Traditional wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are used extensively over the last two decades. They offer various advantages like higher data connection rates, good coverage, mobility, expandability, ease of use, etc. However, these traditional wireless communication solutions are expensive and also drain the battery life of devices connected to it. Internet-of-Things (IoT), demands devices that consume very little power and are less bulky. A solution to this is newly emerging passive technology called Ambient Backscatter Communication System. It is a cutting edge primitive that allows wireless communication between the devices by leveraging ambient radio frequency (RF) signals of TV and cellular transmissions. Its competency in consuming very low power during communication brings us closer to the world of IoT and its applications. In this paper, we present a detailed survey of backscatter communication systems. In particular, the fundamentals, architecture and the challenges involved are discussed. Using the multilevel classification framework, we review the major experimental and theoretical work carried out in literature.

在过去的二十年中，诸如蓝牙和Wi-Fi之类的传统无线通信技术得到了广泛使用。它们具有各种优点，例如更高的数据连接速率，良好的覆盖范围，移动性，可扩展性，易用性等。但是，这些传统的无线通信解决方案价格昂贵，并且还浪费了与其连接的设备的电池寿命。物联网（IoT）要求设备消耗的功率很少且体积较小。一种解决方案是新兴的无源技术，称为环境背向散射通信系统。这是一种最先进的原语，它可以通过利用电视和蜂窝传输的环境射频（RF）信号在设备之间进行无线通信。它在通信过程中消耗非常低功率的能力使我们更接近物联网及其应用程序的世界。在本文中，我们对反向散射通信系统进行了详细调查。特别是，讨论了基础知识，体系结构和所涉及的挑战。使用多级分类框架，我们回顾了文献中进行的主要实验和理论工作。