DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF RFID MODULES IN MULTILAYER CONFIGURATIONS

A Thesis Presented to The Academic Faculty

by

Sabri Serkan Basat

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Georgia Institute of Technology December, 2006

DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF RFID MODULES IN MULTILAYER CONFIGURATIONS

Approved by: Dr. John Papapolymerou School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Manos M. Tentzeris, Advisor School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Joy Laskar School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology

Date Approved: November 20, 2006

To My parents Nurdan, H. Ihsan, and my sister Z.Destan Basat for their love, encouragement, and support

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank Prof. Manos M. Tentzeris for his guidance and encouragement and more importantly being a friend. The author owes great debt to the ATHENA research and especially to Dr. Symeon Nikolaou for his assistance in the preparation of this document, Amin Rida, Li Yang, and Toni Ferrer-Vidal of the PIREAS RFID team for providing assistance in the research activity. The author would also like to thank Dr. Massimiliano Pezzoli, Dr. Valerio Parisi, Dr. Melih Doksanbir, Dr. Alp Engin Can, Dr. Melissa Lee Casey, and Dr. Emre Kepenek for providing the inspiration and support in completion of this work. Most importantly the author is eternally grateful for the motivation to try for the best that was instilled into the authors mind by his family Nurdan Basat, H. Ihsan Basat, and Z. Destan Basat.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.iv LIST OF TABLES..viii LIST OF FIGURES..ix LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS...xii SUMMARY.xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1 1.1 RFID Basics...1 1.2 History of RFID.6 1.3 Background: How Does the RFID System Work?................................9 1.3.1 Reader...9 1.3.1.1 The HF Interface.11 1.3.1.2 The Control Group......11 1.3.2 Tag..14 1.3.2.1 Antenna..14 1.3.2.2 Integrated Circuit (IC)22 1.3.3 Coupling Mechanisms24 1.3.3.1 Inductive Coupling.26 1.3.3.2 Modulated Backscatter..27 1.3.3.3 Beacon (Transmitter) Type....28 1.3.3.4 Transponder Type..29 1.4 Summary..30

CHAPTER 2: CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS IN RFID TAG DESIGN AND RESEARCH MOTIVATION..31 2.1 The Cost of RFID Tag32 2.2 Size Limitations and Optimization.........32 2.3 Tag Performance Issues..33 2.3.1 Tag Characteristics33 2.3.2 Propagation Environment Limitations...34 CHAPTER 3: 13.56 MHz HF SINGLE/DOUBLE LAYER INDUCTOR COIL RFID TAG DESIGN . 36 3.1 Rectangular Planar Spiral Coil Antenna Design and Modeling.37 3.1.1 Tag Antenna Geometry.... 37 3.1.2 RLC Calculation...41 3.1.3 RLC Circuit Modeling..46 3.1.4 Experimental Results and Discussion.. 49 3.2 Summary53 CHAPTER 4: 915 MHz UHF RFID TAG DESIGN FOR AUTOMOTIVE TIRE APPLICATION. 54 4.1 Design Approach....... 56 4.2 Antenna Design.... 57 4.3 Embedding Process...................................................................... 59 4.4 Antenna Results and Discussion.....60 4.5 Summary.....66 CHAPTER 5: HIGH-EFFICIENCY 915 MHz UHF RFID TAG ON LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMER (LCP) SUBSTRATE WITH HIGH READ-RANGE CAPABILITY... 67 5.1 Antenna Structure and Design Approach... 68 5.2 Experimental Results and Discussion......70

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5.3 Bandwidth Optimization......74 5.4 Summary......79 CHAPTER 6: PORT OF SAVANNAH ACTIVE 915 MHz UHF RFID TAGREADER SYSTEM FOR CONTAINER TRACKING FIELD STUDY ...... 80 6.1 Introduction. 81 6.2 Brief Summary of Conducted Tests............ 84 6.2.1 Tag-Reader Response Test on F1&F2....85 6.2.1.1 F1 & F2 Test......85 6.2.1.2 Canyon (Waveguide) Effect Test..88 6.3 Summary......90 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS.....92 APPENDIX A: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.94 APPENDIX B: PORT OF SAVANNAH FIELD TEST SET-UP AND TABULATED DATA .......... 95 REFERENCES...115

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LIST OF TABLES
Page Table 1: Single and Double-layer lumped component model R, L, C values 49 Table 2: Simulated antenna parameters and measured read range.. 64 Table 3: S-shape RFID antenna performance parameters and measured read range . 71 Table 4: Lumped element model values for the s-shape and the bandwidth optimized s-shape designs77 Table 5: Active UHF RFID test set-up for container tracking and tag positions . 96 Table 6: Active UHF RFID Conducted field test with the times..98 Table 7: Overall active UHF RFID tags by location on the containers in the stack... 114

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LIST OF FIGURES
Page Figure 1: Basic RFID components. 1 Figure 2: RFID Technology examples in industry (Courtesy of Phillips). 2 Figure 3: Active vs. Passive Tag....3 Figure 4: Effect of Environmental conditions and RFID system performance at different RFID frequency bands (courtesy of Phillips).... 5 Figure 5: The milestones in RFID technology [1].7 Figure 6: General RFID reader diagram ..10 Figure 7: Sub-block RFID reader diagram . 10 Figure 8: Geometrical representation of the sinusoidal current filament source 15 Figure 9: Field regions of an antenna...16 Figure 10: Elevation plane amplitude patterns for a thin dipole with sinusoidal current distribution ( l = /4, /2, 3 /4, ) [8]. . 18 Figure 11: Three and Two-dimensional amplitude patterns for a thin dipole of and l = 1.25 sinusoidal current distribution [8].... 19 Figure 12: Current distributions along the length of a linear wire antenna[8].20 Figure 13: Basic RFID IC Block Diagram [5]. 23 Figure 14: Near-field (LF and HF) and far-field (UHF) coupling mechanisms.. 25 Figure 15: Calculation of magnetic field B at location P due to current I on the loop.38 Figure 16: Single-layer 13.56 MHz HF antenna structure dimensions... 39 Figure 17: Double-layer 13.56 MHz HF antenna structure dimensions.. 40 Figure 18: Single-layer (Left) and double-layer (Right) 13.56 MHz HF RFID tags... 41 Figure 19: Rectangular thin film inductor ...43 Figure 20: Two conductor segments for mutual inductance calculation..44 Figure 21: The simple series resonance circuit model..46 ix

Figure 22: Lumped element model for single-layer and double-layer 13.56 MHz HF RFID tags....48 Figure 23: The single-layer and double-layer input impedance (50 Ohm normalization) and return loss (28 kOhm normalization) results for 13.56 MHz HF RFID tag52 Figure 24: Current flow in UHF RFID Tag antenna ....57 Figure 25: The three different RFID antenna designs for tire application ...58 Figure 26: Cross-sectional view of RFID Tag placement in tire material ...59 Figure 27: E-phi=0 (x-z) and E-phi=90 (y-z) planes radiation patterns (Directivity vs. elevation angle theta) for the three 915 MHz UHF antenna designs in tire material. Antennas are located in the horizontal plane...62 Figure 28: S11 input load impedance Smith chart (50-Ohm reference) plots for the three 915 MHz UHF antenna designs in tire material (range of frequency= 5001500 MHz). 64 Figure 29: 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna structure and double inductive stub matching network....68 Figure 30: Fabricated 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna and antenna direction of current flow ..70 Figure 31: Input impedance of the simulated 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna..72 Figure 32: Three- and two-dimensional far-field radiation plots for 915 MHz UHF sshape antenna...73 Figure 33: Simulated input impedance of the 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna.74 Figure 34: 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna structure with optimized bandwidth showing the matching stubs....75 Figure 35: Measured and simulated data of return loss for the 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna.76 Figure 36: Equivalent circuit for 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna structure shown in Figure 28.77 Figure 37: The Port of Savannah..81 Figure 38: Graphical view of tag placement on containers, container placement in stack, and reader position (Courtesy of CarrierWeb).....82

Figure 39: Containers in the stack positioned during the day of the measurement for the active 915 MHz UHF RFID field test .... 100 Figure 40: Canyon effect (Waveguiding) case active 915 MHz UHF RFID test set-up for container tracking.... 102 Figure 41: The Canyon effect for detection of active 915 MHz UHF RFID tags in the middle container stack.85 Figure 42: Radiation patterns in x-z planes with (RIGHT) and without (LEFT) metal surface.86 Figure 43: Tag/Reader orientation sensitivity (polarization)... 87 Figure 44: Top view of the reader and reflector position for active 915 MHz UHF RFID system...90

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LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

RFID IC VLF LF HF UHF ISM GPS IFF EAS EAN RF EPC ISO ROM EEPROM CRC CW AC DC RTLS PET LCP Radio Frequency Identification Integrated Circuit Very Low Frequency Low Frequency High Frequency Ultra High Frequency Industrial-Scientific-Medical Global Positioning System Identify Friend or Foe Electronic Article Surveillance European Article Number Radio Frequency Electronic Product Code International Standards Organization Read Only Memory Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory Cyclic Redundancy Code Continuous Wave Alternating Current Direct Current Real-time Locating Systems Poly Ethylene Terephthalate Liquid Crystal Polymer

xii

CMOS MoM Q BW GPA

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Method of Moments Quality Bandwidth Georgia Port Authority

xiii

SUMMARY

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) Tags have become quite widespread in many services in the industry such as access control, parcel and document tracking, distribution logistics, automotive systems, and livestock or pet tracking. In these applications, a wireless communication link is provided between a remote transponder (antenna and integrated circuit (IC)) and an interrogator or reader. A suitable antenna for these tags must have low cost, low profile and especially small size whereas the bandwidth requirement (few kilohertz to megahertz) is less critical. RFID tags operate in several frequency bands. The exact frequency is controlled by the Radio Regulatory body in each country. The generic frequencies for RFID are 125-134 kHz LF, 13.56 MHz HF, UHF (400-930 MHz), and 2.45 GHz. Although there are other frequencies used, these are the main ones. In the UHF band, there are two areas of interest, one around 400 MHz (e.g.433 MHz) and another around 860 930 MHz. Each of the frequency bands has advantages and disadvantages for operation. There exists no single frequency for every application. The lower frequencies 125-134 kHz and 13.56 MHz work much better near water or humans than do the higher frequency tags. Worldwide availability of the 13.56 MHz tags as an Intermediate unlicensed industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency and higher data transfer rate compared to 125-134 kHz tags maintain the popularity of 13.56 MHz as a preferred design solution in harsh environments. Another reason 13.56 MHz is a popular frequency is that the antennas can be smaller, and in some cases printed as paths onto substrate (i.e. inductor coil tags), rather than using thick copper wire which 125-134 kHz frequency requires. On the other hand, for passive tags, the lower frequencies usually have less range, and they have a slower data transfer rate. Higher frequencies are used when more information needs to be transferred for longer distances. xiv

The higher frequency ranges (i.e. 915 MHz) have more regulatory controls and differences from country to country. 860-930 MHz RFID frequency range has also become increasingly popular in the last years because the distortion of the propagating electromagnetic waves due to reflection (bouncing of waves off conductive reflective surfaces), refraction (waves passing through dissimilar dielectric media), diffraction (a sharp edge slowing a portion of the wave front allowing some of the energy to appear behind an otherwise solid object), and power absorption by nearby objects and materials is worse at frequencies higher than UHF. (i.e. 2.45 GHz) Environmental conditions that are detrimental in the overall performance of the RFID tags are less for the UHF (i.e 915 MHz) than they are for even higher frequencies.(i.e. 2.45 GHz) This is the main reason UHF tags are very popular for higher frequency applications. In this document, methods to reduce tag size, the performance optimization of the tag by using novel antenna matching techniques for increased operational bandwidth and gain/radiation pattern/radiation efficiency improvement are introduced for HF and UHF RFID tags. Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction to understand the basic principles behind the passive RFID technology for both the lower 13.56 MHz HF and higher 915 MHz UHF and active RFID technology for 915 MHz UHF. This chapter also discusses the reader-tag relationship from a system point of view. The challenges in RFID tag design and the research motivation is presented in chapter 2. In chapters 3 and 4 practical passive RFID tag designs are discussed in detail in terms of RF design for the 13.56 MHz and 915 MHz frequencies because of this increased interest in the industry. The 13.56 MHZ is an inductor coil type RFID tag, which utilizes the near-field radiation. For this application, the single and miniaturized double-layer designs are presented. In chapter 4, the 915 MHz RFID tag design is discussed. The 915 MHz application is an embedded RFID tag in an automotive tire, which utilizes the far-field radiation. Chapter 5 focuses on passive UHF optimized radiation efficient 915 MHz tag design for increased read range. This chapter also explains the antenna matching techniques to increase bandwidth xv

to cover the upper UHF (860-930 MHz) band. Finally, an evaluation of an active 915 MHz UHF RFID field study for container tracking at the port of Savannah, GA is presented in chapter 6 followed by the conclusions in chapter 7. This field studys objective is to provide solutions to the challenges in container tracking.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 RFID Basics

RFID systems utilize the concept of electromagnetic radiation to detect tagged objects from a remote transponder (tag) including an antenna and a microchip transceiver (Integrated Circuit) using a local querying system (reader or interrogator) as shown in Figure 1.

IC

Antenna

Figure 1. Basic RFID components.

