Post on 22-Dec-2015
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Separating the Hype from the Reality
Anthony Furness
Technical Director, AIM UK
RFID - Brief History (After Landt, J 2001)*
* Landt, J (2001) Shrouds of Time – The history of RFID, An AIM Publication
1940 – 1950 Radar refined and used, major World War II development effortRFID invented – Stockman, H – “Communication by Means of Reflected Power Proc IRE October 1948
1950 - 1960 Early explorations of RFID technology, laboratory experiments
1960 - 1970 Development of the theory of RFID and start of field trials
1970 - 1980 Acceleration in RFID development and very early adopters of RFID. First US patent for active RFID appears – Cardullo, MW (1973) – Enter too US government systems and Los Alamos public sector transfer initiative (1977)
1980 - 1990 Commercial applications for RFID enter mainstream
1990 - 2000 Emergence of standards for RFID, greater visibility and uptake – significant developments stimulated by the MIT introduction of Electronic Product Code (EPC) - ISO/IEC JTC1/SC31/WG4 responsible for international RFID standards
2000 - Continuing commercialisation and promotion of RFID, hype and misunderstanding, new radio-based variants of RFID and European and international promotion of RFID and the Internet of Things
Devices the size of a grain of rice – chip, but not the device
Can be read at any distance – no, and range depends upon a number of factors Consume no energy – no, energy consumption dependent on the type of device, passive devices consume energy from interrogation source Cost next to nothing – no cost dependent upon type – passive devices still cost more than the target 5 cents
Can communicate with one another – not so unless they are active devices with two-way communication capability
Any number can be read at time – not so and certainly not simultaneously – readability depends upon a number of factors
No standards – no, well over 100 standards, including international standards
RFID - the nature of hype – mainly focused on tags
Tags cannot operate near metal or water – performance in respect of proximity to any materials requires some understanding of electromagnetic theory and practice and of tag and systems design
Tags can be read without line of sight – depending upon the nature of materials and conditions between reader and tag – again requires some understanding of electromagnetic theory and practice and of tag and systems design RFID Systems to costly – depends upon how appropriate RFID is to the application and well an application for RFID has been designed, bearing in mind the need to justify on economic as well as technical grounds of device, passive devices consume energy from interrogation source
RFID - the nature of misunderstanding – mainly focused on tags
Fast, automatic or semi-automatic data entry Accurate data entry Immediacy of information Additional, process related benefits when effectively applied Identification linkage, options and dividends Radical process improvements, when effectively applied. Fast returns on investment for well defined and implemented
applications Opportunities for object-linked innovation
The RFID Data Carriers and Systems benefits key features:
Versatile identification and data carrier technology
Electronic data capture technology, complementary to other automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies Radical, beneficially disruptive technology when effectively applied
Revolutionary in its relevance to sectors of industry, commerce and services – wide ranging applications
Significant standards development at international level
On-going developments – Internet of Things – the reality!
RFID is important for a number of reasons:
RFID Essential System Elements
Interrogator (Reader / Encoder)
Radio frequency carrier + coding for communication management purposes
Modulated radio frequency carrier - data carried on signal, in this case amplitude modulated
Communication Channel
RFID
MiddlewareTag
Host Information Management
System – Applications
software
Application Commands
Application Responses
Antennas
Tags representing two different categories of chip-based RFID
Wide range of products:TagsReader / interrogatorsSoftware and Services
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
Interrogator (Reader / Encoder)
RFID
Middleware
Host Information Management
System – Applications
software
Tag
Antennas
Effectively applying RFID is about better understanding what happens between these antennas and the nature of this depends upon many factors – frequency, power, modulation, encoding, materials and conditions between antennas – practicalities!
