28-08-2014, 02:41 PM
RFID TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR REPORT
RFID TECHNOLOGY.pdf (Size: 1.3 MB / Downloads: 183)
ABSTRACT
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication via
electromagnetic waves to exchange data between a terminal and an electronic tag
attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking. Some tags can be
read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.
Radio-frequency identification involves interrogators (also known as readers),
and tags (also known as labels).
Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and
processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, and
other specialized functions. The other is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the
signal.
There are three types of RFID tags: passive RFID tags, which have no power source and
require an external electromagnetic field to initiate a signal transmission, active RFID
tags, which contain a battery and can transmit signals once an external source
('Interrogator') has been successfully identified, and battery assisted passive (BAP) RFID
tags, which require an external source to wake up but have significant higher forward link
capability providing greater range.
Criteria For Evaluation
Current literature dealing with RFID-middleware offers several criteria for evaluating
RFID-Systems. We have summarized the most common ones to the following topics:
Scalability An increase in throughput rates could cause the infrastructure to collapse.
Being in the line of fire middleware has to offer features for dynamically balancing
processing loads and handle large amounts of data and their preprocessing(like database
lookups, updates, etc.). Additionally this topic covers the question of how to extend an
already implemented system.
Commitment To Standards Supporting common standards simplifies upgrading,
migrating and scaling of an existing infrastructure. Concerning this topic, we concentrate
on the exchange of information between the enricher-layer and the backup-systems. This
topic goes hand in hand with the question of application integration.
Level Of Processing And Enriching Data Besides collecting data, RFID
middleware needs to filter and enrich raw RFID-data in order to transform those
flows into single events
Oracle
Regarding RFID infrastructure, Oracle provides an out-of-the-box-solution for handling
RFID-data called Oracle Sensor Edge Server (OSES). OSES is a module of Oracle‟s
more extensive framework Oracle Sensor-Based-Services for processing sensor-based
data. Furthermore Oracle offers two software-packages: EPC Compliance Enabler and
RFID Pilot. Digging deeper shows that both are just slightly more than parts of OSES
reassembled to provide support for RFID-data at a different degree.
EXISTING RFID SCENARIOS
Introduction
Radio Frequency Identification technology enables items, animals or persons to identify
themselves by means of wireless communication. A small tag containing microchip and
antenna is applied to commercial products, animals or human Beings. There are different
kinds of tags which differ in shape, size, storage capability, frequency range and can be
active , semi-active or passive. An active chip is equipped with its own energy cell for
broadcasting whereas a semi active chip is also battery-assisted but the energy is used for
the power supply of the microchip‟s circuitry but not for broadcasting the chips
information.
Therefore the battery life of semi-active chips is longer compared to the life Of an active
chip. The passive tag on the other hand does not have a battery cell at all. It uses the
power carried in the readers signal to emit its data. There are four main frequency bands
commonly in use.
1. low frequency range (125 or 134.2 kHz)
2. high frequency range (13.56 MHz)
3. ultra high frequency range (UHF) (868 to 956 MHz)
4. microwave frequency range (2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz)
Live Tracking
2.1 Using RFID in Livestock Tracking and the resulting improvements The RFID
technology is the next step to a solution of current problems in animal identification and
tracking. With the RFID tags the first steps are taken to a more transparent backtracking,
covering the entire chain from the producer tot he customer, and a centralized
organization of animal data. The vision is that all information about an animal and the
owner it belongs to, is stored in a database. Records in the database do not only consist of
the information to which owner an animal belongs to, but also if an animal changes its
owner, every following owner, the complete track of an animal life and disease history
and which particular breeding properties it has
Problems in using RFID and possible solutions
The use of the RFID technology in livestock tracking is still not the Holy Grail for all
problems, since new problems evolve which need to be solved. One of the biggest
problems is the lack of standardized tags and tag readers. Some of the tag readers are
only able to read the information of specific tags. The lack of standardized codes leads to
big obstacles in centralizing the information about certain animals in a federal global
database.. The information received from the breeder needs to be arranged, before storing
it, to set them in to a uniform data format. A first step to solve this problem is the
standardization of the information on the tags and the standardization of the tag readers.
Like mentioned above there are standards from the ISO, but another problem is that not
all tag and reader producer are using the standard. Also it is not possible to ensure in all
cases the uniqueness of the IDs, since they could be duplicated or in case of the loss of
the tag the same number is given to more than one animal. The uniqueness can be better
ensured through biometric methods,
Supply Chain Management and RFID
Supply chain management aims to increase effectiveness and efficiency of entire value
added chains. This means that the focus from managing a single company shifts towards
managing a bundle of different companies. The challenge lies in the structure of these
chains formed by the companies. Instead of having single lines with no interaction, every
company has usually several different suppliers and several different customers as shown
in fig. 6 which in turn makes it hard to distinguish between the chains as well as to know
who is a member of the own supply chain. For example the customer in tier three might
not be known in advance.
