Enabling L3: Low Cost, Low Complexity and Low Power Radio Frequency Sensing using Tunnel Diodes

The past decade has seen a great interest in developing radio frequency sensing technology and its applications. At a basic level, these systems operate by tracking changes in the wireless signal reflected from a physical object. These reflections contain a wealth of information about the object, such as its motion and material. However, existing radio frequency sensing solutions are constrained by the complexity of the deployment and their high power consumption. This is because these systems extract weak reflections in presence of a strong incident signal. This paper introduces a new radio frequency sensing modality that allows tracking of the incident signal and not reflections from the object. This allows us to simplify the receiver and algorithm design significantly. We design the system using tunnel diode oscillators to generate a high-frequency carrier signal at only tens of microwatts of power consumption. The critical contribution that we make is to show that the frequency of the tunnel diode oscillator is sensitive to the physical environment. As an example, we demonstrate that performing simple hand gestures near the tunnel diode oscillator causes notable changes to its frequency. Thus, the receiver tracks the frequency of the carrier signal generated by the tunnel diode oscillator, and not reflections from physical objects. It enables inferring of sensing information using a commodity receiver costing only a few USD. Our system enables radio frequency sensing at low cost, complexity and power.