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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Shahad S. Alghamdi, Physics Department Student, bachelor’s degree

Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU)

Electronics course research project

Dr. Huda Abdulrahman Alburih

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Contents

1 Introduction 4
2 Radio Frequency Identification 5
2.1 History of RFID 6
2.2 Primary Components of RFID 7
Devices
2.3 Passive v. Active Tags 10
2.4 Radio Frequency 11
2.5 Read/Write Capacity 12
2.6 Applications of RFID 13
2.7 Benefits of Using RFID 14
2.8 Future scoop 14
3 Conclusions 15
4 References 16
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Abstract.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification technology making

its way to supply chains in Retail, Pharmaceutical, and other industries.

RFID extends the reach of supply chain information systems in such a way that it will

soon be possible and economically feasible to tag valuable physical objects and then to

track and trace them, enabling many novel and useful applications.

Keywords: RFID, Radio frequency identification

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1 Introduction

In recent years automatic identification procedures (Auto-ID) have become very popular in many

service industries, purchasing and distribution logistics, industry, manufacturing companies and

material flow systems. Automatic identification procedures exist to provide information about

people, animals, goods and products in transit. The omnipresent barcode labels that triggered a

revolution in identification systems some considerable time ago, are being found to be

inadequate in an increasing number of cases. Barcodes may be extremely cheap, but their

stumbling block is their low storage capacity and the fact that they cannot be reprogrammed. The

technically optimal solution would be the storage of data in a silicon chip. The most common

form of electronic data-carrying devices in use in everyday life is the smart card based upon a

contact field (telephone smart card, bank cards). However, the mechanical contact used in the

smart card is often impractical. A contactless transfer of data between the data-carrying device

and its reader is far more flexible. In the ideal case, the power required to operate the electronic

data-carrying device would also be transferred from the reader using contactless technology.

Because of the procedures used for the transfer of power and data, contactless ID systems are

called RFID systems (radio frequency identification). Furthermore, in recent years contactless

identification has been developing into an independent interdisciplinary field, which no longer

fits into any of the conventional pigeonholes. It brings together elements from extremely varied

fields: RF technology and EMC, semiconductor technology, data protection and cryptography,

telecommunications, manufacturing technology and many related areas.

As an introduction, the following section gives a brief overview of different automatic ID

systems that perform similar functions to RFID (Figure 1.1).

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(Figure 1.1).

2 Radio Frequency Identification

Understanding what RFID devices are and how they work is critical to an analysis of

the policy, healthcare, tracking shipments, issues surrounding this technology. Generic references

to “RFID technology” may be applied incorrectly to a wide range of devices or capabilities. For

example, RFID by itself is not a location-tracking technology. At sites where readers are

installed, RFID maybe used to track tagged objects, but this static readability differs from

technology such as global positioning systems, or GPS, which uses a network of satellites to

pinpoint the location of a receiver. And RFID technology itself can be used for a variety of
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applications, from contactless identification cards that can be scanned no farther than inches

away from a reader, to highway systems utilizing “active” RFID tags that can initiate

communication with a scanner 100 feet away.

2.1 History of RFID

The history of recognition via radio waves technology goes back to Faraday’s discovery that

light and radio waves are both forms of energy in 1864. In 1946 Leon Theremin invented a tool

for the government of the Soviet Union that was able to transfer the radio waves caused by any

events in the form of sound to the desired location. These sound waves would translate reflection

of radio waves into an understandable language by mobilizing the diaphragm that was connected

to a vibrator device. This tool is considered as the first RFID-based device, but some of the

sources believe that RFID technology was common among the experts since 1920 and has been

completed in 1960s.

Another technology that was very similar to RFID is named IFF (Identification Friend or Foe).

IFF was invented in Great Britain in 1939 and was used as an efficient tool in World War II in

order to make it easier to identify German aircrafts as enemy aircrafts (Figure2).

(Figure2)
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2.2 Primary Components of RFID Devices

RFID devices have three primary elements: a chip, an antenna, and a reader. A fourth important

part of any RFID system is the database where information about tagged objects is stored.

• The chip, usually made of silicon, contains information about the item to which

it is attached. Chips used by retailers and manufacturers to identify consumer

goods may contain an Electronic Product Code (“EPC”). The EPC is the RFID equivalent of the

familiar universal product code (“UPC”), or bar code, currently imprinted on many products. Bar

codes must be optically scanned and contain only generic product information. By contrast, EPC

chips are encrypted with a unique product code that identifies the individual product to which it

is attached and can be read using radio frequency. These codes contain the type of data that

product manufacturers and retailers will use to track the authenticity and location of goods

throughout the supply chain.

An RFID chip may also contain information other than an EPC, such as biometric data (a

digitized image of a fingerprint or photograph, for example). In addition, some chips may not be

loaded with information uniquely identifying the tagged object at all; so-called “electronic article

surveillance systems” (“EAS”) may utilize radio frequency communication to combat

shoplifting, but not to uniquely identify individual items.