The simplest RFID tags as shown in Figure 1 are passive meaning the power supply to the IC is delivered by an external source such as the reader. If the tags use an internal power source such as a battery, then the tag is active. Since RFID tags dont need

Figure 2. RFID Technology examples in industry (Courtesy of Phillips)

to be line-of-sight like optical barcode technology, its popularity and demand has increased. There exists widespread usage of this technology in access control, sensors and metering applications, payment systems, communication and transportation, parcel and document tracking, distribution logistics, automotive systems, livestock/pet tracking, and hospitals/pharmaceutical applications. [6,25]

RFID technology has brought many advantages over the existing barcode technology. First of all, RFID tags can be embedded in an item rather than the physical exposure requirement of barcodes and can be detected using RF signal. RF signal generation also enhances the read range for RFID tags. Barcodes only contain information about the manufacturer or originator of an item and basic information about the object itself; however, RFID is particularly useful for applications in which the item must be identified uniquely. RFIDs also can hold additional functionality which means more bits of information. As mentioned earlier RFID transponders are categorized into two namely passive and active tags. For the passive the tag contains an antenna and an IC that stores data. It is powered by the electromagnetic field generated by the antenna. The response electromagnetic field allows the RFID tag to reflect back extremely weak signal containing data up to 3-5 meters. These tags, if manufactured in billions will come down in price from $0.30 to $0.05 in the next 2 years. [5,12] Active tags operate very mush like the passive ones with added functionality. They are battery powered. Because of this, much greater range (~100 m) can be achieved. Compared to passive tags, active tags can hold much more information (Kbytes). In addition, the existing battery allows integration with sensors such as temperature, pressure, biological, and Global Positioning System (GPS). The response signal of tags can be controlled at defined times and multiple tags can be recorded at once. Depending on the complexity of the tag module, active tags cost between $20 to $40 per item. Battery lifetime ranges between 2-4 years. Figure 3 summarizes the operational differences of the two types of tags.

Figure 3. Active vs. Passive Tag.

RFID tags use various frequency bands to communicate with the interrogator. Figure 4 shows the most commonly used bands. The main frequencies are 125 kHz LF, 13.56 MHz HF, UHF (860-930MHz), and 2.45 GHz. All these frequencies including

Figure 4. Effect of Environmental conditions and RFID system performance at different RFID frequency bands (courtesy of Phillips). UHF 915 MHz are ISM frequency bands which led to the widespread usage in the world as of now. Different frequency bands are needed for various applications in rugged environments. For instance, metal and lossy material effects as well as water and human body absorption are more detrimental to RFID performance at UHF and higher frequencies than the lower frequencies. Higher data rate is also achieved with higher frequencies and anti-collision speed is limited at lower frequencies as well. Read range is also higher at higher frequencies (~3-5 m in free space) than at the lower frequencies (~30 cm) Thats why there is a trade-off between higher data rate, higher anti-collision speed, and higher read range at UHF and 2.45 GHz compared to the better performance in rugged environments in the presence of metals, lossy materials, and humans at the lower 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz bands.

1.2 History of RFID

The roots of RFID technology can be traced back to World War II. The Germans, Japanese, Americans and British were all using radar- which had been discovered by Scottish physicist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt- to warn of approaching planes while they were still miles away; however, it was impossible to distinguish enemy planes from allied ones. The Germans discovered that by just rolling planes when returning to base changes the radio signal reflected back which would alert the radar crew on the ground. This crude method made it possible for the Germans to identify their planes. The British developed the first active identify friend or foe (IFF) system. By just putting a transmitter on each British plane, it received signals from the aircrafts. This identified the planes as friendly [1]. An early exploration of the RFID technology came in October 1948 by Harry Stockman. [2] He stated back then that considerable research and development work has to be done before the remaining basic problems in reflected-power communication are solved, and before the field of useful applications is explored. His vision flourished until other developments in the transistor, the integrated circuit, the microprocessor, and the communication networks took place. RFID had to wait for a while to be realized [3]. The advances in radar and RF communications systems continued after WW II through the 1950s and 1960s (Figure 5). In 1960s application field trials initiated. The first commercial product came. Companies were investigating solutions for anti-theft and this revolutionized the whole RFID industry. They investigated the anti-theft systems that utilized RF waves to monitor if an item is paid or not. This was the start of the 1-bit

Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) tags by Sensormatic, Checkpoint, and Knogo. This is by far the most commonly used RFID application.

Figure 5. The milestones in RFID technology [1].

The electronic identification of items caught the interest of large companies as well. In 1970s large corporations like Raytheon (RayTag 1973), RCA, and Fairchild (Electronic Identification system 1975, electronic license plate for motor vehicles 1977) built their own RFID modules. Thomas Meyers and Ashley Leigh of Fairchild also developed a passive encoding microwave transponder in 1978 [3]. By 1980s there were mainstream applications all around the world. The RFID was like a wildfire spreading without any boundaries. In the United States, RFID technology found its place in transportation (highway tolls) and personnel access (smart ID cards). In Europe, short-range animal tracking, industrial and business systems RFID applications

attracted the industry. Using RFID technology, worlds first commercial application for collecting tolls in Norway (1987) and after in the United States by the Dallas North Turnpike (1989) were established. In 1990s, IBM engineers developed and patented a UHF RFID system. IBM conducted early research with Wal-Mart, but this technology was never commercialized. UHF offered longer read range and faster data transfer compared to the 125 kHz and 13.56 MHz applications. With these accomplishments, it led the way to the worlds first open highway electronic tolling system in Oklahoma in 1991. This was followed by the worlds first combined toll collection and traffic management system in Houston by the Harris County Toll Road Authority (1992). In addition to this, GA 400 and Kansas Turnpike Highways were the first to implement multi-protocol tags which allowed two different standards to be read [1,3]. After IBMs early pilot studies in 1990s with Wal-Mart, UHF RFID got a boost in 1999, when the Uniform Code Council, European Article Number (EAN) International, Procter & Gamble and Gillette teamed up to establish the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This research focused on putting a serial number on the tag to keep the price down using a microchip and an antenna. By storing this information in a database, tag tracking was finally realized in this grand networking technology. This was a crucial point in terms of business because now a stronger communication link between the manufacturers and the business partners was established. A business partner would now know when a shipment was leaving the dock at a manufacturing facility or warehouse, and a retailer could automatically let the manufacturer know when the goods arrived [1].

The Auto-ID Center also initiated the two air interface protocols (Class 1 and Class 0), the Electronic Product Code (EPC) numbering scheme, and the network architecture used to seek for the RFID tag data between 1999 and 2003. The Uniform Code Council licensed this technology in 2003 and EPCGlobal was born as a joint venture with EAN International, to commercialize EPC technology. Today some of the biggest retailers in the world such as Albertsons, Metro, Target, Tesco, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Department of Defense stated that they plan to use EPC technology to track their goods. The pharmaceutical (healthcare), tire (automotive), defense and other industries are also pushing towards adaptation of this new technology. EPCGlobal adopted a second generation (Gen-2 ISO 18000-6-C) standard in December 2004. This standard is widely used in the RFID world today [1,4].

1.3 Background: How Does the RFID System Work?

The basic components of an RFID system were presented in Figure 1. These are mainly an interrogator (reader), a transponder (tag), and a coupling mechanism that defines the kind of communication link between the tag and the reader. In this section, these sub-parts of the higher level system will be explained in detail.

1.3.1 Reader
Another important part in a RFID system is the reader sub-system. It is possible to divide an RFID reader system into two differentiated groups, namely the high frequency interface and the control system. These groups interact among each other and with an external host system as can be seen in Figure 6.

Figure 6. General RFID reader diagram. The main functions performed by a reader are demodulating the data retrieved from the tag, decoding the received data, and energizing in the case of passive and semipassive tags. A more detailed diagram of the reader can be found in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Sub-block RFID reader diagram.

10

1.3.1.1 The HF Interface The HF interface performs the following basic functions: Demodulating and decoding the date retrieved from the tag. Energizing, in the case of passive and semi-passive tags.

Elements: Transmitter: The main task of this element is to transmit power and the clock cycle to the tags. It is part of the transceiver module. Receiver: This component is responsible for receiving signals from the tag via the antenna. Afterwards, it sends these signals to a microprocessor where the digital information is extracted Power: This module supplies the adequate power levels to all components in the reader.

1.3.1.2 The Control Group To allow the functions of decoding, error checking and communication with an external system the control unit makes use of a microprocessor, a controller, a communication interface, memory and input/output channels.

Microprocessor: In the microprocessor the reader protocol is implemented. The microprocessor 11

will interpret the received commands, and depending on the protocol required by the specific standard (i.e., ALOHA for HF frequencies [6], tree walking for UHF frequencies [6]), the microprocessor will search the memory for the corresponding program code and will execute it. It is here where error checking is performed. Controller: In order to allow joint operation with an external system, a system called the controller, responsible for converting external orders to understandable microprocessor binary code, is needed to enable communication. It is possible to have a controller in either a software or hardware form. Communication Interface: By using the controller, the communication interface is able to interact with an external host system by transferring data, passing or responding to instructions. The communication interface can be a part of the controller or an independent entity depending on the integration level and speed requirements. Memory: The memory is responsible for storing the data retrieved from the tags. The data will be transmitted to the host system when demanded. Input/Output Channels for External Sensors: When operating a reader it might happen that the tags are not in its read range, making continuous operation a waste of energy. By using external sensors able to detect the presence of an item nearby, for instance in a conveyor belt crossing in

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front of the reader, it is possible to efficiently operate the reader by activating it at the required times.

Additionally it is possible to classify the readers by the communication interface in use or by its mobility. A brief description of each category is as follows:

Communication Interface: Serial Reader: This reader uses a RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232) serial port to communicate with the host system and transfer data or commands executed by the user or application. These readers have a lower data transfer rate compared with others such as a wired network reader and have a cable length limitation. On the other hand, serial port connections are more reliable Network Reader: This reader can be connected wired or wirelessly to a computer, therefore it appears as a network device. In this case, the cable length is not a limitation, but the connection is not as reliable as in serial readers.

Mobility of Readers: Stationary Reader: These readers are mounted on a wall, portal or suitable structure in the read zone. They can be mounted on moving objects such as trucks. These readers usually are connected to external antennas. Agile readers are able to operate in different

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frequencies and use different communications protocols. An RFID printer is a type of stationary reader able to print a bar code and write on its RFID tag

Handheld Reader: This type of reader has an integrated antenna on it and can operate as a handheld unit.

1.3.2 Tag
The RFID tag is the transponder unit that communicates with the reader as mentioned earlier. It is comprised of an antenna and an IC module for passive and semipassive tags.

1.3.2.1 Antenna The antenna of the tag is the main radiating element that provides the wireless communication link between the tag and the reader. The general expression for fields from a radiating sinusoidal current filament source is given as [7]:

E =

I o dz j + 4 r

1 1 jkr sin( ) + e 2 r j r 3

(1)

Er =

I o dz 1 1 jkr + cos( ) e 2 2 r j r 3
I o dz jk 1 r + r2 4 jkr sin( ) e

(2)

H =

(3)

where

14

I o = the amplitude of the sinusoidal current filament source dz = the sinusoidal current filament source length k=

, is the wavelength

r = radial distance from the sinusoidal current filament source

= 2 f , f is the frequency

= permeability of the medium

= permittivity of the medium

Figure 8. Geometrical representation of the sinusoidal current filament source.

In Figure 8, the geometry of the sinusoidal current filament source is displayed. Using the equations in (1,2,3), the 3 regions surrounding the radiating element can be identified. These regions are namely (a) reactive near-field, (b) radiating near-field (Fresnel) and (c) far-field (Fraunhofer) regions as shown in Figure 9 [8].

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Figure 9. Field regions of an antenna.

Regions: Reactive Near-field Region: It is the part of the field in the vicinity of the antenna (distance R <0.62
D3 / )

is predominantly reactive and 1/r3 terms in (1,2) define this field. This field does not radiate, but it stores energy in the form of standing waves. D is the largest dimension of the antenna and D >> [7]. For a very short dipole, or equivalent

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radiator, the outer boundary of this region is commonly taken to exist at a distance

/2 from the antenna surface [8].

Radiating Near-field (Fresnel) Region:
The Fresnel region contains the standing waves and traveling waves from both near-field and far-field regions. It exists just outside the boundary of reactive near-field region to the far-field region boundary. These fields are dominated by the 1/r2 term (1,2,3) and reach to 2 D 2 / [7]. If the antenna has a maximum dimension that is not large compared to the wavelength, this region may not exist [8].

Far-field (Fraunhofer) Region:

It is defined as the field region of an antenna where the angular field distribution is essentially independent of the distance from the antenna. This is the region beyond the radiating near-field boundary. The traveling waves dominate in this region where they decay with a rate of 1/r. These traveling waves carry the electromagnetic power.

In the far-field (Fraunhofer) region for a dipole antenna as shown in Figure 9 E and H take the form of

kl kl cos( cos( )) cos( ) I 2 2 e jkr E = j o sin( ) 2 r kl kl cos( 2 cos( )) cos( 2 ) jkr E I = = j o e sin( ) 2 r

(4)

(5)

17

where is the intrinsic impedance (

=377 = 120 ohms for free space) and l is the

length of the dipole antenna. Figure 10 shows the normalized E radiation for different

Figure 10. Elevation plane amplitude patterns for a thin dipole with sinusoidal current distribution ( l = /4, /2, 3 /4, ) [8].

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Figure 11. Three and Two-dimensional amplitude patterns for a thin dipole of l = 1.25 and sinusoidal current distribution [8].

