Smart Surfaces: Large Area Electronics Systems for Internet of Things Enabled by Energy Harvesting

Energy harvesting is well established as one of the prominent enabling technologies [along with radio-frequency identification (RFID), wireless power transfer, and green electronics] for the pervasive development of Internet of Things (IoT). This paper focuses on a particular, yet broad, class of systems that falls in the IoT category of large area electronics (LAE). This class is represented by "smart surfaces.'' The paper, after an introductory overview about how smart surfaces are collocated in the IoT and LAE scenario, first deals with technologies and architectures involved, namely, materials, antennas, RFID systems, and chipless structures; then, some exemplifying solutions are illustrated to show the present development of these concurrent technologies in this area and to stimulate further solutions. Conclusions and future trends are then drawn.