an introduction to rfid

An introduction to RFID

Miguel.Pardal@IST .utl.pt

June 7th 2010

Outline

• RFID Technology

• Business Applications

– Software and standards

• Challenges

• @IST

Outline

• RFID Technology

• Business Applications

– Software and standards

• Challenges

• @IST

RFID tags

RFID antennas and readers

Other RF technologies

How stuff works PWKits

RFID in action

[Roussos06]

Radio

• ISM radio bands

– Frequencies differ in world regions

• Europe, Americas, and Asia

• LF/HF RFID or UHF RFID?

– Operating principles are different

– Near-field far-field boundary

• Lambda / 2 PI

Near-field RFID

• LF (Low Frequency): [30 .. 300] kHz

• HF (High Frequency): [3 ..30] MHz

• Inductive coupling

• Load modulation

Shower Analogy

Far-field RFID

• UHF(Ultra-High Frequency): [300..3 000] MHz

• MW (Microwaves): [2,5 .. 5,8 GHz]

• Wave coupling

• Backscatter

Lighthouse Analogy

Range

Credits: C. Floerkemeier, MIT

Tag components

Credits: Rafsec OY, [Sarma01]

Manufacturing trade-off

• Cost

• Range

• Functionality

Pick 2

Tag categories

• Passive or battery-less – Use only power provided by the RFID reader’s signal – Smaller, more flexible – $ 0.20

• Semi-passive or battery-assisted

– Use a battery to boost response signal – $ 5

• Active or battery-powered

– Have additional processing capabilities and autonomy because they have more power e.g. sensors

– Longer range – $ 30

Outline

• RFID Technology

• Business Applications

– Software and standards

• Challenges

• @IST

Business applications

• Track & Trace – Monitor physical goods and keep history

• Industries:

– Warehousing – Maintenance – Pharmaceuticals – Medical Devices – Agriculture – Food – Retailing – Defense

Credits: Sybase.pt

Software Layers

Architecture Framework

RFID middleware is easy…

• All readers

• Read all tags

• At all times

Credits: Carlos Perdigão, IST

RFID middleware is easy…

• All readers

• Read all tags

• At all times

NOT

Credits: Carlos Perdigão, IST

cannot

Outline

• RFID Technology

• Business Applications

– Software and standards

• Challenges

• @IST

RFID middleware is easy…

• All readers

• Read all tags

• At all times

NOT

Credits: Carlos Perdigão, IST

cannot

Why

Credits: Christian Floerkemeier, MIT

Subscribe, Configure, Notify, Publish

[Floerkemeier07a]

Simulation

Credits: Carlos Perdigão, IST

Experimental setup

Credits: Nova Ahmed, Georgia Tech

Trials

Credits: Schuitema supermarkets, RFID Journal

RFID security is easy…

• All readers

• Read all tags

• At all times

NOT

Credits: Metro Group, RFID Journal

should not

Threats

[Garfinkel05]

Security

• Privacy – Misbehaving readers, well-behaving tags

• Authentication – Well-behaving readers, misbehaving tags

• Infrastructure security – Network

– Servers • ONS, EPCIS

Conclusions

• RFID is a set of technologies – No “one-size-fit-all” tag and reader

• All readers cannot and read all tags at all times – RFID middleware challenges

• All readers should not read all tags at all times – RFID security challenges

• RFID allows things and places in the physical world to

automatically generate data – An Internet of Things

Outline

• RFID Technology

• Business Applications

– Software and standards

• Challenges

• @IST

Internet of Things @ IST

Completed

• Nuno Rodrigues

– RFID Logistics integration with Navision ERP

• Guilherme Pereira

– Open-source RFID track and trace

Ongoing

• Ricardo Carapeto

– Segurança de bagagens inteligentes

• Pedro Ferreira

– Interface EPCIS para BizTalk

• Carlos Perdigão

– Rede federada de rastreio de bens

• Miguel Pardal

– Scalable and secure Discovery services

Ongoing

Proposals

• RFID Toys

– Sistema de controlo de armazém robótico

• RFID Virtual Lab

– Simulador RFID

Miguel.Pardal@IST .utl.pt