J. Semicond. > 2014, Volume 35 > Issue 10 > 105010
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SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag

Shoucheng Li, Xin'an Wang, Ke Lin, Jingpeng Shen and Jinhai Zhang

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 Corresponding author: Wang Xin'an, Email:wangxa@szpku.edu.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010

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Abstract: A fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag complying with the ISO18000-6B protocol is presented, which includes an analog front-end, a baseband processor, and an EEPROM memory. To extend the communication range, a high efficiency differential-drive CMOS rectifier is adopted. A novel high performance voltage limiter is used to provide a stable limiting voltage, with a 172 mV voltage variation against temperature variation and process dispersion. The dynamic band-enhancement technique is used in the regulator circuit to improve the regulating capacity. A rail-to-rail hysteresis comparator is adopted to demodulate the signal correctly in any condition. The whole transponder chip is implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process, with a die size of 900 × 800 μm2. Our measurement results show that the total power consumption of the tag chip is only 6.8 μW, with a sensitivity of -13.5 dBm.

Key words: UHF, RFID tag, differential-drive CMOS rectifier



[1]
Ma C, Wu X. A low-power RF front-end of passive UHF RFID transponders. IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits and Systems, 2008: 73
[2]
Kim S, Cho J H, Kim H S. An EPC Gen 2 compatible passive/semi-active UHF RFID transponder with embedded FeRAM and temperature sensor. IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2007: 135
[3]
Kao Y H, Liu C C, Kuo H C. Study of front end of CMOS RFID tag with inductively-coupled broadband antenna. Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference, 2007: 1
[4]
De Vita G, Iannaccone G. Design criteria for the RF section of UHF and microwave passive RFID transponders. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2005, 53(9):2978 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2005.854229
[5]
Shen Jinpeng, Wang Xin'an, Liu Shan, et al. Design and implementation of an ultra-low power passive UHF RFID tag. Journal of Semiconductors, 2012, 33(11):115011 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/33/11/115011
[6]
Wang Yao, Wen Guangjun. Design of a passive UHF RFID tag for the ISO18000-6C protocol. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(5):055009 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/32/5/055009
[7]
Najafi V, Jenabi M. A dual mode EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID transponder in 0. 18μm CMOS. 15th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, 2008: 1135
[8]
Sasaki A, Kotani K, Ito T. Differential-drive CMOS rectifier for UHF RFIDs with 66% PCE at -12 dBm input. IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2008: 105
[9]
Umeda T, Yoshida H, Sekine S, et al. A 950-MHz rectifier circuit for sensor network tags with 10-m distance. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2006, 41(1):35 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2005.858620
[10]
Nakamoto H, Yamazaki D, Yamamoto T, et al. A passive UHF RF identification CMOS tag IC using ferroelectric RAM in 0.35-μm technology. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2007, 42(1):101 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2006.886523
[11]
Kotani K, Ito T. High efficiency CMOS rectifier circuit with self-Ⅴth-cancellation and power regulation functions for UHF RFIDs. Proc Tech Papers A-SSCC, 2007: 119
[12]
Li Shoucheng, Shen Jinpeng, Liu Shan, et al. An limiter circuit for passive RFID tag. IET International Conference on Information Science and Control Engineering, ICISCE, 2012: 1572
[13]
Vaz A, Ubarretxena A, Zalbide I, et al. Full passive UHF tag with a temperature sensor suitable for human body temperature monitoring. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Ⅱ:Express Briefs, 2010, 57(2):95 doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2010.2040314
[14]
Kerns J D V. Optimization of the peaking current source. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 1986, 21(4):587 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.1986.1052577
[15]
Barnett R, Liu J. A 0. 8 V 1. 52 MHz MSVC relaxation oscillator with inverted mirror feedback reference for UHF RFID. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 2006: 769
[16]
Morales-Ramos R, Montiel-Nelson J A. Voltage sensors for supply capacitor in passive UHF RFID transponders. 9th EUROMICRO Conference on Digital System Design: Architectures, Methods and Tools, 2006: 625
[17]
Balachandran G K, Barnett R E. A 440-nA true random number generator for passive RFID tags. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I:Regular Papers, 2008, 55(11):3723 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2008.927220
Fig. 1.  Block diagram of the RFID transponder.

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Fig. 2.  Block diagram of differential CMOS rectifier circuit.

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Fig. 3.  Voltage waveforms of internal nodes.

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Fig. 4.  Measured PCE as a function of PIN.

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Fig. 5.  Schematic of the proposed voltage limiter.

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Fig. 6.  DC simulation result of the voltage limiter.

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Fig. 7.  Transient Simulation results of the voltage limiter.

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Fig. 8.  Schematic of proposed voltage reference.

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Fig. 9.  Schematic of the proposed regulator.

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Fig. 10.  Schematic of the proposed demodulator.

