Antenna design solutions for RFID tags based on metamaterial-inspired resonators and other resonant structures

159 Pages·2018·5.134 MB·English

by  Zuffanelli, Simone

Springer Theses
Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research
Simone Zuffanelli

Antenna Design
Solutions for RFID
Tags Based on
Metamaterial-
Inspired Resonators
and Other Resonant
Structures
Springer Theses
Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research
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Simone Zuffanelli
Antenna Design Solutions
for RFID Tags Based
on Metamaterial-Inspired
Resonators and Other
Resonant Structures
Doctoral Thesis accepted by
ò
Universitat Aut noma de Barcelona, Spain
123
Author Supervisors
Dr. Simone Zuffanelli Dr. Jordi Bonache
Departament d’Enginyeria Electrònica Departament d’Enginyeria Electrònica
Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona(UAB) Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona(UAB)
Barcelona Barcelona
Spain Spain
and
Dr. Ferran Martín
Departament d’Enginyeria Electrònica
Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona(UAB)
Barcelona
Spain
ISSN 2190-5053 ISSN 2190-5061 (electronic)
SpringerTheses
ISBN978-3-319-62029-9 ISBN978-3-319-62030-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62030-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017948614
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’
Supervisors Foreword
It is a great pleasure for us to introduce Dr. Simone Zuffanelli’s thesis work,
accepted for publication within Springer Theses and awarded with a prize for an
outstanding original work. Dr. Zuffanelli was the first one of our (most brilliant)
students in Electronics, since he was enrolled in a 2-year Master program at our
University shortly after obtaining the diploma from his alma mater institution, the
Università Degli Studi di Firenze. He received the Electronics Engineering
Diploma from that University in 2008, and the Micro and Nanoelectronics
Engineering Master’s Degree from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in
2011.AfterhisparticipationduringseveralmonthsinvariousEuropeanprojects,he
joined CIMITEC (the Technology Transfer Centre headed by one of his Ph.D.
supervisors,Prof.FerranMartín,atUAB),wherehecarriedouthisresearchactivity
that concluded with the oral presentation and defense of the Ph.D. Thesis on
October 15, 2015.
Dr. Zuffanelli’s thesis includes significant original scientific contributions, rep-
resentingconsiderableadvancementinthefieldofRadiofrequencyandMicrowave
Engineering, specifically on the topic of radio-frequency identification (RFID).
Such contributions have been published in top journals and international
well-recognizedconferences.Wewouldliketoemphasizethattheworkcarriedout
by Dr. Zuffanelli, reported in this book, is very extensive and complete. It covers
the research cycle in the area of experimental sciences and engineering, including
fundamentals/theory, design/simulation, and fabrication/characterization, and a
wide variety of novel devices (mainly RFID tags and antennas) are reported.
In the thesis, an exhaustive analysis of the radiation properties of
metamaterial-inspired resonators (SRR and other related resonators) is carried out,
setting the basis for thedesign ofnovel tags with specific requirements. Thus,it is
demonstrated in the thesis that the use of SRRs at the fundamental resonance is
useful for the implementation of compact tags with reduced sensitivity to orienta-
tion. It is also demonstrated in the thesis that complementary resonant particles,
specifically, the so-called non-bianisotropic CSRRs, are very appropriate for the
implementationoftagantennaswhichmustbeoperativeclosetometallicsurfaces,
and a low-profile tag based on such particle, with competitive performance, is
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vi Supervisors’Foreword
reported. The analysis of the radiation properties of the SRR at the second reso-
nanceisalsocarriedoutforthefirsttimeinthisthesis.Theimportantconclusionof
thisstudyisthat,asradiator,thisparticleiscomparabletoahalf-wavelengthdipole
antennaintermsofinputimpedanceandradiationefficiency,butwithsignificantly
reduction in the maximum antenna dimension. All these studies are supported or
validated in the thesis by specific prototypes of tags/antennas, whose characteri-
zation reveals the potential of the proposed approaches.
Another relevant contribution of the thesis concerns RFID tagging of optical
discs, as a special case of item-level tagging of metallic objects. An innovative
solution to the tagging of these products, by taking advantage of the metallic film
of the disc, and by considering it as the main radiator of the tag, is reported in the
thesis. The important benefit of this unique and unconventional approach, from
which Simone Zuffanelli generated a patent, is the read range, one order of mag-
nitude larger than those achievable with state-of-the-art solutions. It is also
remarkable the systematic design method reported by Dr. Zuffanelli, based on the
introduction of a matching capacitance in shunt connection with the RFID inte-
grated circuit.
InspitethatminiaturizationofRF/microwavecomponentsisausualrequirement
(which typically represents a penalty in term of device performance), and this also
applies,ingeneral,toUHFRFIDtags(especiallyforthetaggingofsmallobjects),