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lengths. As it can be seen from the plot, the beam becomes narrower when the length of the antenna increases. This means that the antenna becomes more directional. For some applications in RFID such as tags on boxes in storage areas where omni-directionality is needed the increase in directivity might be a problem. When the length is increased to l > , another major problem occurs. The side lobes begin to increase as shown in Figure 11. These side lobes cause nulls which mean no electric field radiation. For instance, the plotted pattern in Figure 11 has 6 nulls compared to only two in Figure 10. Current distribution plays a major role in the characterization of the previously

Figure 12. Current distributions along the length of a linear wire antenna [8]. 20

shown radiation patterns. The current distributions along the length of a straight wire antenna are shown in Figure 12. It can be clearly seen from this plot that at l = /2 maximum current level with minimum distortion can be achieved. Because of the almost omni-directional pattern with maximum current level and minimum amount of side lobes, l = /2 is usually chosen when designing dipole antennas. The tags that operate in the near-field region at LF and HF frequencies are mainly loop or inductive coil antennas as discussed in detail in chapter 3. The most common antenna for UHF far-field is printed dipole but others exist such as printed folded dipole, printed inverted F (PIFA), meander line, slot, and patch antenna [9]. When determining the read range of a UHF RFID tag, both the distance at which the reader will be able to detect the scattered signal and the distance at which the tag receives enough power to operate have to be considered. Usually, the high sensitivity of the tag limits the operating range. Using the Friis free space formula it is possible to derive the following maximum range:

rmax =

Pt Gt Gr Pth

(6)

Or received power in decibel form

Pr = Pt Lsys + Gt + Gr + 20 log10 (

) 20 log10 (rmax )

(7)

21

where is the wavelength, Pt is the transmitted power from the reader, Gt is the gain of the transmitter antenna, Gr is the gain of the receiver tag antenna, Pth is the minimum threshold power at the reader and is the power transmission coefficient (a design factor which takes into account the amount of energy transferred from the antenna to the reader chip). Lsys is the system losses that need to be taken into account during the measurement. This includes the cable and connector losses, temperature differences that cause internal losses in the instruments (i.e. antenna + transceiver of reader and tag).

1.3.2.2 Integrated Circuit (IC)

The RFID IC circuitry is basically comprised of RF front-end, some basic signal processing blocks, logic circuitry (algorithm implementation), EEPROM for storage (Figure 13).These components are crucial for the operational functionality of the tags [5].

Elements:

RF Front-end:

The RF front-end typically consists of a simple circuit like resistor-inductor circuit. The RF front-end is the main interface between the antenna and signal processing unit. It is in charge of implementing modulators, voltage regulators, resets and connections to the external antenna
Signal Processing:

Signal processing handles the basic data acquisition from RF front-end.

Control Logic:

Control logic manages functions that include the error and parity/CRC checkers,

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Figure 13. Basic RFID IC Block Diagram [5].

data encoders, anti-collision algorithms, controllers, command decoders. Security primitives and even tamper-proofing hardware can be included in more complex RFID ICs.
EEPROM Storage Memory:

Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-only Memory (EEPROM) gives the functionality of tags to be read/write; however, tags that cannot be programmed use state machines or read-only memories (ROM) to store or generate the information [6]. Because of the added programmable feature of EEPROM, it is the memory storage unit in the new Gen 2 RFID standard.

23

1.3.3 Coupling Mechanisms

In order to understand each coupling mechanism, the differences in operation between passive/semi-active and active tags, are introduced in this section. Passive tags obtain power from an interrogation pulse from the reader. They use this power to send an information message, a reply. Since the tags have no battery they essentially last forever, and they do not wear out. A passive RFID tag is little more than a loop of antenna with some basic circuitry. It has a read range up to about 10 meters. Active tags have an onboard battery; hence they are able to respond with a signal that can travel perhaps as much as 150 meters or more to a remote reader. Semi-active tags contain batteries, but this internal power source is not used to power up the Integrated Circuit (IC). The microchip still obtains the power from the transmitter reader signal like the passive tags. The battery is only used to provide power for on-board electronics to perform specialized tasks (i.e., powering a sensor module). The reading distance of a semi-active tag can be up to 30 meters. Depending on the tag type (passive/active/semi-active), there are four types of coupling mechanisms between the tag (transponder) and the reader:
Inductive Coupling Modulated Backscatter Coupling Transmitter (beacon) Type Transponder Type

For passive and semi-active tags, the transfer of data is achieved using inductive or modulated backscatter coupling. Inductively coupled tags are almost always operated

24

passively. This means that the reader provides all the energy needed for the operation of the microchip. The generation of the electromagnetic field from the reader's antenna coil penetrates the cross-section of the coil area and the area around the coil. Since the signals wavelength is several times greater than the distance between the reader's antenna and the transponder (for example, a signal of 135 KHz in the Low Frequency band (LF) has a wavelength of 2222 meters, and a signal of 13.56 MHz in the High Frequency band (HF) has a wavelength of 22.1 meters), the electromagnetic field behaves like a simple alternating magnetic field with regard to the distance between the transponder and the antenna. This is called "near-field coupling" as discussed mathematically earlier and shown in Figure 8. In the near-field, the electromagnetic energy lines are formed moving outwards from the radiating element and then back into the radiating element as shown in Figure 14. Near-field coupling occurs within roughly

Figure 14. Near-field (LF and HF) and far-field (UHF) coupling mechanisms.

25

one wavelength of a radiating element. Near-field coupling occurs for RFID applications operating in the LF and HF bands with relatively short reading distances well within the radian sphere, R, defined by /2 (= wavelength in free space), because of the relationship = 2R . The occurrence of modulated backscatter coupling takes place in the far-field coupling region as previously shown mathematically and displayed in Figure 14. Beyond the near-field region, where the far-field starts, the electromagnetic energy simply propagates outwards and the power drops off based on the inverse-square law. The power decreases by as the distance doubles. microwave RFID systems utilize far-field coupling. Longer read range UHF and

1.3.3.1 Inductive Coupling

The partial penetration of the emitted field from the antenna coil of the transponder creates current on the coil of the reader. To fully explain this, it is necessary to define the term electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic induction is a phenomenon through which a change in the magnetic field of a source such as a transmitter creates a voltage level in a remote circuit such as a tag. A parallel circuit used to tune the tags operating frequency to that of the reader is formed by a capacitor in parallel to the tags antenna coil which behaves as an inductor. At a certain frequency, the receivers antenna interchanges energy at a particular rate, called resonant frequency, which depends on several design parameters such as size of the coil, number of turns or distance between

26

the capacitance plates, among others. At this time high currents are generated in the readers antenna coil by the method known as resonance step-up. Resonance step-up occurs when the frequency of the transmitted signal becomes similar to the designed resonant frequency of the circuit. At this point a portion of the energy stored as magnetic form in the inductor is transferred into electrical form in the capacitor. Before achieving a stable state, a temporary adjustment in the energy levels at the tags inductor and capacitor occurs; this whole process explains the before mentioned resonance step-up effect. After reaching the stable state at resonant frequency, the received energy is stored in the tag by transfer back and forth from the capacitance to the inductance, in accordance with the required field strengths for the operation of the remote transponder. A constant current is required for ICs operations; this can be achieved by using a rectifier, a built-in component which transforms the alternating energy arriving at the tag into a constant current. As a general principle it is possible to say that inductively-coupled systems are based upon a transformer-type coupling between the primary coil in the reader and the secondary coil in the transponder. This is true when the distance between the coils does not exceed /(2) (~16% of the wavelength ), which defines the near-field of the transmitter antenna.

1.3.3.2 Modulated Backscatter Coupling

The interrogation pulse generated from the reader propagates outside the nearfield of the reader antenna. As this RF signal travels outwards, it may encounter the antenna element in the tag. According to radar technology, an electromagnetic wave bounces off an object with dimension greater than half the wavelength of the

27

electromagnetic wave.

The reflection cross-section can then be defined as the

parameter that determines the strength of the returned signal. An electromagnetic field propagates outwards from the reader's antenna and a small proportion of that field (reduced by free space attenuation) reaches the transponder's antenna. Since the

incoming signal is a sinusoidal continuous wave (CW), it needs to be converted from AC power to DC power by using a rectifier circuit with diodes. This power is then supplied to deactivate or activate the power saving "power-down" mode. The antenna of the transponder captures a portion of the incoming RF energy and this energy is then reflected by the antenna of the tag and reradiated outwards. By changing the load connected to the antenna the reflection characteristics (i.e., reflection cross-section) of the antenna can be manipulated. A load resistor (or capacitor) connected in parallel with the antenna is turned on and off synchronously with the data stream to be transmitted. This generates the transmission of data from the transponder to the reader. By varying the load of the transponder antenna, the strength of the signal reflected and reradiated from the transponder to the reader can be modulated. In electromagnetic terms, this is referred to as modulated backscatter. Once the modulated and encoded data stream in the IC reaches the reader, it is then decoded and subsequently demodulated allowing the user to retrieve the required information.

1.3.3.3 Beacon (Transmitter) Type

When the precise location of an asset needs to be tracked, beacons are used in most real-time locating systems (RTLS). Active tags are used in this type of

communication. In an RTLS, a beacon transmits a signal with its unique identification

28

number at pre-defined intervals. The query time could be done at many different times; could so frequent as every five seconds or once a day, depending on how often it is to needed to know the location of an asset. At least three reader antennas positioned around the perimeter of the area where assets are being tracked detect the beacon's signal. In this way, the exact location of the asset can be found. RTLS are usually used in a large open area; however, automakers use the systems in large manufacturing facilities to track parts bins.

1.3.3.4 Transponder Type

Upon receiving a signal from a reader active transponders are awakened. Transponder type active transponders are used for instance in toll payment collection, checkpoint control and port security systems. In toll payment collection, a reader at the booth transmits a signal that activates the transponder mounted on the cars windshield. When a car with an active transponder comes in close proximity of the tollbooth, the transponder then sends out its unique ID to the reader. Battery life conservation can be achieved by having the tag communicate with the reader only when it is within the read range of that reader.

29

1.4 Summary
In this chapter, the basic concepts to understand the operational principles of the RFID technology with a brief historical overview have been presented. The differences between the two types of tags namely passive and active tags were discussed. Moreover, the crucial elements such as the reader, the tag (antenna+IC), and the coupling mechanisms in the overall RFID system were explained thoroughly. HF (i.e. 13.56 MHz) and UHF (i.e. 915) band applications were also explained to lay the foundations for the following chapters in this document.

30

CHAPTER 2

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS IN RFID TAG DESIGN AND RESEARCH MOTIVATION

For a successful RFID implementation one has to possess a keen knowledge of its standards, its technology, and how it integrates with a companys supply-chain and inventory data [10]. Federal Express CIO Rob Carter quoted Bill Gates definition of a two-ten technology in a Fortune interview when he was asked about RFID. Two-ten technology means for the first two years, hype reigns, followed by disappointment, until the day 10 years later when people realize the technology has flourished and become part of the daily life. Carter accepts after noticing some challenges and problems FedEx is experiencing with tags and adds, RFID might be a three-15 technology. [10] This citing comes from a man who is in charge of the whole activity of tracking parcels it does not even own for up to 48 hours anywhere in the world-an activity that cries out for RFID [10]. Apart form higher level problems in RFID applications, tag design imposes different lower level challenges. These challenges include current high cost of tags, size limitations and optimization, tag performance issues. From a system point of view problems at the lower level must be resolved before moving up on the RFID system hierarchy for an optimized overall performance. This research also proposes on how to overcome some of these challenges.

31

2.1 The Cost of RFID Tag

In order to sell RFID tags just like any other product it has to be cheap. Mark Robertis report [11] based on Auto-ID Centers predictions on IC manufacturing cost reduction [5] indicate that by 2007 the cost of a passive tag can reach as low as 5 cents from 30-35 cents [12] as it is now. The prediction relies on the fact that these tags will be sold in high volume about 30 billion a year which would in return reduce the cost the IC to almost 1 cent. The rest of the cost will be distributed in assembly process of these ICs [5], the antenna inlay fabrication on organic low-cost substrates such as PET, LCP, Kapton, and paper. There is also ongoing research at PIREAS RFID/Sensors lab headed by Dr. Manos M. Tentzeris on metallization on paper using conductive inkjet printing. This research focuses on using paper as a low-cost substrate and inkjet printing as a substitute to conventional metal etching and screen printing methods. This inkjet printing method is also investigated to embed available thin film batteries in organic substrates such as paper to revolutionize the active tag development.

2.2 Size Limitations and Optimization

The size of the tag becomes a major issue when tags are used on items that are limited in size. The main controlling factor for the size of a tag is the antenna size which is governed by the operating frequency. For instance, resonance is achieved for an optimum performing antenna length around /2 for various different antenna types such as folded printed dipole, printed patch, log-spiral [15]. This means for low LF and HF (/2 = 1111 m for LF 125kHz, /2=10.5 m for HF 13.56 Mhz) frequency applications resonance comes with a price of increased dimensions as well as the UHF (/2=15 cm for 915 MHz) tags. For the lower frequencies such as the HF (13.56 MHz) printer inductive loop antennas in the shape of a coil are used [16, 17]. For higher UHF (915 MHz) printed

32

dipole antennas size miniaturization usually achieved through meander line type topologies [13, 14] These same folding techniques can also be applied to printed inverted F antenna as well as slot antennas. It has to be noted that the main trade-off is between size reduction and efficiency including gain [13]. These issues will also be addressed later in this research document.

2.3 Tag Performance Issues

Tag performance in an RFID system is mostly evaluated how the tag read range is in different environments. This depends mainly on the tag (IC + antenna) properties as well as the propagation environment. The tag characteristics can be summed up in IC sensitivity, antenna gain, antenna polarization, and impedance match [18].The propagation environment limitations are the path loss and tag detuning. [18]

2.3.1 Tag Characteristics

Chip Sensitivity:

It is defined by the minimum threshold power to activate the IC. It is primarily determined by the RF Front end architecture and fabrication process [18, 22]. The lower the threshold power (high sensitivity) results in higher read range of the tag.
Antenna Gain and Polarization:

Antenna gain is directly controlled by how directive the antenna and if it is radiating efficiently. The size and structural topology (array of antennas or single) of the antenna at the frequency of operation defines how much gain can be achieved. Polarization of the tag is important in view of RFID system level performance. Maximum power transfer is accomplished when the polarization of the tag is matched to the readers.