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Fig. 11.  Schematic of the hysteresis comparator.

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Fig. 12.  Schematic of the modulator.

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Fig. 13.  Micrograph of the transponder chip.

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Fig. 14.  Measured waveforms of rectified voltage and clock.

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Fig. 15.  Measured waveforms at –13.5 dBm input signal.

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Fig. 16.  Measured results of forward link and return link communication.

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Table 1.   Result comparison.
[1]
Ma C, Wu X. A low-power RF front-end of passive UHF RFID transponders. IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits and Systems, 2008: 73
[2]
Kim S, Cho J H, Kim H S. An EPC Gen 2 compatible passive/semi-active UHF RFID transponder with embedded FeRAM and temperature sensor. IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2007: 135
[3]
Kao Y H, Liu C C, Kuo H C. Study of front end of CMOS RFID tag with inductively-coupled broadband antenna. Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference, 2007: 1
[4]
De Vita G, Iannaccone G. Design criteria for the RF section of UHF and microwave passive RFID transponders. IEEE Trans Microw Theory Tech, 2005, 53(9):2978 doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2005.854229
[5]
Shen Jinpeng, Wang Xin'an, Liu Shan, et al. Design and implementation of an ultra-low power passive UHF RFID tag. Journal of Semiconductors, 2012, 33(11):115011 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/33/11/115011
[6]
Wang Yao, Wen Guangjun. Design of a passive UHF RFID tag for the ISO18000-6C protocol. Journal of Semiconductors, 2011, 32(5):055009 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/32/5/055009
[7]
Najafi V, Jenabi M. A dual mode EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID transponder in 0. 18μm CMOS. 15th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, 2008: 1135
[8]
Sasaki A, Kotani K, Ito T. Differential-drive CMOS rectifier for UHF RFIDs with 66% PCE at -12 dBm input. IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, 2008: 105
[9]
Umeda T, Yoshida H, Sekine S, et al. A 950-MHz rectifier circuit for sensor network tags with 10-m distance. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2006, 41(1):35 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2005.858620
[10]
Nakamoto H, Yamazaki D, Yamamoto T, et al. A passive UHF RF identification CMOS tag IC using ferroelectric RAM in 0.35-μm technology. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2007, 42(1):101 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2006.886523
[11]
Kotani K, Ito T. High efficiency CMOS rectifier circuit with self-Ⅴth-cancellation and power regulation functions for UHF RFIDs. Proc Tech Papers A-SSCC, 2007: 119
[12]
Li Shoucheng, Shen Jinpeng, Liu Shan, et al. An limiter circuit for passive RFID tag. IET International Conference on Information Science and Control Engineering, ICISCE, 2012: 1572
[13]
Vaz A, Ubarretxena A, Zalbide I, et al. Full passive UHF tag with a temperature sensor suitable for human body temperature monitoring. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Ⅱ:Express Briefs, 2010, 57(2):95 doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2010.2040314
[14]
Kerns J D V. Optimization of the peaking current source. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 1986, 21(4):587 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.1986.1052577
[15]
Barnett R, Liu J. A 0. 8 V 1. 52 MHz MSVC relaxation oscillator with inverted mirror feedback reference for UHF RFID. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 2006: 769
[16]
Morales-Ramos R, Montiel-Nelson J A. Voltage sensors for supply capacitor in passive UHF RFID transponders. 9th EUROMICRO Conference on Digital System Design: Architectures, Methods and Tools, 2006: 625
[17]
Balachandran G K, Barnett R E. A 440-nA true random number generator for passive RFID tags. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I:Regular Papers, 2008, 55(11):3723 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2008.927220

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    Received: 28 February 2014 Revised: 01 April 2014 Online: Published: 01 October 2014

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      Article Navigation >  Journal of Semiconductors  > 2014  >  35(10): 105010
      Shoucheng Li, Xin'an Wang, Ke Lin, Jingpeng Shen, Jinhai Zhang. Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2014, 35(10): 105010. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010 ****S C Li, X Wang, K Lin, J P Shen, J H Zhang. Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag[J]. J. Semicond., 2014, 35(10): 105010. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010.
      Citation:
      Shoucheng Li, Xin'an Wang, Ke Lin, Jingpeng Shen, Jinhai Zhang. Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2014, 35(10): 105010. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010 ****
      S C Li, X Wang, K Lin, J P Shen, J H Zhang. Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag[J]. J. Semicond., 2014, 35(10): 105010. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010.
      shu

      Design and implementation of a high sensitivity fully integrated passive UHF RFID tag

      DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/35/10/105010

      • The Key Laboratory of Integrated Microsystems, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 581055, China

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      • Corresponding author: Wang Xin'an, Email:wangxa@szpku.edu.cn
      • Received Date: 2014-02-28
      • Revised Date: 2014-04-01
      • Published Date: 2014-10-01

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