Tag
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
…air interface
Interrogator (Reader / Encoder)
RFID
Middleware
Host Information Management
System – Applications
software
Tag
Antennas
Establishing the best approach to source and channel encoding, and subsequent modulation, followed by appropriate decoding
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
..encoding/decoding
ISO/IEC 18000 Series Standards
Spectrum Frequency Standard
Low frequency < 135kHz 18000-2
High frequency 13.56MHz 18000-3
UHF 433MHz 18000-7
UHF 860-960MHz 18000-6
UHF (Microwave) 2.45GHz 18000-4
Part 1 – Reference architecture & definition of parameters All these have been publishedNational and international agencies specify and govern spectrum usage
… frequencies & Air Interface Standards ISO/IEC 18000
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
…RFID Spectrum usage
Dominated by EPC ISO 18000-6CGen 2 -based developments – products and infrastructure
Significantly influenced by NFC and communication -based developments – products and infrastructure
Significantly influenced by SS-based developments – products and infrastructure
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
ReaderCircuitry
Matching circuitry
Rectifier & Detector circuitry
Clock – Logic – Decode – Memory - I/O circuitry
Antenna Design
Attention that follows will be confined to antenna considerations
Tags require between 10-40 µW to read – receiving 100-120 µW
TagCircuitry
…Tag and System design
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
Increased complexity generally means:
• Greater circuit complexity
• Greater data transfer requirements
• Greater power requirements (active vs passive powering)
• Greater cost
Increased cost
Increased complexityModulation CircuitryRectifier /AC clamp
(Passive device)Clock GeneratorPower-On reset
Control logic(incl Anticollision)
Security logicMemory select/data
transfer controlInternal
logic/microprocessor
Memory
Elements within the chip
Energy harvesting associated with passive (battery-less) RFID devices generally insufficient to meet higher complexity needs
…developments in tag technology
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
Near Field Communication Phone acts as tag emulator Phone is also a tag reader Phone is also a tag writer
Re-writable paper and variants Physical (PR) and chemical (CR) rewrite mechanisms Integral RFID
RFID Sensors and wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) Machine-to-machine (M2M) capability
…systems development and and Integration:
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
DB ServerDB Server
Sensed data
Sensor networks
Sensor networks
Monitoring and management
Source: NIA, Korea, 2006.
…levels of Identification and data carrier requirements
Transportation
Large Containers
Unit Load “Pallet”
TransportUnit
Package
Item Item Item Item Item Item
Package
RFID having an increasingly
significant role to play
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
Standards, other than air interface
Enterprise System
Security
Internet of Things
Component ofInternet of ThingsInternet accessible dataand processes supportinglocal request & response modeswith subscriber authentication
Local DataRepository
Common Platform
Data EncodingData Decoding
SensorProcessing
DataManagement
Process
Data RepositoryCapture Interface
Internal OperationalDatabase
Data RepositoryQuery Interface
Data RepositoryAccess ProcessName Server
Local Cache
Name ServerRoot Resolver
Name ServerResolver
Name ServerResolver
Name ServerResolver
Recur
sive
Recursive
Recursive
Name ServerResolver Recursive
Rec
ursi
ve
Recursive
Name ServerInterface
ISORegistration
Authority
New FormatUIIs
Legacy
Unique ItemIdentifiers
DataDictionary
MessageStandards
RFID Format
Sensor Commands& Responses
Data Commands& Responses
Network ManagementFunctions
Health & Safety
Radio RegulationsConformancePerformance
Air Interface
Sensor
RFID Tag
RFID Interrogator Smart Card
Near Field Communication
Other mobile phone
Device Interface Device Management
Data ManagementInterface
GRIFS an EU funded project to identify RFID standards
First deliverable identified 125 standards
http://grifs-project.eu/db/
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
Process Focus
Process
Process supportPersonnel
Equipment / asset support
Utilities
Materials
Information / data
Information / data update
Knowledge and decision support
Focused Process Output
Knowledge and support
Exploiting identifiers in other processes for information gathering, statistics, management, control and decision support
IIDs
PaID
SSPIDs
ASIDs
UTIDs
MIDs
IIDs – Information identifiers, PeID – Process entity IDs, SSPIDs – Process Support Personnel IDs, ASIDs – Asset IDs, UTIDs – Utility IDs, MIDs – Materials IDs, LIDs – Location IDs, EIDs – Event IDs (time stamps)
LIDs
EIDs
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
…processes and RFID attributes that can enhance performance
Internet Connected
The Internet – Endpoint computers
Object-connected entities without embedded computers
CASAGRAS Inclusive Model – Internet connected
Application Layer :WebEmailsMessaging
Specific Domains for IoT?Specific application structure for the IoT?
Interrogator / Gate way
device
Interrogator / Gate way
device
Host Information
Management System
Host Information
Management System
Actuators
Actuators
Wider area communications and Networks
Physical interface zone
ID + Additional Item-attendant dataSensory data carriers
Networked data carriers
Interrogator / Gate way
device
Host Information
Management System
Actuators
Further layers of Data Capture Technology
Internet +
…how it relates to new concepts – such as…
Applying RFID Effectively requires understanding of…
…The Internet of Things
YES – and more!
Especially for: Systems Integrators Systems suppliers Advisors and Consultants Users who want to have full control over their projects
For those new to RFID an awareness briefing that explains in simple terms much of the technical underpinning can go a long way to approaching RFID effectively and asking appropriate questions of vendors, systems integrators
Is all this understanding really necessary to apply RFID effectively?
To apply RFID effectively requires awareness, education, training in
RFID practicalities and business assist for those that are new to
RFID
…RACE Network RFID can help
Thank you for your attention
Questions?
www.race-networkrfid.org