Limits and Challenges of the RFID Technology
Challenges Regarding the Use of RFID in Supply Chain Management An important
prerequisite for the wide use of RFID technology is the need for standards companies and
institutions adhere to. One standard is the EPC global. It allows automatic identification
of items and provides a supplement identification standard for the barcode in form of a
numbering scheme. EPC global has over 400 members and is backed by large retailers
and consumer product manufactures. Nevertheless is the standardization process still
under way and is not completed yet. This situation works at the moment because the
RFID
technology is not applied by the masses yet and the use normally encloses just a few
partners so that own specifications can be used. Metro for example is using a centralized
computer, the RFID-product-flow-system, to store all data of the RFID tags.
A barrier for RFID is the fact that RFID technology demands an integration into the
company‟s existing software. This is the case when realizing benefits exceeding the
applications which already could be realized with the help of barcodes. Additional efforts
and expenses are now implied. An example is the data registration regarding individual
products. Software like SAP RFID has the goal to integrate the different technologies
coming along with the RFID technology
Architecture
The RFID technology itself consists of three elements: RFID tags, RFID readers and
possibly a computer network that is used to connect the readers. The tags consist of an
antenna and a silicon chip that contains a receiver, a modulator, control logic, memory
and a power system. Depending on how the system is powered, they are labeled as
passive, semi-passive or active tags:
– Passive Tags: Passive tags are small and cheap. They use the energy of the reader to
respond which makes them readable over decades but results in a short reading range and
bad reliability.
– Active Tags: Active tags have a power source of their own, which results in larger
reading range and good reliability. Their lifetime is limited by the lifetime of the power
source.
– Semi-Passive Tags: Semi-passive tags which have a battery but use the power of the
reader to transmit messages. This results in good reliability but limited range. Another
criterion for categorizing RFID tags is how they respond to readers. A tag that
communicates with every reader is called promiscuous and one that needs some kind of
authenticating, e.g. via password, is called secure.
Like other technology RFID systems can be divided into different layers. There are three
layers
Privacy Mechanisms
Unfortunately, the long-term security of label contents cannot be guaranteed even if the
antenna is destroyed. Then the chip‟s data can not be accessed wirelessly but it can be
accessed by physical means, so long-term secrets, such as secret keys, are not stored on
RFID labels. It would be foolish to store a fingerprint on a tag, because a fingerprint can
not be changed if it is lost. But it would be efficient to store the fingerprint in a database.
If the key is compromised the database can prevent further access with this key.
Privacy can be realized by different means. The simplest approach is to kill the tag, i.e.
making the tag unreadable by detaching the antenna or by other means. This is a very
good protection for the privacy of the tag owner but the tag is then unusable. A softer
method is the shielding of the tag from the reader, so the tag can not hear the request by
the reader. This method is suitable only for some scenarios, e.g. special shielded wallets
for tagged money, tagged credit cards, etc. (an instruction to construct such a wallet by
simple means can be found in)
CONCLUSION
After examining the three fields Health care, Games and Human Activity Detection with
regard to the usage of RFID technology we will now try to present the overall
observations and draw some conclusions. The scenarios presented show that RFID
technology is a technology with a promising future, even if there are still some problems
and limitations that need to be solved.
Above all there is the need for small tags but especially for smaller readers. In the field of
gaming, small tags are necessary for cards, puzzle pieces or counters. There is also a
demand for smaller readers that can be integrated into areas of board games. Regarding
Healthcare the wrist band scenario indicates the requirement for smaller tags as well, so
the wrist band may be built very small and does not handicap the patients. In the human
activity scenarios describing the GETA sandals and the iBracelet the need for smaller
readers is obvious. Of course there are quite small tags available but not for a price that
allows an unlimited extensive integration. Ina card game with 52 cards like the smart
playing cards presented in section, very small tags need to be attached to each card. The
same applies to puzzles like the smart jigsaw puzzle with 1000 smart pieces and of course
to healthcare systems since each test tube, blood bottle and all patients may be equipped
with tags or readersIf you consider only one tag, a price of about 20 Cent is no object,
but if you have to integrate thousands of tags in a small application it gets relevant. The
matter of size becomes even more problematic as the RFID tags and readers are
combined with other technologies leading to enriched functionalities but also to larger
sizes as the motion sensitive WISPs