. The previously
has been proposed as a preferable alternative solution to existing anti-collision techniques defined for chipped RFID
mitigate the peripheral interferences in the tag reading process. cannot be directly applicable to the chipless RFID tags. Hence,
In [77] a raised cosine time-window has been applied to new anti-collision methods have been proposed for both types
the time response of a chipless tag with four resonators. of time-domain (SAW) and frequency domain tags.
The method cancels out structural mode response containing Correlative signal processing-based and Walsh domain
reflection response from the background objects. The short matched filtering are two different anti-collision methods
time matrix pencil method (STMPM) has also been introduced proposed for SAW tags. In the Correlative signal processing-
in [78] as an efficient technique to extract the resonances of a based method, the replica of the tag response would be
high capacity encoded tags in a noisy environment. Another correlated with the composite response coming from tags in
time-domain windowing based approach has been proposed the interrogation zone. The cross-correlation would have the
in [79], which is based on the short-time furrier transform highest correlation peak, and the desired signal would be
(STFT). This method does not require calibration and sets the separated from the collided response [86]. In the Walsh domain
window size based on trial and error to extract the tag response matched technique, the sum of the signals coming from the
in the presence of an object. tags would be transferred to Walsh domain and then matched
Cross-polar tags have also been proposed to deal with back- filtered with the replica of the individual tag responses [87].
ground interferences [60], [80]. Furthermore, several methods, The Fractional Fourier transform (FrFT), the frequency-
such as self-interference cancellation and windowing tech- modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) and the short-time
niques, are applied in the reader to mitigate the interference matrix pencil method (STMPM) techniques are three main
[28], [77], [81]. Nevertheless, developing robust low price methods proposed to avoid anti-collision in the frequency
readers and direction insensitive cross-polar sensors to achieve domain chipless RFID tags. In the FrFT method, the signal
higher reading accuracy for sensor applications is still highly collected from the tags would be transferred to the optimum
desired [82]. Most of the papers described the use of expensive Fourier domain. The tags are detectable in this domain if there
VNA as a reader. However, the minimum cost reported for were measurable delays between the two responses. Hence,
the frequency-domain reader by the authors’ research group the two responses would be concentrated in two different
is $600. The reader took advantage of an ultra-wideband regions with some overlap between them. The separation of the
compensation unit to improve the electrical performance of responses would be possible by windowing in the fractional
the conventional reader operating over a frequency range domain, and it has been shown that the detection is possible for
of 4.3 to 7.3 GHz. The overall performance of the reader shows an inter-tag distance of 45cm [88]. In the FMCW anti-collision
that the reader can be a suitable replacement for VNA for method, the linear frequency modulated signal is sent out to
chipless RFID applications within the mentioned bandwidth tags, and the received signal from the tags is down-converted
[28]. However, if a better performance reader is required (e.g., to the IF band. If more than one tag exists in the interrogation
higher bandwidth), the price will be increased. It is expected zone of the reader, the down-converted signal will contain
that the total inhouse fabrication cost would be less than $1000 more than one beat frequency. Then the data of each tag can be
for a reader to fulfill the requirement of a chipless RFID sensor extracted by employing Hilbert Transform [85]. This method is
application. applicable for the chipless RFID system with FMCW reader,
The quality factor of the tags is another significant factor in and it has been shown that the method is applicable for a
sensor design which affects the reading accuracy. It depends on minimum inter-tag distance of 10 cm. In [89], the short-time
several parameters, such as radiation, dielectric, and conductor matrix pencil method (STMPM) technique was proposed. The
losses [83]. Dielectric losses might be large for sensors used poles of different tags can be distinguished in the time-residue
in food packaging due to lossy food materials inside the diagram using this method and the poles of the two tags placed
packages, which undesirably decrease the quality factor of at the different distance from the reader would have different
the attached tags. With the high-quality factor tags, we can residue, which can be accurately distinguished. The STMPM
increase the sensitivity of the tags, and as a result, increase anti-collison technique have been applied to the time-domain
the detection accuracy [84]. Hence, in addition to requirements response from two tags in the interrogation zone of the reader
to obtain the poles and their residues at each snapshot of time. TABLE II
The authors have used this method to simultaneously read C HARACTERISTIC OF F OUR D IFFERENT P RINTING T ECHNIQUES [93]