33

Impedance Match:

The complex impedance (i.e 17-j350 for Phillips IC) of the IC requires a conjugate complex impedance match at the antenna end. This becomes a real challenge since the chip impedance varies at different power levels and frequencies [19]. In order to maximize the tag read range impedance can be matched at various IC power levels such as at minimum threshold power.

2.3.2 Propagation Environment Limitations

Path Loss:

The path loss is dependent on the surrounding environment [20, 21]. The type of scattering around the tag defines the path loss. The ideal ( 4 d ) 2 for free

space propagation can be changed significantly in a room, for instance, where multiple reflections occur with the main line-of-sight signal [23].

Tag Detuning:

When the tags are placed on or embedded in lossy materials (i.e. detergent, automotive tire, human bodies) and in the vicinity of metal, resonant frequency of the antenna shifts from the design frequency [15, 25]. This effect results in tag detuning. This also affects the antenna gain and the radiation pattern and thus results in a lower read range. Multiple tags also present this kind of problem if the tags are very close to each other. The parasitic coupling between the antennas causes the tags to detune because it changes the antenna impedance. Simultaneous multiple tag identification and the position analysis of these tags are discussed in

34

[20, 21]. Antenna bending can also detune the tag by changing the radiation pattern and impedance of the antenna [24].

As possible solutions to the challenges and problems for tag design identified in this chapter, this research will be discussing tag size miniaturization techniques that were presented as well as some novel techniques. In addition to this, antenna gain and radiation efficiency, new impedance matching strategies are also explained thoroughly. These methods will be presented for lower 13.56 MHz HF and 915 MHz UHF bands.

35

CHAPTER 3

13.56 MHz HF SINGLE/DOUBLE LAYER INDUCTOR COIL RFID TAG DESIGN

A lot of interest has grown into the 13.56 MHz frequency in the last decade more than the VLF, LF and UHF bands in certain applications, such as security access control. The use of 13.56 MHz frequency has been proven to be very advantageous over these other bands [26], [27]: Frequency band available worldwide as an ISM frequency Excellent Immunity to environmental noise and electrical interference Minimal shielding effects from adjacent objects and the human body Freedom from environmental reflections that can plague UHF systems Good data transfer rate On-chip capacitors for tuning transponder coil can be easily realized Cheap ICs, disposable tags Cost effective antenna coil manufacturing Low RF power transmission so EM regulation compliance cause no problems Most of the 13.56 MHz HF RFID systems employ the near-field inductive coupling of the transponder tag with the reactive energy circulating around the reader antenna [26]. Since these tags are passive which means no internal power supply is needed, the necessary power required to energize and activate the tags microchip or lowpower CMOS IC is drawn from the localized oscillatory magnetic field created by the

36

reader units antenna [26]. In order to charge up the IC with inductive coupling, the IC should be capacitive which requires the impedance of the radiating element (antenna) to be conjugately matched with respect to the ICs input impedance. For this reason highly inductive printed spiral coils are used for 13.56 MHz RFID applications as antennas. In this section, design and modeling of a single-layer 13.56 MHz RFID tag is presented with the development of the double-layer design to reduce size with the aid of IE3D software, which is based on method of moments (MoM).The antenna challenges which include port matching, efficiency, and size at 13.56 MHz as well as the performance advantages over the UHF band are also addressed.

3.1 Rectangular Planar Spiral Coil Antenna Design and Modeling

3.1.1 Tag Antenna Geometry

RF signal can be radiated effectively if the linear dimension of the antenna is comparable with the wavelength of the operating frequency; however, the wavelength at 13.56 MHz is 22.12 meters. For this reason, a loop antenna in the shape of a coil that is resonating is being used. Since the operating read range of these tags is relatively small compared to a wavelength (~20-40 cm), they operate in the near-field radiation region. This type of antenna is called magnetic dipole antenna where the near-field magnetic field radiation in Figure 15 falls off with r -3 and increases linearly with the

37

Figure 15. Calculation of magnetic field B at location P due to current I on the loop.

number of turns N as shown below [28,29].

(8)

Utilizing the properties of magnetic dipole antenna, single-layer and double-layer tags were developed. The single-layer tag is shown in Figure 16. The inductor coil tag antenna is 4.7cm by 7.9cm with 50 um aluminum metal pattern printed on top of low-cost and easily manufactured PET (polyethylene terephalate, r =3.2, tan=0.017), and

38

adhesive dielectric layer as shown in Figure 16. The IC is placed in the center where the two extended ports 1 and 2 are located. 16 um Ag paste is used to bridge Pad1 to Pad2 in order to connect the two ends of antenna coil structure as shown in Figure 10. 20 um SR dielectric is embedded in between the Ag paste and the metal pattern to provide isolation.

Figure 16. Single-layer 13.56 MHz HF antenna structure dimensions.

In Figure 17 the geometry for the double-layer tag is also shown. The inductor coil tag antenna is 4.0cm by 2.72 cm (economy in area by a factor of 3) with doublesided 50 um aluminum metal pattern (top+bottom) printed on PET and adhesive

39

dielectric layers also displayed in Figure 11. As presented in Figure 11, the top layer pads Pad1t and Pad2t are connected to Pad1b and Pad2b respectively with shorting pins. These pads are connected to complete the antenna coil loop.

Figure 17. Double-layer 13.56 MHz HF antenna structure dimensions.

The fabricated single-layer and double-layer tags are displayed in Figure 18. The center of the single and double-layers are Ports 1 and 2 where the IC is assembled. These two tags were fabricated using the same framing process.

40

Figure 18. Single-layer (Left) and double-layer (Right) 13.56 MHz HF RFID tags.

3.1.2 RLC Calculation

In order to design spiral coil antennas, the inductance (L), the resistance (R), and the capacitance (C) of the antennas are needed to be characterized. From these values, the quality factor, Q, of the inductor which would give the efficiency of the tag can be also computed. The L and R are calculated as a starting point in the design process. The C is quite difficult to numerically calculate because of the distributed capacitance of the tag [29]. The circuit model that is also proposed in this paper is used to find the various different capacitances. R is comprised of DC and AC resistances of the conductor etched on dielectric [28]. The DC resistance is due to the even distribution of charge carriers through the entire cross-section of the metal trace and is given by:

41

(9)

It clearly shows that a smaller cross-sectional area (9) causes higher DC resistance in the metal trace. The resistance must be kept as small as possible to achieve higher Q inductor coil antenna. For this reason, a larger diameter coil must be chosen for the RFID antenna. As the frequency increases, the magnetic field is concentrated around the center of the conductor metal trace and which in return increases the reactance near the center that results in increased impedance [29]. This increased impedance forces the current to flow more closely to the edges of the conductor. This phenomenon is widely known as the skin effect. The depth into the conductor at which the current density falls to 1/e or 37% of its value along the surface is known as the skin depth.

(10)

42

The net result of the skin effect is an effective decrease in the cross-sectional area of the conductor; therefore, a net increase in the AC resistance of the conductor occurs. For the conductor etched on dielectric substrate the AC resistance is,

(11)

where w is the width and t is the thickness of the conductor.

Figure 19. Rectangular thin film inductor.

The inductance of a thin film inductor with a rectangular cross-section as displayed in Figure 19 is [29],

(12)

where w is the width in cm, t is the thickness in cm, and l is the length of the conductor in cm. When an inductor made of straight segments is considered as shown in Figure 20, the

43

L is the sum of self-inductances and mutual inductances [30] as shown below.

Figure 20. Two conductor segments for mutual inductance calculation.

(13)

Lo is calculated by adding the inductances of individual segments as shown in (12). The

mutual inductance results from the magnetic fields produced by adjacent conductors. The mutual inductance is positive when the directions of currents on the conductors are in the same direction and negative when they are in opposite directions. The mutual inductance between two parallel conductors as presented in (14) is a function of the length of the conductors and of the geometric mean distance between them. It is calculated by,

44

(14) where l is the length of the conductor in cm and F is the mutual inductance parameter and computed as,

(15)

where d is the geometric mean distance between the two conductors, which is approximately equal to the distance between the track centers of the conductors. In Figure 20 the two conductor segments are shown as mentioned before. The j and k in the figure are the indices for the conductor segments, and p and q are the indices of the length for the difference in the length of the two conductors. This configuration in Figure 20 occurs between conductors in multiple turn spiral inductor. The mutual inductance of the conductors j and k is calculated using,

(16)

and if the length l1 and l2 are the same (l1= l2), then (16 d) is used. Each mutual inductance term as shown in (14) is computed by

45

(17)

and LT is calculated based on the mutual inductances and the self inductances. It should be again noted that for RFID coils the calculated true inductance may differ from the resulting inductance in the final design due to the distributed capacitance and additional conductor lengths in the fabrication process. Because of this fact, inductance calculations are mainly used as a starting point in the final design.

3.1.3 RLC Circuit Modeling

A 13.56 MHz rectangular coil antenna can be simply modeled as a series resonance circuit as shown in Figure 21 to understand the effect of bandwidth and quality factor ,Q, on

Figure 21. The simple series resonance circuit model. 46

antenna performance [29]. The half power (3 dB) frequency bandwidth is calculated using the resistance r and inductance L, and given by,

(18)

where Q is found using (18) and the resonant frequency, fo , as shown below in (19). The series

(19)

circuit forms a voltage divider where the voltage across the inductor coil, Vo, is given by,

(20)

where XL and XC are the inductor and capacitor reactances and Vin is the input voltage. When the circuit is resonant at the specified frequency, XL = XC and (20) becomes as shown below.

(21)

47

(21) indicates that the output voltage is a function of the Q and the input voltage. Since the input voltage is limited by the reader, read range can be increased by increasing the Q [29]. The series circuit model gives a synopsis of the general behavior of inductor coil antennas; however, this model does not give any information about the distributed capacitance due to the substrate effects and connecting pads. A lot of research has been conducted in RF inductor modeling [31, 32].With the helpful insight of this work, a more complicated lumped element model is presented in Figure 22. This model includes the

Ls: the series inductance of the square spiral Rs: the ohmic losses in the metal traces of the spiral Cp: capacitive coupling due to the electrical field between the spiral tracks and the pad capacitance Rp: resistance in series with Cp Cadh: the adhesive material capacitance between the coil and the PET substrate Csub: the PET substrate capacitance Rsub: the resistive loss in the PET substrate Ric: IC resistance Cic: IC capacitance

Figure 22. Lumped element model for single-layer and double-layer 13.56 MHz HF RFID tags. substrate capacitances and losses as well as the resistance, capacitance, and inductance changes with the addition of the pads and additional metal trace lengths/widths during the fabrication process. Figure 22 presents the lumped element model for both the single-layer and the double-layer tags. The model is the same for the two cases with different R, L, and C values because the double-layer tag is merely two single-layer tags in series resulting

48

from the way the two inductor coils are connected to each other. Since one-port measurement was conducted, the second port was shorted as seen in the model. This model was run through ADS simulation softwares optimization tool to obtain the freqindependent R, L, and C values using the input impedance results of the one-port measurement.

3.1.4 Experimental Results and Discussion

The R, L, and C values from the single-layer and double-layer lumped element models are presented in Table 1. The one-port measurement of the reflection coefficient (S11) gives the input impedance of the tag for both cases as shown in Figure 17. The lumped element model was optimized so that the measured input impedance data and the model data align perfectly. The IC was placed and the return loss was also measured as shown in Figure 17 again for both cases. The ICs parallel load capacitance and resistance (23.5 pF and 28 kOhm) with the input impedance of the tag create the resonant circuit centered at 13.67 MHz (single-layer) and 13.94 MHz (double-layer).

Table 1. Single and Double-layer lumped component model R, L, C values.

The double-sided metal tracing creates more parasitic capacitance as seen from the Cp, Csub, and Cadh in Table 1. The substrate resistance, Rsub, is also quite high for both cases indicating how lossy the material is. The series inductance, Ls, and resistance,

49

Rs, characterize the inductor coil. The Ls depends on the overall length of the metal

inductor coil; meanwhile, the Rs is mainly controlled by the width of inductor coil. The
Rp is the result of pad capacitance which dominates in the single-layer case due to the use

of bridge structure to connect one end of the inductor to the other. The performance of the coil antenna as the radiating element depends on the efficiency which defines the read range of the tag. The efficiency is mainly characterized for inductor coil type antennas by the Q as mentioned before. The calculated Q values for the single-layer and the double-layer are 54.7 and 15.2 respectively. The fabricated tags yield operational distances of 37 cm (single-layer) and 22 cm (double-layer). The inductance of the coil plays a major role in the near-field coupling. The magnetic flux created inside the coil due to the inductive coupling between the reader and the tag is a function of the size and the number of turns of the coil. Another factor that limits the efficiency of the coil antenna is the PET dielectric loss (tan=0.017). As seen from Table 1, the double-layer Rsub is more resistive than the single-layer which indicates the presence of power leakage into the substrate. This also contributes to lower the efficiency as well as the read range. The plots in Figure 23 display the relationship between read range and return loss. The amount of power that is radiated by the double-layer tag is about 5 dB less than the single-layer. This explains why the read range of the doublelayer tag drops to almost half of the single-layer. In contrast to UHF (i.e. 915 MHz applications) systems, the RF field at 13.56 MHz is not absorbed by water or human tissue, which allows operation through water or human beings with the trade-off of having a larger physical size. The influence of the air

50

Single-layer Input Impedance

0.978 0.976
Imag

0.24 0.22

Real part (measured) Real part (simulated) Imag part (measured) Imag part (simulated)
Imag freq=13.56 MHz Imag(S11)=0.158 Real freq=13.56 MHz Real(S11)=0.986

0.972 0.97 0.968 0.966 0.964 12

0.2 0.18 0.16 12.5 13 13.5 freq, MHz 14 14.5 15

Real

Double-layer Input Impedance

0.97500 0.29000 0.97000 0.27000 0.96500 R eal (S11)

Imag (S11)

Real (S11)

0.974

Real part (measured) Real part (simulated) Imag part (measured) Imag part (simulated)

0.96000 0.95500 0.95000

0.23000 0.21000 0.19000

Im ag (S11)

Imag

0.25000

Imag freq=13.56 MHz Imag(S11)=0.220 Real freq=13.56 MHz Real(S11)=0.959

Real
0.94500 0.94000 12 12.5 13 13.5 freq, MHz 14 14.5 15 0.17000 0.15000

51

Single-layer and Double-layer Return Loss

0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 12 12.5 13 13.5 freq, MHz 14 Single-layer Return loss (simulated) Single-layer Return loss (measured) Double-layer Return loss (simulated) Double-layer Return loss (measured) Double-layer freq=13.94 MHz dB(S11)= -3.811 15 Single-layer freq=13.67 MHz dB(S11)= -9.077

dB (S11)

Single-layer

Double-layer 14.5

Figure 23. The single-layer and double-layer input impedance (50 Ohm normalization) and return loss (28 kOhm normalization) results for 13.56 MHz HF RFID tag. moisture on the performance and efficiency is also negligible [27].As a result of the nearfield operation of 13.56 MHz RFIDs (power decreases with 6th order of distance), the disturbing influence of adjacent systems or external noise is much lower compared to UHF systems (power level decreases as the square of the distance) [27], something important in RFIDs for tire/pallet inventories.

