A paper based inkjet printed real time location tracking TAG

This paper presents, for the first time, an inkjet printed, wearable, low-cost, light weight and miniaturized real time locating TAG on an ordinary photo-paper. The 29 grams, 9 cm×8 cm×0.5 cm TAG integrates a GPS/GSM module, a microcontroller with on-paper GPS and GSM antennas. A novel monopole antenna with an L shaped slit is introduced to achieve the required circular polarization for the GPS band. Issues related to integration of active components (e.g. BGA chip) on inkjet-printed paper substrates are discussed. The system enables location tracking through a user-friendly interface accessible through all internet enabled devices. Field tests show an update interval of 15 sec, stationary position error of 6.2m and real time tracking error of 4.7m which is 4 times better than the state-of-the-art. Due to the flexible nature of the paper substrate, the TAG can be designed for different shapes such as a wrist band for child tracking or a collar band for pet tracking applications.