the two of the three-bits tags with 20 cm distance from each
other. Although several anti-collision detection methods have
been proposed to separate the collided response in the reader,
the problem still exists when the tags are operating in the same
frequency bands, and their distance is so close to each other
(less than 20 cm). Therefore, there is a research gap in this
field to mitigate collision issues for scenarios where multiple
tags exist in the interrogation zone of the readers with very
close distances.
3) Fabrication: The chipless RFID technology has
introduced a simple tag structure to reduce cost; however,
conventional fabrication techniques on expensive substrates
like photolithographic etching and wax-based deposition
techniques increase tag production costs [90]. Although technology is to reduce the tag price to sub-cent value, which
the etching techniques consist of two types of wet and can be possible with the advancement in printed electronic and
dry methods, have high selectivity and adequate precision conductive ink technology.
of 1 μm for wet and 100nm for dry methods, its large 4) Reading Range: Reading range is restricted with the
wasted materials and hazardous chemicals make it impractical transmitted power and antenna gain, and the RCS level of
for large production. Furthermore, the substrate should be the tag. Since chipless RFID works in the ultra-wideband
resistant to the etching chemical in etching techniques, and frequency range, it must follow the regulatory requirement
this issue restricts the choice of substrate material [91]. of transmitted power, which is in the order of milliwatts.
The cutter-plotter fabrication technique is the other type of Therefore, reading range is a big challenge in the development
fabrication method that has been proposed for tag fabrication. of chipless RFID technology. The active RFID technology has
In this technique, the machine incises the tag shape on the a reading range of more than 1 meter as it is allowed to
adhesive copper, and then the extra part of the adhesive copper transmit 3-5 watts of power [9], whereas the reading range
can be manually removed. The resolution of the fabrication decreases for chipless RFIDs in an ultra-wideband frequency
depends on the cutting plotter resolution and the fragility of of 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz to less than 25cm for frequency-coded
the copper. The best resolution reported with a medium-level tags and less than 100cm for time-coded ones. [96]. Noise and
machine is 25μm. The use of this technique suggests a low interference from other tags or objects further deteriorate the
cost tag fabrication and reduces the average fabrication time signal and leads to further reduction in of the reading range.
if the manual removal of the copper becomes automated [92]. Therefore, chipless RFID technology still requires solutions
Flexography, screen printing, gravure, and inkjet printing and techniques to improve the reading range. The demanded
offer new techniques of transferring electrical circuits on the reading range depends on the application. The reading range
various low-cost packaging substrate materials. The character- of 50-100 cm would meet the requirements in the food retailers
istic of different printing techniques is given in Table II [93]. for food packaging applications. Employing high gain array
The challenges with printing techniques are their resolution, antennas can contribute to the reading range increment. The
the porosity, and low thickness of the conductive layer, which author’s group demonstrated a reading range of more than
are determined by the ink types, printing techniques, and 5 meters for a chipless RFID system with a high RCS level
thermal treatment after printing. tag and a high gain reader antenna [97].
The conductivity achieves up to 50% of the same bulk metal 5) Conformability: The conformability of the fully printable
conductivity, using commercially available silver, gold, and chipless tag for food packaging applications is another chal-
platinum inks [94]. Low conductivity circuits made of con- lenge. Most of the food packaging surfaces are flexible and not
ducting ink may cause a degradation in quality factor and RCS flat. Bends and curves exist, which may affect the electrical
level of the tag response. A solution to this problem can be the performance of the tag. Not many research studies have been
use of cartridges with higher ink droplet size in inkjet printing conducted to investigate this phenomenon; however, they have
or increase the mesh size in screen printing. Although using emphasized the importance of it [52], [98].
these techniques might increase the conductivity, it deteriorates 6) Multiple Parameter Sensing: The ultimate goal in the
the resolution of the structure. Using multiple steps of printing development of chipless RFID tags for food packages is to
and curing treatment can also enhance the conductivity, but check the freshness and quality of the perishable products by
this method consumes a large amount of ink. Hence, it results tagging each of them. Thus, it is desirable to have multiple
in high cost and requires 100 percent alignment of all printing physical parameters sensing capability such as temperature,
steps. Therefore, further investigation in resolution extraction, relative humidity, noxious gas, and pH level in a fully printable