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3.2 Summary
Designing an inductor-coil embedded antenna for 13.56 MHz RFIDs present various challenges such as the parasitic capacitance and dielectric material (i.e. PET) limitations. The parasitic capacitance shifts the resonant frequency, so capacitance compensation should be considered such as adding series pad capacitance to reduce the effect. The dielectric materials used for these applications are generally very cheap yet lossy. This weakens the read range performance of the tag. Better performing 13.56 MHz RFID tags could be achieved by using less lossy dielectric materials and diminishing the ill-effect of parasitic capacitance by introducing series pad capacitance. The efficiency of the voltage transfer, which results from the inductive coupling between the reader and the tag coils, can be increased significantly with high Q (highly inductive yet low resistive) circuits. The read range of 13.56 MHz is relatively longer than that of 125 kHz device because of the fact that the antenna efficiency increases as the frequency increases. In addition to this, the growth of the 13.56 MHz RFID market has benefited from the better performance of 13.56 MHz RFIDs compared to UHF RFIDs in complicated environments that get affected by factors such as air humidity or presence of human beings and water.

53

CHAPTER 4

915 MHz UHF RFID TAG DESIGN FOR AUTOMOTIVE TIRE APPLICATION

The recent advances in cost-effective low-power electronics and packaging have enabled the RFID tag as a likely substitute for barcodes [33, 34].The RFID tags also present challenges in behavioral modeling and simulation of the antenna and module/package integration in parameters such as the pad capacitance, the estimation of the parasitics due to the proximity of IC and antenna, and the identification of a low-cost low-loss light material. In this chapter, three novel miniaturized antennas are presented for 915 MHz passive tags that are designed to be embedded inside commercial automobile tires. The necessary power required to energize and activate the tags microchip is drawn from the electromagnetic field provided by the reader units antenna. The transponder IC stores the tire's unique ID, which can be associated with the vehicle identification number. The chip also stores information about when and where the tire was made, its maximum inflation pressure, size and so on. The tag utilizes the low cost lead frame based IC packaging process and the miniaturized antenna is built in the lead frame. Passive ICs are intrinsically highly reactive because of the necessary power to bias the IC which is delivered by charging up the IC through electromagnetic coupling. Due to the low resistive yet high capacitive impedance of the microchip, novel design 54

approach for the RFID antennas have to be proposed comprising of antennas that are lowly resistive (high efficiency) and highly inductive for matching to the input impedance of the transponder IC. One remarkable improvement to bar code systems by RFID is the possibility to read and write on the information-carrying element on the item. The transponder can carry several kilobytes of data that can be 1) read selectively, 2) appended with new data elements, and 3) modified, i.e. erased and overwritten. These features depend on the type of tag used. The tag may have its own processor capable of performing complicated tasks with the data stored in its memory. [27] Another important feature is the capability of the RFID reader to interact with the tag with no line-of-sight since the tag is placed inside the tire. If a tag is in the area reached by the reader, it can be detected and communicated with. Thus, the identification of items can be achieved without having to unpack them. This adds to the durability of the tag as well as to the convenience of easily reading each item, as it does not have to be outside the package protecting the item. An RFID tag of UHF band employs far-field radiation of the real power contained in free-space propagating electromagnetic plane waves due to its shorter wavelength, while a 13.56 MHz HF tags is utilizing inductive coupling in the near-field region as the wavelength is much longer. The main difference is that in UHF systems the resistive part of the radiating power is used to communicate with the passive tag where in HF systems the reactive part of the radiating power is used. The IE3D design tool, which is based on method of moments (MoM), is used to optimize and analyze the tag. This tool is used as main platform to design and come up with certain antenna performance parameters such as gain, radiation pattern, and efficiency. Three different 7cm x 3cm (equal in area or

55

smaller) antenna designs are built to make sure maximum range is obtained. Achieving that range has been a challenge because the lossy tire rubber makes it harder to get an impedance matching and creates additional power loss in the tire rubber. The tested tags in actual tires yield maximum operational distance ranging from 48.7 cm to 52.5 cm which is well within the required range (50 cm) for the application.

4.1 Design Approach

The IC input impedance for the tire application is 17-j350 , which means the load antenna impedance should be 17+j350 for maximum power transfer (conjugate matching). This requires the antenna impedance to be low- resistive yet high-inductive. Various antenna designs like dipole, printed patch, log-spiral, and meander-line have been proposed as a solution in the past.[13,14,15,35] Nevertheless, a novel approach has to be followed to keep the antenna size small and the load impedance to have a low real part (small resistance) and a high positive imaginary part (high inductance). To achieve this, an inductive element needs to be incorporated into the antenna. In addition to this, the metal size is desired to be as big as possible to obtain better radiation parameters such as directivity and efficiency through the larger radiating aperture, though it could increase the metal loss leading to a trade-off in the antenna efficiency. Increasing the metal size also lowers the surface resistance and increases current flow as shown in Figure 24. It is for these above-mentioned reasons, a dipole antenna with inductive stubs and a metal patch is used as the basis for the three antenna designs of this paper. The stubs provide the inductive load impedance meanwhile the metal patch lowers the load resistance.

56

To accomplish maximum directivity and optimum radiation, the designs are built to achieve half-wavelength (r/2 ~9 cm in rubber material @ 915 MHz) resonance at first.

Figure 24. Current flow in UHF RFID Tag antenna. In essence, the designs possess similarity to the half-wave dipole antenna; however, there exists a trade-off between antenna-IC matching and resonance. Whenever the size is increased to match for resonance, antenna-IC matching deteriorates. The miniaturization of the antenna size is another issue, which requires the length of the antenna to be smaller than the resonance length.

4.2 Antenna Design

The three RFID Tag antenna designs are shown in Figure 25. These antennas are made of copper metal with a thickness of 200 um. The antenna is embedded inside tire material that is basically rubber. (r =3.0, tan=0.02) In addition to this, one-port differential excitation, which is used to measure the actual antenna-IC configuration, is employed to numerically calculate the return loss and antenna load impedance as well as the read range measurement.

57

The single inductor stub as shown in Figure 25b is utilized to obtain the required inductance where the triangular patch is the main radiator for Antenna#2. The other two

(a) Antenna#1 where minimum line spacing is 1.5 mm with W=14.5 mm, L=56 mm, 2 mm port separation, and trace width of 0.5 mm.

(b) Antenna#2 where minimum line spacing is 0.5 mm with W=30 mm, L=60 mm, 2 mm port separation and trace width of 0.5 mm.

(c) Antenna#3 where minimum line spacing is 0.5 mm with W=12 mm, L=67 mm, 2 mm port separation and trace width of 0.5 mm.

Figure 25. The three different RFID antenna designs for tire application.

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designs utilize double stub configurations. Antenna#1 and Antenna#3 as shown in Figure 25a,c are also highly inductive due to the double stubs that are easily incorporated into the radiator rectangular patches. This feature is proven to be very important to enhance radiation because the inductive stub, which is used for antenna-IC reactance matching, becomes more part of the radiating element by creating additional coupling with the radiating element.

4.3 Embedding Process

The tire cross-section is displayed in Figure 26 showing the dimensions of the tire, the rubber

Figure 26. Cross-sectional view of RFID Tag placement in tire material.

59

material, and the steel thicknesses. The position of the RFID Tag is also presented. The tag is placed parallel to the outer steel mesh at a distance that depends on the tire size and ranges between 4 to 8 cm above the inner steel mesh.

4.4 Antenna Results and Discussion

The radiation patterns for the three designs in tire rubber are shown in Figure 27. All of the designs have doughnut-shaped radiation patterns in the phi=0 deg (x-z plane) and phi=90 deg (y-z plane) planes as expected since the antennas are dipole type. The creation of nulls in the horizontal plane (x-y plane) with dipole type of antennas is a limiting factor. It is actually desired to achieve maximum radiation when the tag is read in the plane (x-z or y-z planes) that is perpendicular to the RFID antenna. The horizontal radiation is also crucial in terms of the orientation of the reader. The Interrogator (reader) does not necessarily have to be positioned on top or bottom with respect to the RFID tag, but the tire RFID tag should also have the functionality to be read from the sides as well. In addition to this, the radiation pattern is suppressed and more in the horizontal plane (xy plane) when the tag is embedded in actual tire with the steel meshes. The steel meshes that protect the tire from deformation act like two metal plates creating the waveguide effect. For this reason, a second antenna tag can be placed as close as possible to the side surface of the tire perpendicular to the parallel configuration displayed in Figure 27. The dual polarization (horizontal and vertical) capture will improve the detection in the direction vertical to the antenna (z-axis) where antenna is least likely to be read. Utilizing two orthogonal tags (x-y horizontal plane and y-z/x-z vertical plane) would overcome this obstacle in

60

(a) antenna#1

(b) antenna#2

61

(c) antenna#3

Figure 27. E-phi=0 (x-z) and E-phi=90 (y-z) planes radiation patterns (Directivity vs. elevation angle theta) for the three 915 MHz UHF antenna designs in tire material. Antennas are located in the horizontal plane.

case the application requires effective radiation characteristics in the horizontal plane.

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(a) antenna#1

(b) antenna#2

63

(c) antenna#3

Figure 28. S11 input load impedance Smith chart (50-Ohm reference) plots for the three 915 MHz UHF antenna designs in tire material (range of frequency= 500-1500 MHz).

The antenna load impedances for the three antennas are shown in Figure 28, verifying that they are high-inductive and low-resistive. The load impedance values are displayed in Table 2 along with other radiation parameters namely

Table 2. Simulated antenna parameters and measured read range.

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return loss, directivity, radiation efficiency, and read range in tire material and in actual tire. As it can be seen from Table 2, the antenna efficiency determines how much operational distance is needed for the tag. For example, although Antenna#2 and Antenna#3 exhibit almost the same return loss and directivity, the read range is higher for Antenna#3 due to higher radiation efficiency of this antenna. Still, the read range does not only depend on the efficiency of the radiating antenna. The first set of read ranges as presented in Table 2 are measured only with RFID tag in tire material. When the tag is embedded in actual commercial tires, Antenna#1,#2, and #3 yield operational distances of 52.8, 48.7, 52.0 cm respectively. The application requires a read range of 50 cm due to anti-collision limitations, so the three designs are acceptable including antenna#2 which requires further minor optimization. The reason for the read range reduction is the presence of the steel meshes on the inner and outer surfaces of the tire. Further efficiency improvement can be accomplished in three ways: 1) Create more coupling by surrounding the radiating patch with the inductive stub. The stubs that enclose or join with the patch generate more current flow which enables the antenna to radiate more. 2) Make the inductive stub more integrated with the radiating patch by joining the stub and the patch. 3) Use a less lossy dielectric material which would minimize excitation of substrate modes and power leakage into the dielectric.

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4.5 Summary
Three novel antennas have been shown for 915 MHz UHF RFID applications for tires. These antennas with low resistance and high inductance for the input impedance provide a good example of a design procedure if the load impedance from the transponder is unusually high in capacitance and low in resistance. The tag size plays a major role in determining the read range: The smaller the tag, the smaller the energy capture area, therefore the shorter the read range, especially complicated lossy media such as tires. A proper design of the system and a thorough optimization of the interrogator power, the antenna positioning and orientation, and an optimum tag in-tire positioning helps to alleviate this limitation. Multiple tagging can be used to improve the detection of the tags in both the horizontal and vertical planes. It has been observed that the effective read range also depends on the absorption/attenuation factor of the type of the material in which the tag is embedded.

