Backscatter system is a system based on backscatter communication technology, which is a low cost, low power consumption and easy to deploy communication technology. At present, the backscatter technology is mainly applied to RFID tags and the Internet of Things and other fields. With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, the application of backscatter systems is increasing. Moreover, the backscatter system is essentially a distributed system, but existing research rarely conducts studies and analyses from a distributed perspective. This paper conducts a study on the backscattering system from the perspective of distributed systems, comprehensively reviewing the basic principles of the backscattering system, and analyzing the distributed system architectures of different backscattering systems. Then, it introduces the application scenarios, research status and challenges of the backscattering system, and finally discusses the future research directions of the backscattering system, hoping to provide references for future research.