conductivity enhancement, and optimization of the structure single tag sensor node. Hence, it accurately detects a range of
is needed to achieve minimum error in the printing, higher physical parameters and estimates the condition of the food in
conductivity, and the smallest possible printed feature size real-time and elongates the expiry dates. For example, when
[95]. Furthermore, the ultimate goal in the chipless RFID the milk becomes spoilt, its pH level changes, and emits CO
TABLE III
R OUGH E STIMATION OF C HIPLESS RFID TAG P RODUCTION C OST P RINTING AND N ONE -P RINTING
M ETHODS FOR S MALL Q UANTITIES OF TAG
gas. Therefore, the existence of both gas and pH sensors in a Principal component analysis (PCA) and independent com-
single sensor node leads to more precise sensing results [15]. ponent analysis (ICA) methods are the two most prevalent
Vena et al. in [99] presented a gas and temperature sen- feature extractors that transform the data into a new subspace
sor using CNTs composite ink as a smart material which with orthogonal eigenvectors for PCA and none orthogonal
is sensitive to both CO2 and temperature. The author in eigenvectors for ICA. The eigenvalues in the new subspaces
[100] proposed a multiple parameter humidity and temperature indicate the variance in the data set and help to extract
sensor using two ELC resonators and a multi-slot resonator. the useful signal from the interference [101] statistically.
The two ELC resonators were coated with smart materials of These methods have got used in UHF RFID structural health
polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Phenanthrene for humidity and monitoring sensors to take into account the multiple influences
temperature sensing, respectively. Another multi-slot resonator in the measurement and increase the accuracy of the detection
was used as an ID generator. [102], [103]. Hence, feature extraction is an inseparable part
The main challenge that exists in multi-sensing is to fig- of sensing in chipless RFID sensors to obtain robustness in
ure out the sensitivity of the smart material to the other the detection.
undesired parameter. For example, the smart material sensitive 9) Data Capacity: Increasing the data capacity of the chip-
to humidity such as PVA is also sensitive to the tempera- less tags while keeping the size of the tag small is another sig-
ture in dual humidity and temperature sensor. Therefore, its nificant challenge of the technology that needs to be addressed.
cross-relation behavior with temperature should be taken into Unlike conventional RFID technology, chipless technology has
account. Moreover, multiple parameters sensing in a single tag no chip to store the data. Therefore, it is non-rewritable and has
would also be advantageous in terms of sensor profile size and a limited capacity, which are the main concerns for most of its
cost; However, further investigation is required in this field to applications [32]. The capacity can be improved in many ways,
attain a multiple parameter sensor using one resonator. such as (i) high-quality factor resonator design, (ii) utilization
7) Reproducibility: Although several studies have been done of the entire UWB frequency band, (iii) hybrid encoding
on chipless sensors, only a few of them considered real methods of the tag design [30], [32], [104]. However, more
application concerns. Reproducibility and scalability are the investigation is required to test the applicability of the method
main concerns in the fabrication and measurement of the in a real environment when both sensors and identification tags
chipless sensors that need to be addressed. In other words, work simultaneously.
there should not be any variations in the response of
the chipless RFID sensors after several fabrications and B. Material Challenges
measurements [44]. 1) Recycling Issues: Pieces of metal and conductive inks of
8) Feature Extraction: In the chipless RFID system, the fea- RFID tags impact the recycling process of food packages made
tures such as resonance frequency shifts, the variation of the of paper, glass, plastic, and metals. Excessive copper creates
quality factor of the resonance, amplitude of the signal can be an issue in the recycling process of packaging materials.
captured and used to detect environmental parameter changes. Moreover, extra metal taints the recycling process of poly-
However, the radio frequency signal, back-scattered from the ethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene
passive chipless sensor, may also undergo various changes (HDPE). Although the RFID technology brings advantages
subject to the variable parameters such as interference from that outweigh those of the barcode, it has its drawbacks when
the background objects, noise from other sources, orientation considering sustainability issues. Hence, there is a challenge
of the tag with respect to the reader antenna, polarisation to resolve recycling issues of RFID tags when it comes to
mismatches between tag and reader antenna, and the distance large production, either by changing materials or removing
of the tag from the reader. To this end, the statistical feature tags before the recycling process [105].
extraction method can be employed to deal with such issues 2) Bio-Compatibility: The sensors in food packages might
and separate the useful data from the interferences. be in direct contact with the food inside the packages. Thus,