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CHAPTER 5

HIGH-EFFICIENCY 915 MHz UHF RFID TAG DESIGN ON LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMER (LCP) SUBSTRATE WITH HIGH READRANGE CAPABILITY

The demand for flexible antennas with higher efficiency and more compact size has increased in the recent years mainly due to the requirements for a higher and higher read range performance of the increasingly used RFID tags and their almost ubiquitous presence in the industry in security-related applications. The passive UHF RFID tags see the widest use in supply-chain and retail applications. One of the biggest advantages of passive UHF tags over the higher frequency tags (i.e. 2.45 GHz RFID tags) is that they have a range, in many environments, of over ten feet (and sometimes as much as tens of feet). Additionally, RFID readers can scan hundreds of UHF tags simultaneously, whereas the lower frequency tags (VLF, LF, and HF bands), already suffering from limited read range (~1-2 feet), can handle about 10% of that scanning capacity with a lower data transfer rate. The proposed 915 MHz RFID tag employs far-field coupling of the real power contained in free-space propagating electromagnetic plane waves due to its shorter wavelength than, for example, the 13.56 MHz HF tags, where the inductive coupling of the transponder tag operates in the near-field as the wavelength is much longer. The IE3D and HFSS design tools are used to perform a system-level optimization of the tag, as well

67

as to design and come up with certain antenna performance parameters such as directivity, radiation pattern, and efficiency. In this chapter, the design and development of a unique high read-range highefficiency (95%) RFID antenna for the 915 MHZ UHF band is discussed. The RFID exceptional characteristics are investigated in terms of antenna-IC matching and radiation efficiency. This 915 MHz passive tag is a 3 x 3 omni-directional tag and yielded a read range of 31 feet compared to a 4 x 4 leading commercial design of 26 feet tested range in lab. This tag also possesses higher read power range (-7dBm to 30 dBm) than the leading commercial design (-5dBm to 30 dBm). The proposed RFID antenna was fabricated on 50.8 micron thick Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) and the read range of the proposed RFID tags was experimentally verified.

5.1 Antenna Structure and Design Approach

The RFID antenna structure is shown in Figure 29. The single dipole antenna is

Figure 29. 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna structure and double inductive stub matching network. 68

comprised of a resistive shorting stub with length j and width i, a double inductive stub, and a radiating body. The 250-bit read/write chip is mounted on the 4 ports, namely RF1,
RF2, Vdd, and Vss at the feeding point as presented in Figure 29. RF1 and RF2 ports are

the RF signal terminals. Vdd is the open port to measure the IC bias voltage and Vss is the ground port. The chip is designed to be operational with both single and dual dipole antennas. The RF signal ports RF1 and RF2 are needed to be shorted to deliver the information to the charge pump in the IC with the same phase. Time delay of the same signal at the two RF ports leads to loss of information. For the single dipole antenna, RF2 port is grounded so that signal-ground (S-G) type of excitation can be created at the feeding point. It is crucial to achieve high radiation efficiency for high read range since most commercial RFID antennas suffer from low efficiencies (~50-60%) [36]. In order to accomplish maximum directivity and optimum radiation, the design is built to achieve half-wavelength (r /2 ~16 cm in air @ 915 MHz) resonance at first. This was taken about to be the maximum length when the dipole antenna is stretched from one end to the other. The tapered design is proposed to obtain a smoother transition from the connecting RF1 and RF2 pads of the IC at the interface to the single dipole antenna to reduce reflections as much as possible. Another benefit from this tapering is used to maintain the highefficiency when the antenna is embedded in a dielectric material such as LCP, although LCPs dielectric constant (~3) is close to the free space. The overall matching network is designed to conjugately match a chip impedance of 73-j113 for maximum power delivery. The resistive shorting stub and the double inductive stub make up the overall matching network to match to the chip input 69

impedance. The shorting stub mainly controls the resistive matching and the double inductive stub controls the reactive matching. The double inductive stub structure is composed of two inductive stubs to provide symmetry on both sides of the RFID tag [37]. In Figure 30 the fabricated 18 um thick copper antenna on flexible, low-cost, and

Figure 30. Fabricated 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna and antenna direction of current flow. easily manufacturable LCP (r =3.16, tan=0.00192) with 50.8 um thickness is shown. The antenna can be used for sensor applications. For this reason, the antenna is also designed to accommodate space for other surface components such as a sensor module and a battery with minimum interference to the overall antenna performance.

5.2 Experimental Results and Discussion

The RFID antenna performance parameters are displayed in Table 3 below. The calculated return loss [38] values at 915 MHz based on the 73-j113 chip impedance for the simulated and measured antennas are -15.97 dB and -13.78 dB respectively. One major factor for the high efficiency is because of the way the current flow is directed as

70

presented in Figure 30. Since the direction of current flow in the top and bottom parts of

Input Impedance (Simulated) 59.7+j96.4

Input Impedance (Measured) 49 + j106

Directivity 2.18 dBi

Efficiency 95 %

Measured Read Range in Lab 31 feet (9.45 m)

Table 3. S-shape RFID antenna performance parameters and measured read range.

the antenna always add up constructively for far-field radiation, the radiation efficiency is maximized. The 5% loss in efficiency is mainly due to the amount of radiation loss in the matching network. The RFID tag was also tested for read/write power levels. The read power range was from -7 dBm to 30 dBm and the pattern generator was able to write 250-bit user data to the memory of the chip for power levels above 2 dBm. The length j of the antennas shorting stub was reduced to half of the original length to observe the performance difference. The simulated input impedance of the antenna becomes 44+j100.1 . The resistance drops dramatically (higher return loss); meanwhile, the inductance stays almost the same as expected. When this tag was tested, power levels were from -5 to 29 dBm for reading and 3 dBm for writing. The read range was measured to be close to 30 feet (9.14 m) in a room.This shows the effect of power transmission loss between the antenna and the matching network. More power is needed to write on the chip because of this loss in the matching network. Although the efficiency stays the same (95%) compared to the original antenna in Table 3, read range is decreased due to the lower real part of the radiated power. The input impedance resistance goes down from

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59.7 to 44 which translates as lower resistive power transfer at the antenna+IC interface. The input impedance of the simulated antenna design is shown in Figure 31. As it can be observed from the plot, the phase angle between resistance and inductance of the

Input Impedance
350 300 250 R eal (O h m ) 200 150 100 50 0 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 fre q (GHz) 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Im ag (O h m ) real imag

Figure 31. Input impedance of the simulated 915 MHz UHF RFID sshape antenna.

antenna input impedance (Zant =59.7 +j96.4) is lower around 915 MHz compared to inductively coupled feed [39] matching networks. Antennas designed using inductively coupled feed structures yield high phase angles (i.e. Zant = 6.2 +j127). As explained in the paper [39], at resonance the resistive part of the input impedance of the antenna Ra depends only on the mutual coupling M; meanwhile, the inductance Xa is dependent on the inductive loop inductance Lloop. Ra is actually not only dependent on the M but also on the antenna resistance Rrb. High Rrb causes low input impedance resistance. Since the antenna shape defines Rrb, low Rrb might not be achieved with some designs such as the 72

one presented in [39]. For this reason, a matching network that is composed of a shorting stub to control input impedance resistance Ra and a double inductive stub to control inductance Xa is proposed. In Figure 32 the 2-D and 3-D radiation plots are shown. The 3-D radiation pattern of the antenna is doughnut-shaped as expected for the general radiation pattern for a half-

Figure 32. 3-D and 2-D far-field radiation plots for 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna.

73

wavelength dipole. The 2-D polar plot shows the radiation in the two different planar cuts for the x-z plane (=0 deg) and the y-z plane (=90 deg) with angle that varies from 0 to 360 degrees. The pattern is almost omni-directional with two nulls in the whole 360 degree coverage area that add up to be less than 10 degrees. This pattern mimics the radiation pattern of a half-wavelength dipole antenna as it is a tapered dipole antenna. The nulls lay horizontal to the x-y plane where the RFID tag is least expected to transmit/receive information from the reader.

5.3 Bandwidth Optimization

In order to realize high-bandwidth UHF RFID tags that cover the 860-930 MHz band, one proposed idea is to operate outside the self-resonance peak resulting in a more flat impedance response against frequency as shown in Figure 33. This yields to a

5000 4000 Resistance Reactance

Impedance (Ohm)

3000 2000 1000 0 -1000 -2000

0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2
UHF RFID Frequency Band

Frequency (GHz)

Figure 33. Simulated input impedance of the 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna.

74

bandwidth of ~ 8% which is predominantly realized by the finite slope of the reactance of the antenna in the frequency of interest. The previously shown design in Figure 29 is modified to achieve the above-mentioned bandwidth. This is presented in Figure 34 where the resistive shorting stub and double inductive stub were tuned to accomplish the

Resistive Stub

Double Inductive Stub Terminals for IC Radiating body

Figure 34. 915 MHz UHF RFID s-shape antenna structure with optimized bandwidth showing the matching stubs.

75

bandwidth of 70 MHz. The simulated impedance at the center frequency f0= 895 MHz is 57.46+j112.1 which results in a return loss RL<-18dB. This antenna has a bandwidth of ~8% (70 MHz) where the bandwidth is defined by a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 2 (alternatively a RL of -9.6 dB) as shown in Figure 35. The tapering of this s-shaped antenna along with the matching techniques (resistive and inductive stubs) allow for the first-ever 3 in x 3 in RFID antenna with such a high bandwidth (~8%).

0 -5

R e tu rn L o s s (d B )

-10 -15 -20 -25 -30

0.85 0.87 0.89 0.91 0.93 0.95

Measurement Simulation

Frequency (GHz)

Figure 35. Measured and simulated data of return loss for the 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna.

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The circuit model of this design in Figure 34 is a lumped element equivalent circuit model and shown in Figure 36. This model can be used to figure out the lumped component

Rs: antenna series resistance (due to metal effects) Ls : antenna series inductance (due to metal effects) RP : tag parallel resistance (due to substrate + metal effects) CP : tag parallel capacitance (due to substrate + metal effects) RS2 : resistive stub series resistance LS2 : resistive stub series inductance RP2 : resistive stub parallel resistance CP2 : resistive stub parallel capacitance CTag : capacitive coupling (CE, LCP // CE ,air)

Figure 36. Equivalent circuit for 915 MHz UHF s-shape antenna structure shown in Figure 28.

equivalent circuit to any dipole antenna design. Table 4 presents the lumped element

Rs () S-shape Opt. BW s-shape 17.0 12.0

Rp () 72.8 60.0

Ls (nH) 47.4 48.8

Cp (pF) Rs2 () Rp2 () Ls2 (nH) C p2 (pF) 0.29 0.30 1.66 ~0 0.67 0.25 33.6 62.35 0.0225 0.245

CE (pF) 0.45 0.47

Table 4. Lumped element model values for the s-shape and the bandwidth optimized sshape designs. values for the model in Figure 36. The equivalent circuit shows how stubs can be used to tune the impedance in order to match to any IC. Parametric sweeps can be used along 77

different stubs structures (for example loops structures can be used for adding series inductance or parallel capacitance). The resistance of the antenna is mainly determined by the radiating body and can be tuned by the two stubs as shown above. This model also helps to determine the amount of loss (as parallel resistance and capacitance) due to the substrate loss which helps in understanding radiation efficiency as a function of the substrate.

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5.4 Summary
Maximum read range can be achieved when the dipole RFID antenna is halfwavelength resonant and has direction of current flow that adds up constructively. The tag size also plays a major role in determining the read range: The larger the tag, the larger the energy capture area, therefore the longer the read range. One major difficulty in RFID tag design is designing the matching network since the chips come with either high or low input impedance phase angles. (i.e. Philips EPC 1.19 ASIC Zc=16-j350, NSC MM9647 Zc=73-j113). This requires matching networks to be easily tunable for these different IC input impedance values. For this reason the proposed matching network topology can be utilized. In the meantime, the serial stub matching method achieves high bandwidth (~8%) covering the European and Asian bands (860-930 MHz) something quite important for multiband/multistandard RFIDs. The universal operations of the RFIDs necessitate the use of wideband antennas with optimized performance in terms of radiation pattern, efficiency, and gain.

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CHAPTER 6

PORT OF SAVANNAH ACTIVE 915 MHZ UHF RFID TAGREADER SYSTEM FOR CONTAINER TRACKING FIELD STUDY

Recently in the past couple months a lot of media attention has been brought on the security issues by the Dubai Ports World deal with the ports in the U.S.A. as well as any other port in the world. Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner described the situation with the ports where only less than 1% of the incoming containers can be checked as the Trojan horse of the 21st century. [40] Due to large scale global economy, cargo containers carry approximately 90% of the worlds trade. Only in the U.S.A. almost half of the incoming trade (by value) arrives in the U.S. ports by containers onboard ships which is equivalent to nearly 11 million cargo containers each year [41]. Detailed inspection of these containers upon arrival into the U.S.A. is simply impossible, so active RFID technology is proposed as a solution to track these containers. This chapter focuses on an active RFID field test that took place in the Georgia Port Authoritys (GPA) port of Savannah as shown in Figure 37. The Port of Savannah, home to the largest single-terminal container facility of its kind on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, is comprised of two modern, deepwater terminals: Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal. Together, these facilities exemplify the GPA's exacting standards of efficiency and productivity. Garden City Terminal is one of the top five container handling facilities in the United States, encompassing more than 1,200 acres and moving

80

millions of tons of containerized cargo annually. Port of Savannah is the nations 3rd largest port in terms of container handling capacity which is about 2 million a year.

Figure 37. The Port of Savannah.

6.1 Introduction
The purpose of the savannah port test was to show the feasibility of container detection utilizing active tags instead of passive tags. In order to do this a field study was conducted to detect the tags placed on the containers in the stack at numerous locations as shown in Figure 38. Passive tags have limited read ranges (max ~3-4 m ideally) since they dont use internal power source (i.e. battery).They depend on the external power radiated from the reader. When these tags are placed close to metal containers, they suffer from increased performance degradation. Radiation around the antenna gets distorted and the amount of power received/transmitted gets really low. This causes read ranges (<1 m) that are even 81

Tag Pattern 1: 4 tags on side edges

Tag Pattern 2: 4 tags as shown

Tag Pattern 3: 4 tags on faces

Tag Pattern 4: 4 tags on faces

Tag Pattern 5: 4 tags on vertical corners

Reader Pattern: Readings at 8, 16, 25 high & at each of: Street positions every 20 and 40 along street.

