The paper Efficient LTE Backscatter with Uncontrolled Ambient Traffic, co-authored by researchers Yifan Yang, Yunyun Feng, Wei Gong, and Yu Yang from the University of Science and Technology of China and City University of Hong Kong, has been accepted for publication at the IEEE INFOCOM conference, a CCF A event. The paper introduces CABLTE, a content-agnostic LTE backscatter system that efficiently utilizes uncontrolled LTE physical layer resources for ultra-low power, high throughput wireless communication, representing a major advancement in the Internet of Things (IoT) field.
In the rapidly evolving field of wireless communication technology, environmental backscatter communication, a novel concept for low-power communication, is particularly emphasized in the context of the IoT. By utilizing existing environmental radio frequency (RF) signals, such as WiFi, TV signals, and cellular signals, environmental backscatter allows IoT devices to communicate passively by reflecting signals, marking a shift from traditional systems that require dedicated transmitters. LTE, as a source of environmental backscatter, offers unparalleled advantages in terms of coverage area, subscriber base, and continuous transmission, paving the way for a new era of ubiquitous, ultra-low power, battery-less communication solutions.
Traditional LTE backscatter systems heavily rely on the original data of signals, requiring either additional receivers to demodulate tag data or modulation on limited predefined reference signals, limiting their applicability in real-world scenarios. Addressing these limitations, the innovative CABLTE system emerges, revolutionizing backscatter communication by efficiently modulating LTE physical layer resources and eliminating the need for knowledge of environmental signal content.
Fig. CABLTE
With the capability of using a single receiver to acquire tag data, CABLTE offers significant practicality and efficiency over previous systems. It employs a checksum-based codeword conversion method and a custom channel estimation scheme, ensuring accurate modulation and demodulation without the need for environmental content. Extensive experimental evaluations verified that CABLTE achieved a maximum tag throughput of 22kbps, 3.67 times that of the content-agnostic system CAB and even 1.38 times that of the content-based system SyncLTE, thus setting a new benchmark in LTE backscatter communication.
Led by corresponding author Wei Gong, this research showcases the collective expertise and innovative vision of the teams from the University of Science and Technology of China and City University of Hong Kong. Yifan Yang is a joint Ph.D. student of the School of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Science and Technology of China and the School of Data Science at City University of Hong Kong. Corresponding author Wei Gong is a professor at the School of Computer Science and Technology and the School of Data Science at the University of Science and Technology of China, as well as the head of the Ubiquitous Battery-free Internet of Things Laboratory. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) projects (numbers 61932017 and 61971390), with hardware services provided by the Information Science Experiment Center of the University of Science and Technology of China.