for certain applications, device size can be sacrificed in favor of performance. In
this regard, the thesis considers the limitations of passive tags in terms of read
range, and analyzes the effects of relaxing the condition of small size with an eye
toward optimizing the read range. Particularly, after a discussion of the radiation
pattern of linear wire antennas of different lengths, it is concluded that a 1.25
wavelength wire antenna provides a good trade-off between size and performance,
and that further increase of the length causes degradation of the radiation pattern.
Thissolutionisespeciallydemandingforapplicationswhereverylargereadranges
and large-item tagging are required (e.g., boxes, pallets, etc.).
Insummary, thepresentbookrepresentsaclear contribution tothetopicRFID,
beyond the state of the art, in particular to the design of passive UHF RFID tags.
The excellent results obtained in this thesis have significantly contributed to the
reputation of the research group/center headed by the supervisors, and to achieve
novelprojects/contractswithinthetopicofRFID.Themanuscriptconstitutesavery
important written document for future students, and it is also of interest for
researchers involved in the field of RF/Microwave Engineering.
Barcelona, Spain Jordi Bonache
November 2016 Ferran Martín
Parts of this thesis have been published in the following journal articles
Journals
S. Zuffanelli, G. Zamora, P. Aguila, F. Paredes, F. Martin and J. Bonache,
“A High-Gain Passive UHF-RFID Tag with Increased Read Range”, MDPI
Sensors, vol. 16, no. 7, p. 1150, July 2016.
S. Zuffanelli, G. Zamora, P. Aguila, F. Paredes, F. Martin and J. Bonache,
“Analysis of the Split Ring Resonator (SRR) Antenna Applied to Passive
UHF-RFID Tag Design”, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 856–
864, March 2016.
S.Zuffanelli,G.Zamora,P.Aguila,F.Paredes,F.MartinandJ.Bonache,“Onthe
Radiation Properties of Split-Ring Resonators (SRRs) at the Second Resonance”,
IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn., vol. 63, no. 7, pp. 2133–2141, July 2015.
S. Zuffanelli, G. Zamora, F. Paredes, F. Martín, and J.Bonache, “An approach for
the design of passive UHF-RFID tags mounted on optical discs”, IEEE Trans.
Antennas Propag., vol. 61, no. 12, pp. 5860–5867, Dec. 2013.
Conferences
S.Zuffanelli,P.Aguila,F.Paredes,G.Zamora,F.MartinandJ.Bonache,“Passive
UHF-RFID tags for Blu-ray discs”, IEEE Radio Science Meeting (USNC-URSI),
Memphis, USA, July 2014.
S. Zuffanelli, G. Zamora, F. Paredes, P. Aguila, F. Martin and J. Bonache,
“On-metal UHF-RFID tags based on non-bianisotropic complementary split ring
resonators”, 5th Int. Conf. on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics
(META ’14), Singapore, May 2014.
S. Zuffanelli, P. Aguila, G. Zamora, F. Paredes, F. Martin, J. Bonache,
“An impedance matching method for optical disc-based UHF-RFID tags”, IEEE
Int. Conf. on RFID (IEEE RFID), Orlando, USA, Apr. 2014.
Patents
Title: An optical disc with a wireless communication device, a wireless commu-
nication device, and a method for its design and fabrication. Inventors: Jorge
Bonache Albacete, Ferran Paredes Marco, Simone Zuffanelli, Ferran Martín
vii
viii Partsofthisthesishavebeenpublishedinthefollowingjournalarticles
Antolín, and Gerard Zamora Gonzalez. Applicants: Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona. Application number: EP13382232.0 (EPO: European patent office).
1310982.2 (UK-PO:United Kingdom patent office).P201330926(OEPM:Oficina
española de patentes y marcas). Date of application: June 20, 2013.
Acknowledgements
This work would have never been possible without the help of the many people
supporting me during these last years, and hence this thesis is partially their merit.
Iwouldliketoexpressmydeepgratitudetomysupervisors,JordiBonacheand
FerranMartín,fortheirconstantencouragementandusefulcritiquesofthisresearch
work. Thank you Ferran for giving me the opportunity of joining the group as a
researcher, and for introducing me to the world of metamaterials with invaluable
enthusiasmandclearness.Jordi,Iwouldliketoexpressmyverygreatappreciation
foryourinspiringsupport,whichgreatly expandedmyknowledge inantennasand
RFID, guided the development of this work and contributed to my formation as a
researcher.
I would like to extend my thanks to the people in my research group, Gerard
Zamora,FerranParedes,andPauAguilà,foractivelyparticipatingatdiscussingand
patiently revising my work. Special mention to Gerard Zamora, who deeply con-
tributedtothemathematicalexpressionspresentedinthiswork,anddedicatedlong
hours to the inspiring discussions over the subjects of this thesis.
I also wish to thank all the people from GEMMA/CIMITEC, the Electronic
Engineering Department and the Engineering School, for their assistance and the
good times we spent together. A special thanks to Jordi Selga for his patient help
and precious advices throughout my Ph.D.
This work is also a tribute to my family, who gave me the possibility of
beginningmyadventureintheworldofscienceandtechnology,andsupportedme
during these years despite the long distance separating us.
Finally, a very special “thank you” goes to a very special person, who
encouraged me throughout the good and the bad moments: thank you Anna.
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