Wireless barcodes for tagging infrastructure

Abstract

There are numerous scenarios where embedding static information into objects would prove to be very useful. For example, by embedding navigation information into the road surface we could enable driverless cars, similarly embedding information into major infrastructure such as building walls would enable easier classification of debris, and so forth. The key requirement is that the embedded information should survive as long as the infrastructure itself. We discuss the concept of wireless barcodes that allow us to achieve exactly this goal of tagging infrastructure. The barcodes are designed to be read at terahertz frequencies that allows good packing of information (bits/m). We use a TDoA (Time Difference of Arrival) technique to read the barcodes which provides robustness to wear and tear of the surface. This paper reports on the results of an experimental study that examines the challenges in building such barcodes and demonstrates the idea by constructing such a barcode.