Frequency Selective Surface Coded Retroreflectors for Chipless Indoor Localization Tag Landmarks

This letter presents the integration of frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) with retroreflectors for the realization of chipless wireless indoor localization tag landmarks. As an example, the high radar cross section (RCS) of a trihedral corner reflector is signed with an FSS-based stopband filter, so that the backscattered power from several corner reflectors can be distinguished by a mobile reader according to the frequency response of the FSS. Measurement results with a 3 × 3 × 3 cm³ trihedral corner reflector and a stopband FSS in a Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 high-frequency laminate at 90 GHz shows an RCS above -25 dBsqm for 90° coverage in the TM plane. Due to the high RCS, measurements at distances up to 4 m with a standard 25 dBi gain horn antenna and a vector network analyzer as a reader are shown. These preliminary results show the potential of the concept for applications such as indoor localization with sub-mm accuracy, where high bandwidths, but only a low number of bits, are needed for the identification of the tag landmarks.