it should not be toxic or have any hazardous effects on food and environmental data acquisition. The cost has been a
inside the package. The bio-compatibility of the sensors for major setback to commercialize conventional chipped RFID
food packaging is another significant challenge that needs to technology. Other important considerations are lack of direct
be investigated thoroughly for real-world applications. printability, none operational in extremely low and high tem-
peratures, maintenance, and bonding of IC with the antenna.
C. Economic Challenge Chipless RFID has potential to alleviate these problems by
Cost is one of the key challenges that hinders conventional offering simpler low-cost tag structures, which can be fully
RFID technology to replace barcode. The main challenge in printable on low-cost substrates such as paper or plastic. In this
cost reduction deals with per unit cost of tags, which is review paper, we portrait the literature involving prevalent
produced in a large quantity for item tagging applications research stage and challenges of chipless RFID sensors for
such as food packaging. Active RFID tag sensors cost almost food industry applications. The most potential sensor types
$100, which makes the technology quite expensive for item- demanded in environmental monitoring of food packages in
level tagging. This is the primary reason to introduce chipless the whole supply-chain of food production are humidity, gas,
sensors to reduce smart food packaging tagging cost. The temperature, pH, and bio-sensors. In this paper, we have
estimated production cost of a passive RFID tag is 5-10 cents focused on these five different sensor types and provided
when ordered in large quantity [105]; However, no economic a review on chipless RFID tags and smart materials which
analysis has been reported to estimate the cost of a chipless are an inseparable part of research in chipless RFID sen-
RFID tag productions in large quantities. sor development. In spite of the high potential of chipless
The substrate, metal or ink, and the fabrication techniques RFID technology to be commercialized, several challenges
costs are three main factors that determine the total fabrication still exist that have to be overcome before developing sen-
costs. We have done a cost analysis of per unit chipless sors with identification capability for real-world applications.
RFID tag printed with silver ink on the Mylar PET substrate These challenges are categorized into three groups: electri-
using screen printing techniques and fabricated on the Taconic cal, material, and economic challenges. Electrical challenges
substrate coated with copper. The main costs come from involve accurate reading, increased reading range, increased
the ink and PCB for printing and none printing methods, data capacity, and multi-parameter sensing capability. More-
respectively, as shown in Table III, ignoring the worker and over, comprehensive studies are required to investigate EM
fabrication machine costs. The total cost in Table III is cal- response of tags if they become conformal. Printing issues
culated, including only substrate and ink costs. The entire and reproducibility also need to be investigated in fabrication.
manufacturing cost of each tag will increase by considering Besides, bio-compatibility and recycling are the two most
human resources, energy, and fabrication costs. Note that the significant aspects of sustainability that should be investigated
estimation is for small quantity production, and the price will for the development of chipless RFID sensors. It is essential
undoubtedly decrease for large quantity production. to address the real application challenges as chipless RFID
A smart selection of substrate, ink or metal, and fabrication sensors are expected to play a key role in item tagging and
techniques is required to reduce the tag production. For environmental monitoring of food chains in future.
example, the none-printable cutter plotter fabrication technique
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in Proc. IEEE Asia–Pacific Microw. Conf. (APMC), Dec. 2019, in the food industry,” J. Food Sci., vol. 74, no. 8, pp. 101–106,
pp. 117–119. Oct. 2009.
Parya Fathi (Student Member, IEEE) received Mita Bhattacharya is currently a Senior Lec-
the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from turer of Economics with Monash University,
the University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, in 2013, Australia. She has published widely in Applied
and the M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engi- Economics with a recent focus on energy-
neering from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, related topics. Amongst other journals, her
Iran, in 2015. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. publications appear in Energy Economics,
degree in electrical engineering with Monash Applied Energy, Renewable Energy, Renew-
University, VIC, Australia. From 2015 to 2018, able and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and
she was an RF Engineer. Her research interests Energy. She is currently the Director of the
include metamaterials, microwave components Master’s Program in economics with Monash
design, and chipless RFID sensors. University. More information can be found
at https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/mita-bhattacharya.
Nemai C. Karmakar (Senior Member, IEEE) Sankar Bhattacharya is currently a Professor of

