Radar & Additive Manufacturing Technologies: the Future of Internet of Things (IoT)

The authors make a case for a soon-to-be preponderance of radar technologies for communications with devices of the IoT. First, the tag architectures enabling these communications are presented. Novel 24 GHz and mm-wave flexible low-cost chip less RFID and backscatter/reflectarray-based node approaches demonstrating a record measured range of 80m, with a potential maximum range in excess of 1 km, zero to low W power consumption, and Gbps communications rates are presented. In a second part, recent advances in additive-manufacturing technologies enabling large cost reductions for the next generation of integrated radar ICs are reported. Specifically, the combination of 3D and inkjet printing enables the development of fully 3D compact low-cost integrated modules along with high-performance interconnects. These innovations, simultaneously empowering and empowered by radar technologies, present a compelling avenue for the emergence of dense constellations of flexible smart skin nodes for ubiquitous sensing, identification, and localization.