Figure 38. Graphical view of tag placement on containers, container placement in stack, and reader position (Courtesy of CarrierWeb). 82

lower than the ideal case. On the other hand, active tags can handle the metal surface reflections better. The active tags can be detected ideally up to 100 m. The reflection of power due to the metal surface is also present with the active tags; however, the tags utilize internal power to communicate with the reader. This will reduce the possible read range (min ~30-40 m) but definitely not as low as the passive tag case. In addition to this, the antenna/IC impedance matching in active tags, which regulates how much power is transmitted/received internally from the antenna to the IC in the RFID tag module, does not get affected as significantly as it does with the passive tags in the presence of the metal close to the tag. For these reasons, the active tag RFID solution is definitely the better solution compared to the passive tag. Read range and orientation sensitivity (polarization) are the most important

Figure 38. 2-D radiation patterns for active tag or reader. 83

factors for the tracking of containers. Read range is simply how far away a standard interrogator can read a tag. Orientation sensitivity means how much the read performance degrades when the orientation, or angle, of the tag to the interrogator changes. ( i.e. the presence of metal or surface reflections) An orientation-insensitive tag will work the same way regardless of how the tag is rotated. An orientation-sensitive tag will work well at some angles, but it may become completely invisible at other angles as presented in Figure 38. The size of that "angle of invisibility" is called the null zone of the tag. If the orientation of the tag can't be controlled, large null zones can be problematic because the tag cannot be read. If multiple tagging is used so that different tag orientation can be achieved, the problem of null zones can be mitigated.

6.2 Brief Summary of Conducted Tests

In order to prove the concept, two different types of tests were conducted as shown in Table 6 of Appendix B. The first test was to test the detection of tags on the containers facing F1 and F2. The layout of this test is presented in Figure 39 of Appendix B. This test was done with different reader heights to detect tags in 4 pattern configurations (patterns 2, 3, 4, 5). Pattern 1 test was also conducted to observe if the tags in the vertical column in the center of the container stack can be detected (Table 5 Appendix B). This was carried out to understand what the effect of reader height and distance on tag detection and observe the trend with these changes. The second test (Appendix B Figure 40) was to observe the canyon (waveguide) effect (horizontal row) where the corridors in between the container stacks cause the reader power to bounce off from one side to the other as shown in Figure 41. 84

Figure 41. The Canyon effect for detection of active 915 MHz UHF RFID tags in the middle container stack.

6.2.1 Tag-reader Response Test on F1 & F2

6.2.1.1 F1 & F2 Test

Patterns 1 (container stack in the middle at Bay 64, position 3), 3 (column at corner of F 1 and F2), 4 (5 containers in #2 height on F1) and 5 (5 containers on vertical corners on F 1)

The tests were conducted at three heights (8ft, 16 ft, and 25ft). Location 1 seemed to read the most amount of tags since it is in the corner of F1 & F2. The most amount of reads were observed at 8 ft rather than 16 ft or 25 ft. The reason is that the distance from the reader to the stack is too short at 8 ft. This makes the reader more directive (power is more focusing on one portion of the sweep angle).The reflection of the generated waves are more focused on the lower stack since the reader-stack distance is short. Most of the 85

tags are also in the bottom layers. These can still be read; however, at higher reader levels the distance of the reader from the stack needs to be also increased. This will improve the distribution of signal power more omni-directional and enhance the performance. The overall performance of the pattern 5 compared to the patterns 3 and 4 is definitely better. When the reader is moved from location 1 to 5 and 6, the readability of tags increased. This shows that by placing the reader almost in the middle of F1, detection of tags on that side can be optimized. The reason why pattern 5 performed better than the other two patterns is because of the polarization of the tags and the reader. The reader is linearly polarized (vertical or horizontal). The tags are now directional

Figure 42. Radiation patterns in x-z planes with (RIGHT) and without (LEFT) metal surface.

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pointing outwards from the metal surface instead of being omni-directional when no metal is present as displayed in Figure 42. This restricts the tags to only one polarization (vertical or horizontal) depending on which side of the container they are placed. This is very critical when the reader and the tag orientations are different. For example, minimum detection is observed (patterns 3, 4) with reader since most of the tags on the containers are horizontally polarized meanwhile the reader is vertically polarized. When the incoming wave and the antenna polarization are perpendicular as shown in Figure 42 top drawing creates no reception at the reader or tag. The traveling waves from the reader to the active tag must arrive at an angle other than 90 degrees (orthogonal waves). The bottom drawing in Figure 37 shows the maximum reception/transmission case. Pattern 1 also suffered mainly because of this polarization

Figure 43. Tag/Reader orientation sensitivity (polarization).

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loss. Pattern 2 test also showed that even if the tags are on one face and in close proximity to each other almost each and every one of them can be read. Higher detection can be successfully achieved by increasing the processing time.

6.2.1.2 Canyon (Waveguide) effect test

Patterns 2 (4 containers on F 2 at height 3) and 3 (column at corner of F 1 and F 2)

The last three tests that were conducted were to prove that waveguiding of the plane waves occur by reading the tags in between containers. The reflection of the propagating waves in between the containers creates the rectangular waveguide mode. This channel effect as well as the instigation of surface waves (creepy waves) due to the proximity of the traveling waves to conductive surface (containers) improves the detection of the active tags. Even cellular phone that operates at 900 MHz was receiving/transmitting full when tested along the corridors between the container stacks. The height of the reader plays a major role for the detection: the higher the reader, the further the reader can read. Although there is collision of the tags, 4 out of 5 tags were read at 25ft and only 3 out of 5 at 8ft. This shows that the reader must be placed higher at least 40ft or higher depending on further empirical test data. Here the trend is important and is being proven. Canyon effect can be achieved when the reader is placed high (i.e light posts) enough for the traveling wave to go through the container stacks. Surface waves will also improve this. Another important point is that even if the tags were positioned in the middle of or on the edges of the container surfaces, not much of difference was observed. These two configurations seemed to behave the same way.

88

Anti-collision of tags in the reader processor is also a very important issue as well as the coupling effect (electromagnetic interference of one tag on the other). It was also observed that 5 min tests yielded better results than the 3 min tests. The reason is that the probability of detection increases with increased time. This is intrinsic to the processor. This is generic with all the test setups. Ample time is needed for the reader processor. Recommended time is 7-10 min but the longer the time the better the readability of tags.

89

6.2 Summary
This conducted field study at the port of Savannah was of great benefit to realize the challenges in such a harsh environment. Especially rugged metal containers create increased level of difficulty for RFID tag detection. In order to improve the performance of the active RFID system and implement it successfully, the following steps must be taken into account: 1) The readers must be positioned higher than 30 feet. Putting the readers on the light posts (~90 feet) could solve this problem depending how far they are from the container stacks. 2) The readers have to be positioned pointing downwards and radiation pattern should be changed from omni-directional to directional utilizing reflectors as shown below in Figure 44. Beta angle can be made smaller (i.e. Beta from 60 degrees to 45 degrees) to control the directionality of the reader. The general trend is the smaller the angle, the smaller the beamwidth, the more directional the reader becomes. If the reader becomes more directional, more power gain is achieved. This results in higher read range and detection probability. When two readers are positioned next to each

Figure 44. Top view of the reader and reflector position for active 915 MHz UHF RFID system.

90

other, with this configuration least amount of electromagnetic coupling between the readers will be accomplished. This will lead to overall RFID tag system performance enhancement. 3) Multiple readers are needed to read the tags in different orientations. For instance, 23 readers positioned equally in between the edges of of F1 and F2 at a level at least higher than the maximum stack height (5 containers stacked up on top of each other) is one possible way of achieving maximum detection. Reader synchronization can be utilized for readers that are close to each other. 4) Processing time of 7-10 min is required for anti-collision avoidance. If system can handle longer time, that is more preferred. 5) The distance of the readers from the edge of the containers is also critical. By moving the reader far away from the metal will minimize the reception of reflected power at the reader. This needs to be tested empirically. 6) Even if the tags were placed side by side (pattern 2) or one after the other (canyon effect), the tags were detected almost completely. 7) With this type of reader orientation, pattern 5 configuration seems to be the best solution for the detection. When the tags are placed on the edges, canyon effect detection will also be maximized.

91

CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSIONS

The main objective of this thesis has been to develop and optimize RFID antennas for passive 13.56 MHz HF and 915 MHz UHF tags as well as understanding the effects of harsh environments on active 915 MHz UHF RFID technology. The popularity of these two bands have shown that optimization techniques will be of great interest in the various different RFID applications from inventory control to container tracking. The miniaturization technique of using two inductors connected serially for 13.56 MHz HF tags can be utilized for even lower 125 kHz range. This technique can be used as long as the fact that substrate material loss is not neglected. Further improvement in near-field radiation can also be achieved with substrates that have magnetic properties by embedding ferrite particles in the substrate. This is beneficial for both radiation optimization and size reduction. Passive tags that operate in the passive UHF range usually suffer from poor impedance matching at the antenna-IC interface. The ICs come in with different impedances. This is one of the greatest challenges when designing the antenna for such IC. This thesis showed that the resistive stub and double inductive stub techniques can accomplish conjugate matching to any IC input impedance. Antennas radiation properties are also critical for the UHF band since the environmental interference (i.e. metals, liquids, human body absorption) affect more this band than the HF or lower bands. This requires the designer to enhance antenna radiation characteristics such as radiation pattern, radiation efficiency and gain by improving the current flow on the 92

antenna. The loss in the medium sometimes cannot be controlled, so optimum performance must be attained as discussed in previous chapters. Even the active tags undergo similar challenges from the environment surrounding the tag-reader system. The conducted field study at the port of Savannah, GA has revealed that one must comprehend the obstacles from a higher system point of view not only at the lower tag design level. The problematic interaction between the reader and the tag presents the real complication to a successfully operating RFID application. In RFID technology every application comes with different and sometimes unique challenges. In todays world transfer of information is increasing day by day. The same pattern is repeated with the RFID technology. The need to gather more information and store demands higher data rates and storage capacities. Integration of tags with other active modules such as sensors (i.e. temperature, pressure) with batteries has caught a lot of attention lately. This means greater challenges are imminent in terms of packaging constraints and frequency limitations.

93

APPENDIX A

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

[1] S. S. Basat, S. Bhattacharya, Li Yang, A. Rida, M. M. Tentzeris, J. Laskar, Design of a Novel High-Efficiency UHF RFID Antenna on Flexible LCP Substrate with High Read-Range Capability, Proc. of the 2006 IEEE-APS Symposium Albuquerque, AZ, July 2006. [2] S. Basat, S. Bhattacharya, A. Rida, S. Johnston, L. Yang, M.M. Tentzeris, J. Laskar, Fabrication and Assembly of a Novel High-Efficiency UHF RFID Tag on Flexible LCP Substrate, Proc. of the 2006 IEEE-ECTC Symposium San Diego,CA, May 2006. [3] Li Yang, Serkan Basat, Amin Rida, M.M. Tentzeris, Design and Development of Novel Miniaturized UHF RFID Tags on Ultra-low-cost Paper-based Substrates, 2007 IEEE-APMC Conference Thailand, Bangkok Dec 2007. [4] Antonio Ferrer-Vidal, Amin Rida, Serkan Basat, Li Yang, M.M. Tentzeris Integration of Sensors and RFIDs on Ultra-low-cost Paper-based Substrates for Wireless Sensors Networks Applications, 2006 IEEE-SECON Conference Reston,VA, Sep 2006. [5] RongLin Li, S. Basat, J. Laskar, and M. M. Tentzeris, Development of wideband circularly polarized square- and rectangular-loop antennas, 2006 IEE Proc. Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation , Jan. 2006. [6] S.S.Basat, K.Lim, J.Laskar and M.M.Tentzeris, "Design and Modeling of Embedded 13.56 MHz RFID Antennas" , Procs. of the 2005 IEEE-APS Symposium, pp.64-67, vol.4B, Washington, DC, July 2005. [7] S.Basat, K.Lim, I.Kim, J.Laskar, M.M.Tentzeris, Y.Kim, S.Lim and B.Chung, Design and Development of a Miniaturized Embedded UHF RFID Tag for Automotive Tire Applications, Procs. of the 2005 IEEE-ECTC Symposium , pp.867-870, Orlando, FL, June 2005. [8] N.Bushyager, L.Martin, S.Khushrushahi, S.Basat and M.M.Tentzeris, Design of RF and Wireless Packages Using Fast Hybrid Electromagnetic/Statistical Methods, Proc. of the 2003 IEEE-ECTC Symposium, pp.1546-1549, New Orleans, LA, May 2003.

