Perfectly synchronized streaming from digitally modulated multiple backscatter sensor tags

This paper proposes a multiple access method, referred to as Multiple Subcarrier Multiple Access (MSMA), for perfectly synchronized concurrent data collection from a group of passive backscatter wireless sensor tags and its experimental evaluation. By achieving less than 128 micro second synchronization error, backscatter communications can be applied to structural health monitoring of artifacts such as civil structures and machineries. In MSMA, each sensor tag uses a dedicated subcarrier frequency to produce a modulated backscatter. The sensor data is superposed onto the subcarrier either with an analog or a digital modulation. The inevitable harmonics among the subcarriers, stemming from the backscatter principle, can be rejected by numerically calculating the harmonic replicas and subtracting them from the observed signal in a software defined receiver. A frame based signal processing in the receiver results in no relative synchronization error among subcarriers even after the interference rejection. Since the interference rejection can be done before the demodulation and decoding, the concurrency can be secured irrespective to the choice of modulation method. We developed a prototype of MSMA using LabVIEW communications Software Defined Radio environment and prototype sensor tags using discrete electrical parts. The performances and limitation of MSMA using digitally modulated subcarriers are evaluated both in wired and wireless environments with up to four backscatter sensors.