RFID Technology

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RFID Technology
RFID Technology

• Mike Arnold
• Randall Chang
• Brent Hedberg
• Lauren Nelson
• Brad Samples

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RFID What is it?

• Acronymn Radio Frequency Identification Device
• Holds a small amount of unique data a serial
  number or other unique attributes of the item
• The data can be read from a distance no contact
  or even line of sight necessary
• Enables items to be individually tracked from
  manufacture to consumption
• Many uses Logistics, Military, Pets.

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RFID History

• Technology used in RFIDs was first developed in
  the 1920s
• First used by Soviets in 1945 as an espionage
  tool (passive, covert listening)
• Similar technology, the IFF transponder, was used
  by the British in WWII to identify airplanes as
  friend or foe
• A 1948 paper by Harry Stockman first explored the
  vast potential for RFID technology
• RFID systems did not appear until the 1960s

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RFID System Components

• RFID Tag
• Transponder
• Located on the object
• RFID Reader
• Transceiver
• Can read and write data to Tag
• Data Processing Subsystem

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Transponder

• Consists of microchip (tag) that stores data and
  antenna
• Active transponders have on-tag batteries
• Passive transponders obtain all power from the RF
  interrogation signal of reader
• Active and passive only communicate when
  interrogated by transceiver

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Transceiver

• Consists of an RF module, a control unit, and a
  coupling element to interrogate tags via RF
  communication
• Also have secondary interface to communicate with
  back-end systems
• Reads tags located in an external environment and
  are obscured from view

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Data Processing Subsystem

• Backend System
• Connected via high-speed network
• Computers used for business planning (ERP)
• Database storage
• Can be as simple as a reader attached to a cash
  register

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RFID - Current Uses

• RFIDs are currently used for
• Inventory Monitoring
• Library book and bookstore tracking
• Pallet tracking (Wal-Mart and the Dept. of
  Defense)
• Access Control
• Hand Implants
• ID badges (Mt. Bachelor ski resort season passes)
• Payment Systems
• The American Express Blue Card, a feature they
  call ExpressPay
• Exxon Mobile SpeedPassAirline baggage tracking
• Cell phones are including RFID tags built in
• High-end VIP nightclubs
• Commercially for truck and trailer tracking in
  shipping yards
• Long range access control for vehicles
• Entry gates
• Electronic toll collection

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RFID Implants
After implant surgery
Before
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RFID Potential Future Uses

• RFID tags are often envisioned as a replacement
  for UPC barcodes in the future
• Proposed to use RFID for point of sale store
  checkout to replace the cashier with an automatic
  system which needs no barcode scanning
• Possibility of your refrigerator tracking what
  groceries you are out of, what has gone bad, etc.
  (eg. How old is the milk in the fridge?)
• Sporting events have readers at the start and
  finish lines
• Passports

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Auto-ID Center

• A non-profit partnership by major software,
  consulting, tag and reader manufacturers and by
  MIT, Cambridge University and Adelaide University
• All research and solutions publicly available
• Mission of a global approach to automatic ID of
  every product
• Developed standards for tags and readers
• Electronic Product Code (EPC)
• Has since dissolved and transferred work and
  research to EPCglobal and the Auto-ID Labs at
  University of St. Gallen, Keio University and MIT

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RFIDs and EPC Systems

• Electronic Product Codes (EPC)
• A code electronically recorded on an RFID tag
• EPC is a 64-bit or 96-bit code
• Intended to be an improvement on the UPC barcode
  system

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RFIDs - Active vs. Passive
Active RFID Passive RFID
Tag Power Source Internal to tag Energy transferred using RF from reader
Tag Battery Yes No
Availability of power Continuous Only in field of reader
Required signal strength to read tag Very Low Very High
Range Up to 100 meters Up to 3-5m, usually less
Multi-tag reading 1000s of tags recognized speeds up to 100 miles/hour. Few hundred within 3m of reader
Data Storage Up to 1Mb of read/write with sophisticated search and access 128 bytes of read/write
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Active RFID Tags

• Battery Powered tags
• Have much greater range 100m
• Hold much more information Kbytes
• Can integrate sensing technology
• Temperature, GPS
• Can signal at defined time
• Multiple tags can be recorded/read at once
• Used for higher value items
• Shipping containers
• Electronic assets
• Cost between 20 and 40 per item
• Life between 2 4 years

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Passive RFID Tags

• Traditional tags used in retail security
  applications
• Tag contains an antenna, and a small chip that
  stores a small amount of data
• Tag can be programmed at manufacture or on
  installation
• Tag is powered by the high power electromagnetic
  field generated by the antennas usually in
  doorways
• The field allows the chip/antenna to reflect back
  an extremely weak signal containing the data
• Collision Detection recognition of multiple
  tags in the read range is employed to
  separately read the individual tags
• These passive tags form the basis of the Auto-ID
  designs, and, if manufactured in billions, will
  come down in price from 0.80 to 0.05 in the
  next 2 years.

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Controversy

• Consumer privacy advocates often refer to RFIDs
  as spychips
• RFIDs can be tracked by anyone with a high-gain
  antenna, potentially allowing the contents of a
  home to be scanned at a distance.
• Could be used to track an individuals movements
  without their knowledge
• Information about an individual can be gleaned
  from an RFID even after its disposal
• Three main privacy concerns in a retail scenario
• Purchaser of item may not be aware of its
  presence
• Tag can be read at a distance without purchasers
  knowledge
• May be possible to tie RFID ID to purchasers
  credit card and personal information
• Julie England, vice president at Texas
  Instruments has stated that the key to success
  is finding this right balance between privacy
  protection and the appropriate use of data.

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Case Study Wal-Mart

• Their main interest is in tracking pallets or
  crates containing many items, rather than to tag
  items individually
• By providing accurate, real-time inventory data,
  RFID has the potential to enhance supply-chain
  efficiency and reduce costs.
• In general, item-level tagging of consumer goods
  is unlikely to occur for some years.

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Case Study Wal-Mart

• First phase of implementation involved its top
  100 suppliers tagging cases and pallets of
  products headed to three Dallas/Fort Worth area
  distribution centers by January 2005.
• After that, an additional 37 suppliers
  voluntarily asked to meet the same milestone.
• In the initial test in April, 2004, cases and
  pallets of 21 products from eight suppliers were
  shipped to Wal-Mart's Sanger,Texas distribution
  center and then local Supercenters with RFID tags
  attached.
• Although Wal-Mart is currently focusing on case
  and pallet tagging, there were three products in
  which the case is also consumer packaging. On the
  outer packaging of these suppliers placed an
  EPCglobal sticker next to the RFID tag to notify
  customers of its existence.

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Regulation

• Currently no global body governing RFID frequency
  allocation
• In Europe, tags must be removed from packaging
  before disposal due to recycling disruptions and
  health regulations
• There is limited or no regulation of RFIDs for
  the most part leading to more controversy

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Conclusion

• RFID technology is rapidly is becoming more
  standardized, but problems do still exist
• The number of adopters of RFID technology is
  growing
• Regulation and education is necessary to quell
  some of the fears regarding RFID technology and
  its implications

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References

• http//www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/cjs/tech.html
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
• http//www.rfidanalysis.org/
• http//www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jh
  tml?articleID181401622subSectionBreakingNews
• http//www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/217
  8/1/1/
• http//www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id211
  5
• http//walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigat
  e.do?catg25contId4833