Wireless Communications

RFID
 What is RFID?

• A technology that employs a microchip with

an antenna that broadcasts its unique
identifier and location to receivers.
• Employs a microchip called a smart tag,
broadcasts unique 96-bit identifier to receiver.
• Receiver relays the data to a computer.
 RFID
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) part of the Automatic Identification and Data
Capture (AIDC) group, emerged in 1973 to replace the traditional use of bar codes.
• Today, it is widely accepted in the retail market, factory automation and supply
chains. RFID uniquely identifies and capture the status of tagged objects or people
at varying distances without requiring human intervention
• Due to its numerous unique properties and advantages there is a great interest in
employing RFID systems in a variety of fields including
• health care
• sports
• warehouse inventories
• and item tracking

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 RFID vs. Bar Codes

• Does not require human to manually pass

item over scanner.
• More accurate inventory count.
• Can be incorporated into product, person,
animal.
• Can track each individual item.
 RFID advantages over bar-codes

• No line of sight required for reading

• Multiple items can be read with a single scan

• Each tag can carry a lot of data (read/write)

• Individual items identified and not just the category

• Passive tags have a virtually unlimited lifetime

• Active tags can be read from great distances

• Can be combined with barcode technology

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 Types of RFIDS.
• Passive
– Have no internal power supply
– Electrical current inducted in antenna by the incoming signal
proves power for integrated circuit in tag to power up and
transmit response
– Very Small, Limited Range, Unlimited Life

• Semi Passive
– Similar to passive tags, with the addition of a small battery
– Battery powers the integrated circuit
– Bigger, Longer Range, Limited Life

• Active
– Have their own internal power source
– Many operate at fixed intervals
– Also called beacons (broadcast own signal)
– Large ( coin), Much larger memories, Longer range
 Types of Tags
• Read Only
– factory programmed
– usually chipless
• Read / Write
– on-board memory
– can save data
– can change ID
– higher cost
 RFID communications
Reader
Antenna
Power from RF field
Reader->Tag Commands
Reader
Tag->Reader Responses

Tags

RFID Communication
Channel

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 RFID System
• Objects equipped with RFID tag
– Tag contains transponder
with digital memory chip.
• Interrogator: an antenna
packaged with transceiver and
decoder.
– emits signal activating tag.
• Reader detects activation signal,
decodes the data on the tag’s
silicon chip.
• Data passed to host computer.
 RFID system
• An RFID network consists of
1. RFID tags,
2. readers,
3. air interface,
4. and backend servers.
• Reader sends out radio-frequency
signals that are detected by the
tags within its transmission range.
• A simple tag consists of a radio
frequency interface block, internal
memory, and a logic element.

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 RFID readers
• Reader functions:
– Remotely power tags
– Establish a bidirectional data link
– Inventory tags, filter results
– Communicate with networked server(s)
– Can read 100-300 tags per second
• Readers (interrogators) can be at a fixed point such as
– Entrance/exit
– Point of sale
• Readers can also be mobile/hand-held

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 Some RFID readers

RFID 2005 12
Source: www.buyrfid.org
 Passive RFID/SAW
• Passive tags work without any internal energy source, and they obtain
the required power from the electromagnetic field of the reader
• These tags are low in cost as compared to the active tags; however their
interrogation range is limited. The passive tag response is backscattered
radio waves

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 Interrogator to sensor collisions

• When multiple passive sensors are placed in the same field their
simultaneous reply signals may collide on their way back to the
interrogator. For multiple simultaneous interrogation device coding
schemes can be used
• time division multiple access (TDMA),
• code division multiple access (CDMA)
• orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM)
• pseudo-orthogonal frequency coding (POFC)

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 Passive RFID

• These tags are low in cost as compared to the

active tags;however their interrogation range
is limited. The passive tag response is
backscattered radio waves whichcontains the
data stored within its chip

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RFID systems: logical view
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Product
ONS Information
Internet
Server (PML Format)

