An ultra low power RFID sensor platform for launchers applications

This paper presents an in progress development of a complete RFID measurement system for space in-vehicle sensor data transmission. The RFID measurement system utilizes the EPCglobal Gen2 protocol for the communications and allows connecting common launcher´s sensors (thermocouple, resistance temperature detectors, strain gauge, and pressure sensor). An ultra low power microcontroller manages the analog front-ends, the supply distribution between all in-situ modules, and governs the RFID data transfers. The performance evaluation results in a sensor tag able to transmit 200 measurement samples per second in a 5m communication distance, with an energy consumption of 48μJ per sample.