received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engi- Chemical Engineering with Monash University,
neering from the University of Saskatchewan, Australia. He came to academia in 2009 after
Saskatoon, SK, Canada, in 1991, and the Ph.D. having worked in energy industries and research
degree from the University of Queensland, Bris- establishments in India, Thailand, France, and
bane, QLD, Australia, in 1999. He has more than Australia. He is the holder of 3 patents, edited
20 years of teaching, design, and development 3 books, authored 6 book chapters, and more
experience in antennas, microwave active and than 130 journal articles on energy, fuels, and
passive circuits, and RFIDs in Canada, Australia, biochemicals. He is a Fellow of the Australian
and Singapore. He is currently an Associate Institute of Energy.
Professor with the Department of Electrical and
Computer Systems Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC,
Australia. He has authored or coauthored more than 400 referred journal
and conference articles, 24 book chapters, and 8 books. He holds
13 international patent applications on chipless RFID. His research
projects cut across multiple disciplines such as wireless communications
and the Internet of Things (IoT), manufacturing, power and utilities,
printing and packaging, biomedical engineering, and logistics.

Potential Chipless RFID Sensors For Food Packaging Applications A Review

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Potential Chipless RFID Sensors For Food Packaging Applications A Review

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9618 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO.

17, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Potential Chipless RFID Sensors for Food

Abstract —Recently, there is an increasing demand for food

I. I NTRODUCTION proposed for smart-packaging realization. Indicators often

Fig. 1. Block diagram of prevalent RFID system [9].

Fig. 2. The framework of chipless RFID sensors in food packaging

Fig. 4. Frequency-domain chipless RFID tag. The tag is based on a

Fig. 3. Typical block diagram of chipless RFID sensor system. [23].

fully discussed in IV, would be exacerbated in the hybrid tags.

Fig. 7. Smart material classification (adopted from [23]).

conductivity within the temperature range of -10 to 80◦ [15].

B. Humidity Sensitive Materials

VI. P OTENTIAL C HIPLESS RFID S ENSORS FOR F OOD

Fig. 9. Circuit-based frequency domain multi-SIR based four bit chipless

Fig. 12. Chipless RFID humidity sensor based on finite artificial

the loops controls the quality factor, whereas the number of

a cross-polarized tag does not include the back-scattered

Fig. 16. The sensor design with inkjet-printed SWCNT film as a

in [64] for CO2 detection as shown in Fig. 15. It is

Fig. 18. The structure of chipless RFID temperature sensor using

delay line from the 50 load, which is connected at the end

Nemai C. Karmakar (Senior Member, IEEE) Sankar Bhattacharya is currently a Professor of

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