Antenna
RF
Write data Items with Reader Read Transaction Application
to RF tags RF Tags Manager Data Store Systems
Antenna
Trading
Partner
EDI / Systems
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 XML

Tag/Item 10
Relationship
Database 9

Tag Interfaces RFID Middleware Other Systems

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 Tag block diagram

Antenna

Power Supply
Memory
Control Logic Cells
Tx Modulator (Finite State
machine)
Rx
Demodulator

Tag Integrated Circuit (IC)

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 RFID Frequencies

• Different countries impose different operational frequencies

regulations for RFID systems. The frequency bands are divided
as
• low frequencies (125 and 134 KHz);
• high frequency (13.56 MHz);
• ultra-high frequencies (between 866MHz and 868 MHz or 902
MHz and 928 MHz)
• microwave frequencies (2.45 GHz, 2.4-2.4835 GHz, or 5.725
GHz and 5.85 GHz). The most generally deployed RFID
systems work at UHF with passive RFID tags

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 Multiple Tags?

• What happens when multiple tags are in

range of the transceiver?
• All the tags will be excited at the same time.
• Makes it very difficult to distinguish between
the tags.
 Collisions in RFID

• In a dense environment, several readers are

collocated to inspect a common area for
desired coverage. The scenario often results in
many collisions affecting the throughput,
latency, reliability and efficiency of the system

1. Tag to Tag collision

2. Reader to Tag collision
3. Reader to Reader collision

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 Tag to Tag Collision

• Tag to Tag Collision (TTC) happens when more than one tag respond
simultaneously to an interrogating reader. These multiple respond
signals, hinder the reader to detect any tag at all. All tags present within
the interrogation zone of that reader get affected by this problem.

• For HF readers slotted termination adaptive collection (STAC) protocol is

mostly employed, which is fairly similar to the framed aloha protocol.

‫راه ﻣﯾں رﮐﺎوٹ‬

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Reader to tag collision
• Reader to Tag Collision (RTC) occurs when two or more
readers try to read the same RFID tag simultaneously
because of an overlap in their read ranges. Due to the
passive nature of tag, it is not able to select a particular
reader to transmit its data, even if both readers are operating
at different frequencies.

• frequency hopping or time division multiple access is

employed for mitigating the reader to tag collision problem

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Reader to tag collision
The readers and tags operate on different frequencies in order
to avoid interference of tag response with the reader signals. In
Figure, reader 1(R1) and reader 2 (R2) try to read tag 1(T1) at
the same time resulting in a reader to tag collision.

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 Reader to Reader collision
• Reader-to-Reader Collision (RRC) happens when the signal generated by
one reader interferes with the reception system of other readers. In this
situation, the tag is unable to respond to any reader at all
• This kind of collision is also known as frequency interference

In Figure, RRC occurs when R1

attempts to read data from T1and
R2 is trying to read data from T2
using the same channel. The
week response signal of Tag T1
will be degraded because of the
strong interference signal of R2.

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 Standards and Regulations for RFID
• Air Interface Communications protocol standards
Defines how the reader and the tag communicate with one another. It includes the
physical characteristics of the radio communication, structure of the commands
sent by reader and anti-collision algorithm for multiple tags response.
• Data content standards
Formatting and storage of information on RFID tag.
• Device communication standards
Data communication principles (e.g. from reader to server).
• Application Standards
Usage of product like the position of labels.
• Conformance standards
Device evaluation criteria to ensure it complies with a standard
The most popular standards for RFID system are EPCglobal Class-1 Gen-2 , and
ISO/IEC 18000

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 Security

• RFID used to grant entry to secure areas

• Tracks time and movement of people
• Dynamically change access codes
• Provide automated entry
RFID’s Disadvantages

• Lack of standards!
• Short range
• Cost
 Questions for you….

• Define RFID technology?

• When was RFID introduced?
• What are two main reasons RFID is controversial?
• Name the three types of RFID tags?
• Current applications of RFID tags?
• How is RFID Technology expected to effect
households?