25-05-2012, 12:14 PM
CMPE 209 Research Paper – RFID Security
[attachment=22971]
What is RFID?
RFID is an acronym of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is the most prevalent technology in tracking of goods these days. RFID has replaced the traditional barcodes. Wal-Mart has spent millions of dollars in late 1990 for research on RFID. RFID is all about getting the real time information like present location, planned destination and the contents of the product being tracked.
2. How RFID works?
RFID is not a new technology. It is very similar to the barcodes. Since all the different business required to share the information about the product, each unit was required to read a common code. RFID uses EPC (Electronic Product Code) that is very similar to barcodes. This EPC is a unique number associated with each RFID tags.
The EPC number on the tag is unique, but all the EPC systems run a protocol called, EPC protocol. The EPC protocol specifies two things 1.) How to separate and store information in the tags. This is called the numbering scheme. 2.) Decide how the tags and the readers communicate.
The RFID system consists of a RFID reader, RFID tag and an antenna. The antenna is a passive device and is required only to send and receive the signals efficiently. The essential components of RFID system are RFID reader and RFID tag. The essential of RFID system is the communication between the RFID reader and the tags over the air interface at a particular frequency. Figure 1 below shows all the basic components of an RFID system.
a) RFID reader:
RFD reader is actually a transreceiver. It sends as well as receives the signals. It radiates signals via the antenna over the air at a particular frequency. Those signals are received by the tag and the tag sends back the response. RFID reader then receives this response.
b) RFID tag:
RFID tags are the main component in the RFID system. The RFID tags are made up of a chip or an Integrated Circuit (IC). The chip has the unique EPC on it. The chip also has the logic to take a particular action when it is in front of the receiver. There are two types of tags i.) Active tags and ii.) Passive tags.
i.) Active tags: They have a power supply of their own. They need continuous power supply. They are capable of storing 128 kb data.
ii.) Passive tags: They do not need any power supply. Instead they gather power from electromagnetic field generated by the waves from the reader. Their range is less and stores very small amount of 128 bytes of data.
Further the tags are classified in Class 0 and Class 1. Class 0 tags are read only type. The information once written on them cannot be modified. One has to use the number written by the manufacturer. Class 1 tags are tags are programmable. Usually they are of the type WORM (write once, read many). Depending upon the manufacturer, the tags can store 64 96, 128, 256 or 512 bytes of data. Also depending on the class and generation of the tags, data on it can be encrypted.
The traditional barcodes uses what is called UPC (Universal Product Code). A UPC scheme is shown below in Figure 2.
The UPC scheme in barcode.
In UPC scheme, the empty spaces and the black lines holds the data. These lines actually represent a UPC generic number. The UPC number code consists of 4 parts. The first part is a single digit and represents the numbering system that is followed. The second part consists of 5 digits and is the manufacturer ID number. This is unique for each manufacturer. The next 5 digits represent the item number and the last digit is the module check character that works pretty much like checksum.
[attachment=22971]
What is RFID?
RFID is an acronym of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is the most prevalent technology in tracking of goods these days. RFID has replaced the traditional barcodes. Wal-Mart has spent millions of dollars in late 1990 for research on RFID. RFID is all about getting the real time information like present location, planned destination and the contents of the product being tracked.
2. How RFID works?
RFID is not a new technology. It is very similar to the barcodes. Since all the different business required to share the information about the product, each unit was required to read a common code. RFID uses EPC (Electronic Product Code) that is very similar to barcodes. This EPC is a unique number associated with each RFID tags.
The EPC number on the tag is unique, but all the EPC systems run a protocol called, EPC protocol. The EPC protocol specifies two things 1.) How to separate and store information in the tags. This is called the numbering scheme. 2.) Decide how the tags and the readers communicate.
The RFID system consists of a RFID reader, RFID tag and an antenna. The antenna is a passive device and is required only to send and receive the signals efficiently. The essential components of RFID system are RFID reader and RFID tag. The essential of RFID system is the communication between the RFID reader and the tags over the air interface at a particular frequency. Figure 1 below shows all the basic components of an RFID system.
a) RFID reader:
RFD reader is actually a transreceiver. It sends as well as receives the signals. It radiates signals via the antenna over the air at a particular frequency. Those signals are received by the tag and the tag sends back the response. RFID reader then receives this response.
b) RFID tag:
RFID tags are the main component in the RFID system. The RFID tags are made up of a chip or an Integrated Circuit (IC). The chip has the unique EPC on it. The chip also has the logic to take a particular action when it is in front of the receiver. There are two types of tags i.) Active tags and ii.) Passive tags.
i.) Active tags: They have a power supply of their own. They need continuous power supply. They are capable of storing 128 kb data.
ii.) Passive tags: They do not need any power supply. Instead they gather power from electromagnetic field generated by the waves from the reader. Their range is less and stores very small amount of 128 bytes of data.
Further the tags are classified in Class 0 and Class 1. Class 0 tags are read only type. The information once written on them cannot be modified. One has to use the number written by the manufacturer. Class 1 tags are tags are programmable. Usually they are of the type WORM (write once, read many). Depending upon the manufacturer, the tags can store 64 96, 128, 256 or 512 bytes of data. Also depending on the class and generation of the tags, data on it can be encrypted.
The traditional barcodes uses what is called UPC (Universal Product Code). A UPC scheme is shown below in Figure 2.
The UPC scheme in barcode.
In UPC scheme, the empty spaces and the black lines holds the data. These lines actually represent a UPC generic number. The UPC number code consists of 4 parts. The first part is a single digit and represents the numbering system that is followed. The second part consists of 5 digits and is the manufacturer ID number. This is unique for each manufacturer. The next 5 digits represent the item number and the last digit is the module check character that works pretty much like checksum.