Milestone-Proposal:Remote Sensing
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Docket #:
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To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1993 - 2000
Title of the proposed milestone:
Remote Sensing Low-Cost Two-Way Digital Radio, 1993 - 2000
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance; if personal name(s) are included, such name(s) must follow the achievement itself in the citation wording: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
At Bell Labs, engineers developed a pioneering two-way digital microwave radio system enabling reliable remote sensing and communication with low-cost, battery-powered electronic display modules. Deployed for electronic price labeling in retail environments, this system allowed over 13,000 remote updates per hour using modulated backscatter technology, ensuring accuracy, resilience, and automation in commercial settings. This innovation marked a breakthrough in scalable, ultra-low-power wireless sensing.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
Between 1993 and 2000, researchers at Bell Labs developed a low-cost, two-way digital radio communication system for remote sensing and control of electronic display modules, addressing critical challenges in retail pricing automation. Their innovation, initially intended for replacing manual price tags in grocery stores, enabled accurate, centralized control and real-time updates of thousands of low-power display units. The system employed a minimalist crystal radio receiver for downlink and a novel modulated backscatter technique for uplink communication—eliminating the need for active RF transmitters in the remote tags. Capable of handling over 13,000 message exchanges per hour, the system used 2.4 GHz ISM band frequencies, leveraging path diversity, frequency diversity, and ultra-low power microelectronics to maintain a communication error rate below one part per million. Each tag used a single watch battery with a life expectancy of over five years, making the technology both economical and environmentally sustainable. The solution enabled a new class of low-cost remote sensing applications beyond retail, including inventory control, RF identification, and environmental sensing. Its social and humanitarian impact lies in its role in automating high-error manual tasks, improving customer trust, reducing regulatory fines due to pricing discrepancies, and serving as a precursor to ubiquitous IoT applications. This milestone represents a foundational achievement in scalable, low-power, remote wireless sensing.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
Communications Society; Antennas and Propagation Society; SA Standards; Computational Intelligence; Electromagnetic Compatibility; Microwave Theory and Technology; Computer Society.
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Theodore Sizer II, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Giovanni Vannucci, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Gregory Wright, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Thomas M Willis III, PhD
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Jeremy Prasad
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need.
Are the original buildings extant?
Yes.
Details of the plaque mounting:
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include detailed support at the end of this section preceded by "Justification for Inclusion of Name(s)". (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
This innovation represents one of the earliest and most successful demonstrations of low-cost, battery-operated, two-way digital wireless sensing systems. It transformed the landscape of retail pricing by enabling real-time, remote updates of thousands of tags through a reliable radio communication architecture. Technologically, the project demonstrated the first commercial use of modulated backscatter for uplink signaling in indoor environments, a method now common in passive RFID and IoT devices. It achieved significant reliability—error rates below 1 ppm—and scalability, with one system supporting thousands of devices and over 13,000 transactions per hour. Socially, the work addressed a longstanding issue in retail—price discrepancies between shelves and checkout systems—restoring customer confidence and ensuring compliance with state pricing regulations. Economically, it reduced labor costs and human error, increasing the efficiency and profitability of low-margin grocery operations. It also enabled compliance with emerging legal requirements, such as the item-level pricing mandate in Connecticut, without the burden of manual relabeling. This milestone laid the groundwork for the explosive growth in passive sensing systems and energy-efficient communication protocols used in inventory tracking, logistics, healthcare, and smart cities.
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
Technically, the challenge was unprecedented: creating a two-way radio system so low in cost and power that it could be embedded in battery-powered modules priced to compete with paper labels. Achieving a five-to-seven-year battery life while sustaining two-way communication and LCD updates required radical innovation. The design team overcame downlink path loss (~90 dB), severe multipath fading in metal-rich environments, and limited antenna size (1-inch maximum). To achieve these goals, the team invented a crystal radio receiver for downlink and a novel uplink using diode-modulated backscatter, with sideband detection at the ceiling base stations. These solutions were implemented using Lucent's CBIC-U2 bipolar process, enabling ultra-low current consumption amplifiers and 4-bit microcontrollers with under $1 in RF component costs. Politically and logistically, the system had to meet FCC regulations for the 2.4 GHz ISM band, while ensuring compliance with regional item pricing laws. Engineers also needed to support global deployments, requiring configurable modules for multiple pricing formats and languages. Real-world deployment in busy supermarkets—with freezers, stacked goods, and metallic shelving—necessitated robustness and adaptability.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
While other electronic signage systems existed in concept, this work was the first to deliver a fully functioning, cost-effective, and scalable system using: • Two-way communication with passive-like uplink: Backscatter-modulated uplink using the same diode and antenna as the crystal receiver. • Massive scalability: Over 13,000 updates per hour with 98% throughput in active grocery stores. • Ultra-low power electronics: Enabled five-to-seven-year battery life in coin cell-powered tags. • Frequency and spatial diversity: To overcome multipath fading and signal nulls in cluttered environments. • Minimal infrastructure: No shelf wiring required; ceiling-mounted units and wireless modules provided flexibility. This was also among the first practical uses of what would later evolve into energy-efficient, passive RFID and modern wireless sensor networks.
Why was the achievement successful and impactful?
The success stemmed from interdisciplinary innovation across communications, microelectronics, embedded systems, and systems engineering. Researchers including James G. Evans, R. Anthony Shober, Stephen A. Wilkus, Giovanni Vannucci, Gregory A. Wright, and others combined expertise to produce a highly integrated, standards-compliant solution with exceptional reliability and cost-effectiveness. It was impactful because it solved a real-world commercial problem with global applicability, enabling regulatory compliance, reducing labor costs, and improving customer satisfaction. Its long-term influence can be traced through modern IoT systems, passive RFID, and digital signage technologies that use its architectural principles. The achievement stands as a benchmark in designing for cost, power, scale, longevity, and reliability—core values for modern pervasive sensing applications.
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.
