A Brief Description of the Aims and Objectives

With the popularity and development of the Internet, the Internet has penetrated into every bit of everyday life. People are no longer simply doing network communication between people, but more and more urgently need to maintain network connection with objects, which has promoted the boom of the Internet of Things (IoT). In recent years, the Internet of Things has developed rapidly. The Internet of Things is no longer a simple code, but a network that acts on the Internet to exchange information and communicate with any object. The biggest difference between the Internet of Things and the Internet is that users have expanded from ordinary terminals to items, realizing the communication between people and things. The ultimate goal of the Internet of Things is to achieve a world of total intelligence and a world in which everything is connected. How to achieve high-speed and reliable data transmission on limited spectrum resources is also the first problem to be solved in the Internet of Things.

Recently, ambient backscatter communications has been introduced as a cutting-edge technology which enables smart devices to communicate by utilizing ambient radio frequency (RF) signals without requiring active RF transmission. This technology is especially effective in addressing communication and energy efficiency problems for low-power communications systems such as sensor networks. It is expected to realize numerous Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications.

Ambient backscatter are accomplished by utilizing radio frequency (RF) signals in the environment and without the need for any battery and power supply facilities. There are many RF signals that can be utilized in the environment, such as television signals, cellular network signals, wireless network signals, etc., by converting these signals into electrical energy to complete the transmission of signals. The emergence of this new technology makes ubiquitous communication possible, not only does not require additional power, saves a lot of energy, but also avoids the construction of some infrastructure and saves a lot of infrastructure costs.

This special issue intends to bring together the leading researchers and developers from both academia and industry to present their latest research and innovation on ambient backscatter for IoT. All submissions should neither have been published previously nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. The submitted papers will undergo a strict peer review process based on originality, quality, and relevance to this special issue and the journal.