94

APPENDIX B

PORT OF SAVANNAH FIELD TEST SET-UP AND TABULATED DATA

Pattern 5 (5 containers on ground level on Face 1) Container Number HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 316405-7 ZCSU 811148-5 CLHU 851935-5 HLXU 452424-5 Bay 59 61 64 68 72 Position 1 1 1 1 1 Height 1 1 1 1 1 TAG POSITION 1 1814 1832 136F FEC F4B 2 13C9 135A 1360 F4E 1097 3 137E 1148 138E 134E 133F 4 137C 136E 13B2 ECO 13A6

See Test Plan in Figure 32 for illustration of tag positions for each pattern. Face 1 of our stack is the side where pattern 4 and 5 containers are positioned. Face 2 of our stack is the end where pattern 2 containers are positioned Face 3 of our stack is the face opposite Face 1. Face 4 of our stack is opposite Face 2. The Bay 59 is the bay where containers on Face 2 are stacked. Bay 61 is the second row of containers moving back from Face 2 Bay 64 is the third row of container moving back from Face 2 Bay 68 is the fourth row of containers moving back from Face 2 Bay 72 is the fifth row of containers moving back from Face 2 Position 1 is the first row of containers on Face 1 Position 2 is the second row of containers moving back from Face 1 Position 3 is the third row of containers moving back from Face 1 Position 4 is the fourth row of containers moving back from Face 1 Position 5 is the fifth row of containers moving back from Face 1 Height 1 is the ground level container in any stack. Height 2, 3, 4, 5, etc are respectively moving higher in any stack Container are positioned by the Bay number, the position number, and the height number. Pattern 4 (5 containers in #2 height onFace 1) Container Number COPU 236440-2 HLXU 260561-0 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 966695-6 HLXU 457117-0 Bay 59 61 64 68 72 Position 1 1 1 1 1 Height 2 2 2 2 2 TAG POSITION 1 1821 None 11D5 13AB 1809 2 1344 17FD 1817 13AF 1190 3 1397 13BE F45 10BD 1391 4 1813 684 1346 183D 1027

95

Pattern 3 (Column at corner of Face 1 and 2) Container Number HLXU 221126-2 COPU 236440-2 NYKU 257254-0 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 198038-2 Bay 59 59 59 59 59 Position 1 1 1 1 1 Height 1 2 3 4 5 TAG POSITION 1 182D 1821 1133 1343 1021 2 1838 1344 1833 1820 1340 3 180B 1397 13BF 1803 1366 4 NONE 1813 1821 1133 1343

Pattern 2 (5 containers across Face 2 at height 3) Container Number NYKU 257254-0 PONU 018719-7 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 256927-4 TTNU 318245-8 Bay 59 59 59 59 59 Position 1 2 3 4 5 Height 3 3 3 3 3 TAG POSITION 1 182D 1352 1379 1373 13BO 2 182E ECF 1361 1356 137F 3 13A7 1810 13B7 17FA 1348 4 13C! 1369 13A2 1364 13A1

Pattern 1 ( container stack in the middle at Bay 64, Position 3) Container Number TTNU 583003-5 GATU 861360-4 TCKU 931425-6 TCNU 954041-1 TRIU 968716-4 Bay 64 64 64 64 64 Position 3 3 3 3 3 Height 1 2 3 4 5 TAG POSITION 1 17F9 13AD 17FE 927 1384 2 13A8 13C8 138D 133E 13CB 3 11A8 136D 1837 6A1 F22 4 NONE 13A9 1385 13B6 1819

Containers in Yellow were moved before test. They were in the stack, but location unknown) Container COPU 236440-2 in 59,1,2 in both patterns 3 & 4 with identical tag placement (tags shown twice) Container HLXU 221126-2 in 59,1,1 in both patterns 3 & 5 with different tag placements (7 total tags) Container NYKU 257254-0 in 59,1,3 in both pattern 2 & 3 with different tag placements (8 total tags) Some tag numbers are shown twice when they represent both the top of one container and bottom of another.

Table 5. Active UHF RFID Test set-up for container tracking and tag positions.

96

First Test (Was Performed on Face F1)

At 8 Feet:
0 degrees 45 deg. 90 deg. 180 deg. 270 deg. 315 deg. 1 11:17:00 11:19:00 11:20:00 11:21:00 11:22:00 N/A 2 2:05:00 2:06:00 2:07:00 2:08:00 2:09:00 N/A 3 2:13:00 2:14:00 2:15:00 2:16:00 2:17:00 N/A 4 2:21:00 2:22:00 2:23:00 2:24:00 2:25:00 N/A 5 2:28:00 2:29:00 2:30:00 2:31:00 2:32:00 2:34:00 6 2:38:00 2:39:00 2:40:00 2:41:00 2:42:00 2:43:00 7 2:46:00 2:47:00 2:48:00 2:49:00 2:50:00 2:51:00 8 2:53:00 N/A 2:54:00 2:55:00 2:56:00 2:57:00 9 3:01:00 3:02:00 N/A 3:03:00 3:04:00 3:05:00 10 3:08:00 N/A 3:09:00 3:10:00 3:11:00 3:12:00

Note: After 2:08 the car was moved as far away from the reader as possible.

At 16 Feet 7 Inches:
0 degrees 45 deg. 90 deg. 180 deg. 270 deg. 315 deg. 1 11:29:41 11:31:00 11:32:00 11:33:00 11:34:00 N/A 2 1:48:00 1:49:00 1:50:00 1:51:00 1:52:00 1:53:00 3 1:41:00 1:42:00 1:43:00 1:44:00 1:45:00 1:46:00 4 1:33:15 1:34:15 1:35:15 1:36:15 1:37:15 1:38:15 5 1:27:00 N/A 1:29:00 1:30:00 1:31:00 1:28:00 6 1:20:00 1:21:00 1:22:00 1:23:00 1:24:00 N/A 7 1:14:00 1:15:00 1:16:00 1:17:00 1:18:00 N/A 8 1:07:00 1:08:00 1:09:00 1:10:00 1:11:00 N/A 9 1:01:00 1:02:00 1:03:00 1:04:00 1:05:00 N/A 10 12:54:00 12:55:00 12:56:00 12:57:00 12:58:00 N/A

At 25 Feet 1 Inch:
0 degrees 45 deg. 90 deg. 180 deg. 270 deg. 315 deg. 1 11:42:00 11:43:00 11:44:00 11:45:00 11:46:00 N/A 2 11:50:00 11:51:00 11:52:00 11:53:00 11:54:00 N/A 3 11:56:15 11:57:15 11:58:15 11:59:15 12:00:15 N/A 4 12:02:26 12:03:26 12:04:26 12:05:26 12:06:26 N/A 5 12:09:35 12:10:35 12:11:35 12:12:35 12:13:35 N/A 6 12:16:18 12:17:18 12:18:18 12:19:18 12:20:18 N/A 7 12:22:30 12:23:30 12:24:30 12:25:30 12:26:30 N/A 8 12:29:30 12:30:30 12:31:30 12:32:30 12:33:30 N/A 9 12:36:00 12:37:00 12:38:00 12:39:00 12:40:00 N/A 10 12:43:00 12:44:00 12:45:00 12:46:00 12:47:00 N/A

3:30:15 measured location 5 halfway at 0 degrees, 8 feet. 3:39:50 measured location 5 at the edge at 0 degrees, 8 feet. 3:59:00 measured location 5 at the edge at 0 degrees, 16 feet.

Second Test (performed on face F2)

In this test, all measurements were taken on the middle gap, with three stacks of containers on each side. 40 feet away from the containers:

97

4:13 PM

height was 8 feet.

20 feet away from the containers: 4:20 PM height was 8 feet. at the edge of the containers: 4:28 PM 8 feet 4:38 PM 16' 7'' 4:54:25 25' 1''

Third Test (performed on face F4)

All measurements taken on the middle gap and at the edge of the containers. 5:24 PM 5:34 PM 5:44 PM 25' 1'' 16' 7'' 8 feet

Table 6. Active UHF RFID Conducted field test with the times.

98

Face F4

10

1
Face F1

4
Face F3

third test here

99

40 feet

4 20 feet

3 20 feet

4
second test performed here

2 40 feet 1 0 degrees ------>

Face F2
Figure 39. Containers in the stack positioned during the day of the measurement for the active 915 MHz UHF RFID field test.

100

This test was performed at 8', 16', and 25' 4''

This test was only performed at 25' 4''

ECO was replaced by F4E

ECO

1
F4E

3
101

134E

134E

13A6

5
13A6

1097

5
1097

0F4B

4
0F4B

Figure 40. Canyon effect (Waveguiding) case active 915 MHz UHF RFID test set-up for container tracking.

102

Tag-ID

Container Number

Bay

Position

Height

TAG POSITION

Pattern

Location 1 8FT

Location 1 16FT

Location 1 25FT

Location 2 8FT

Location 2 16FT

Location 2 25FT

Location 3 8FT

Location 3 16FT

001814 0013C9 00137E 00137C 001832 00135A 001148 00136E 00136F 001360 00138E 0013B2 000FEC 000F4E 00134E 000EC0 000F4B 001097 00133F 0013A6 001821 001344 001397 001813 No TAG 0017FD 0013BE 000684 0011D5 001817 000F45 001346 0013AB 0013AF

HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6

59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

x x

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103

0010BD 00183D 001809 001190 001391 001027 001821 001344 001397 001813 00182D 001838 00180B No TAG 001133 001833 0013BF 001821 001021 001340 001366 001343 001343 001820 001803 001133 001373 001356 0017FA 001364 00182D 00182E 0013A7 0013C1 001379 001361 0013B7 0013A2

TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0

68 68 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

104

001352 000ECF 001810 001369 0013B0 00137F 001348 0013A1 0013AD 0013C8 00136D 0013A9 0017FE 00138D 001837 001385 000927 00133E 0006A1 0013B6 001384 0013CB 000F22 001819 0017F9 0013A8 0011A8 No TAG

PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5

59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64

2 2 2 2 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

x x x x x x

x x

x x

x x x

x x

105

Tag-ID

Container Number

Bay

Position

Height

TAG POSITION

Pattern

Location 3 25FT

Location 4 8FT

Location 4 16FT

Location 4 25FT

Location 5 8FT

Location 5 16 FT

Location 5 25FT

Location 6 8FT

001814 0013C9 00137E 00137C 001832 00135A 001148 00136E 00136F 001360 00138E 0013B2 000FEC 000F4E 00134E 000EC0 000F4B 001097 00133F 0013A6 001821 001344 001397 001813 No TAG 0017FD 0013BE 000684 0011D5 001817 000F45 001346 0013AB 0013AF 0010BD 00183D

HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6

59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

x x

x x x

x x x

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x x x

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106

001809 001190 001391 001027 001821 001344 001397 001813 00182D 001838 00180B No TAG 001133 001833 0013BF 001821 001021 001340 001366 001343 001343 001820 001803 001133 001373 001356 0017FA 001364 00182D 00182E 0013A7 0013C1 001379 001361 0013B7 0013A2 001352 000ECF

HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7

72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2

4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

107

001810 001369 0013B0 00137F 001348 0013A1 0013AD 0013C8 00136D 0013A9 0017FE 00138D 001837 001385 000927 00133E 0006A1 0013B6 001384 0013CB 000F22 001819 0017F9 0013A8 0011A8 No TAG

PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5

59 59 59 59 59 59 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64

2 2 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1

3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 x x x x x x x x

108

Tag-ID

Container Number

Bay

Position

Height

TAG POSITION

Pattern

Location 6 16FT

Location 6 25FT

Location 7 8FT

Location 7 16FT

Location 7 25FT

Location 8 8FT

Location 8 16FT

Location 8 25FT

001814 0013C9 00137E 00137C 001832 00135A 001148 00136E 00136F 001360 00138E 0013B2 000FEC 000F4E 00134E 000EC0 000F4B 001097 00133F 0013A6 001821 001344 001397 001813 No TAG 0017FD 0013BE 000684 0011D5 001817 000F45 001346 0013AB 0013AF 0010BD 00183D

HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6

59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

x x x x x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x

x x x

x x x

x x

x x

x x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x x x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x x

x x x x x x x

x x

x x x x

x x

x x x x x x

x x

109

001809 001190 001391 001027 001821 001344 001397 001813 00182D 001838 00180B No TAG 001133 001833 0013BF 001821 001021 001340 001366 001343 001343 001820 001803 001133 001373 001356 0017FA 001364 00182D 00182E 0013A7 0013C1 001379 001361 0013B7 0013A2 001352 000ECF

HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7

72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2

4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

110

001810 001369 0013B0 00137F 001348 0013A1 0013AD 0013C8 00136D 0013A9 0017FE 00138D 001837 001385 000927 00133E 0006A1 0013B6 001384 0013CB 000F22 001819 0017F9 0013A8 0011A8 No TAG

PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5

59 59 59 59 59 59 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64

2 2 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1

3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 x x x x

111

Tag-ID

Container Number

Bay

Position

Height

TAG POSITION

Pattern

Location 9 8FT

Location 9 16FT

Location 9 25FT

Location 10 8FT

Location 10 16FT

Location 10 25FT

001814 0013C9 00137E 00137C 001832 00135A 001148 00136E 00136F 001360 00138E 0013B2 000FEC 000F4E 00134E 000EC0 000F4B 001097 00133F 0013A6 001821 001344 001397 001813 No TAG 0017FD 0013BE 000684 0011D5 001817 000F45 001346 0013AB 0013AF 0010BD 00183D

HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 221126-2 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 HLUX 316405-7 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 ZCSU 811148-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 CLHU 851935-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 HLXU 452424-5 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 HLXU 260561-0 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 934866-2 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6 TCKU 966695-6

59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 61 61 61 61 64 64 64 64 68 68 68 68

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

112

001809 001190 001391 001027 001821 001344 001397 001813 00182D 001838 00180B No TAG 001133 001833 0013BF 001821 001021 001340 001366 001343 001343 001820 001803 001133 001373 001356 0017FA 001364 00182D 00182E 0013A7 0013C1 001379 001361 0013B7 0013A2 001352 000ECF

HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 HLXU 457117-0 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 COPU 236440-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 HLXU 221126-2 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 198038-2 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 TTNU 335697-1 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 256927-4 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 257254-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 NYKU 263405-0 PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7

72 72 72 72 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2

4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x x x x x x

113

001810 001369 0013B0 00137F 001348 0013A1 0013AD 0013C8 00136D 0013A9 0017FE 00138D 001837 001385 000927 00133E 0006A1 0013B6 001384 0013CB 000F22 001819 0017F9 0013A8 0011A8 No TAG

PONU 018719-7 PONU 018719-7 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 TTNU 318245-8 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 GATU 861360-4 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCKU 931425-6 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TCNU 954041-1 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TRIU 968716-4 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5 TTNU 583003-5

59 59 59 59 59 59 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64 64

2 2 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 1 1 1 1

3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Table 7. Overall active UHF RFID tags by location on the containers in the stack.

114

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118