What is it about?

Dielectric resonators are used as battery-less (passiv) transponders in a novel indoor self-locallization system. Since the Radar echo strength (Radar Cross Section, RCS) of a dielectric resonator is extremely low, its Radar visibility is increased by putting it in the focus of a dielectric spherical lens. This increases the RCS by up to 30 dB.

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Why is it important?

The use of a dielectric resonator as a battery-less (passive) transponder in a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Radar-based locallization system is difficult because other interfering signals typically can be much larger than the transponder signal of a dielectric resonator. In an indoor scenario, reflections from walls may be 30 dB and more stronger than the transponder signal close to a wall, so that the transponder is not easily detected by a reader. Increasing the transponder RCS increases its signal strength to a level equal or even higher than interfering signals so that good detection and ranging of the transponder are possible. With this improvement, also the achievable range of detection of dielectric resonantor ransponders is increased.

Perspectives

This publication presents one possible solution to the problem of low Radar visibilty of dielectric resonator transponders. Other concepts also have been investigated, namely the use of spherical or 2D-Luneberg lens or the use of arrays of dielectric resonators. Presently, proof of concept experiments and simulations have been realized at microwave frequencies (5 -10 GHz) but the intended localization system is to operate at low THz frequencies. First realizations of dielectric resonator transponders for the 100 GHz range have been tested.

Klaus Solbach
University Duisburg-Essen

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This page is a summary of: RCS Enhancement of Dielectric Resonator Tag Using Spherical Lens, Frequenz, May 2019, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/freq-2018-0224.
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