• The antenna attached to the chip is responsible for transmitting information from the

chip to the reader, using radio waves. Generally, the bigger the antenna,

the longer the read range. The chip and antenna combination is referred to as a transponder or,

more commonly, as a tag. Participants at the workshop brought samples of tags currently in use.

The pictures below show a common EPC tag that can be affixed to an object (Figure A) and a

paper hang-tag that can be attached to individual articles of clothing (Figure B).
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Figure A. EPC tag Figure B. RFID hang-tag

• The reader, or scanning device, also has its own antenna, which it uses to communicate

with the tag. Readers vary in size, weight, and power, and may be mobile or stationary.

Although anyone with access to the proper reader can scan

an RFID tag, RFID systems can employ authentication and encryption to prevent

unauthorized reading of data. “Reading” tags refers to the communication between the

tag and reader via radio waves operating at a certain frequency. In contrast to bar codes,

one of RFID’s principal distinctions is tags and readers can communicate with each other

without being in each other’s line-of-sight. Therefore, a reader

can scan a tag without physically “seeing” it. Further, RFID readers can process multiple

items at one time, resulting in a much-increased (again as compared to UPC codes)

“speed of read.”

The pictures on the opposite page show various RFID readers: a stationary reader that

could be used to track tagged cases of goods entering a warehouse a mobile reader used to

monitor inventory on a retail store floor and a prototype of a glove embedded with a scanner

used to track daily domestic living activities

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• The database, or other back-end logistics system, stores information about RFID- tagged

objects. Access to both a reader and its corresponding database are necessary before

information stored on an RFID tag can be obtained and understood. to interpret such data,

RFID readers must be able to communicate with a database or other computer program.

One protocol being developed for product manufacturers uses chips embedded

with a 96-bit EPC code – a number – that includes several fields identifying the manufacturer

(“ABC Company”), the product (“cola”), its size or its packaging (“24-pack of cola cans”),

and a unique identifier. This system, the “EPCglobal Network,” calls for a secure network of

servers that will share information obtained from tagged objects moving through the supply

chain. According to the network’s architect, EPCglobal, the data will be stored on EPCglobal

member company databases, access to which will be controlled by those individual

companies. In order to interpret what these fields mean, a directory, or “object naming

service” (“ONS”), will direct the reader to the appropriate server(s) where the data from the

tag and associated information are stored. The ONS will function much like a reverse

telephone directory or an Internet browser, which translates a URL into a Web site. In the

RFID context, the ONS will identify what server has information about the tagged item,

allowing an RFID user to interpret the meaning of the particular code on a particular tag. The

database information will vary with the context. For example, with automatic highway toll

payment systems, databases will link account numbers stored on a tag to the appropriate

prepaid account for billing purposes.

Although all RFID systems have these essential components, other variables affect the use or set

of applications for which a particular tag is appropriate. As discussed further below, key factors

include whether the tag used is “active” or “passive”; what radio frequency is used; the size of
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the antennas attached to the chip and to the reader; what and how much information can be

stored on a tag; and whether the tag is “read/write” or “read-only.” These factors affect the read

ranges of the systems as well as the kind of object that can usefully be tagged. They also impact

the cost, which is an especially important commercial consideration when tagging a large volume

of items.

2.3 Passive v. Active Tags

There are three types of RFID tags, differentiated by how they communicate and how that

communication is initiated:

• Passive tags have no onboard power source – meaning no battery – and do

not initiate communication. A reader must first query a passive tag, sending

electromagnetic waves that form a magnetic field when they “couple” with

the antenna on the RFID tag. Consistent with any applicable authorization,

authentication, and encryption, the tag will then respond to the reader, sending

via radio waves the data stored on it. Currently, depending on the size of the antenna and

the frequency, passive tags can be read, at least theoretically, from

up to thirty feet away. However, real-world environmental factors, such as wind and

interference from substances like water or metal, can reduce the actual read range for

passive tags to ten feet or less.28 Passive tags are already used for a wide array of

applications, including building-access cards, mass transit tickets, and, increasingly,

tracking consumer products through the supply chain. Depending on the sophistication of

the chip, such as how much memory it has or its encryption capability, a passive tag

currently costs between 20 cents and several dollars.

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• Semi-passive tags, like passive tags, do not initiate communication with readers, but they

do have batteries. This onboard power is used to operate the circuitry

on the chip, storing information such as ambient temperature. Semi-passive tags can be

combined, for example, with sensors to create “smart dust” – tiny wireless sensors that

can monitor environmental factors. A grocery chain might use smart dust to track energy

use, or a vineyard to measure incremental weather changes that could critically affect

grapes. Devices using smart dust, also known as “motes,” currently cost about $100 each,

but, in a few years, reportedly could drop to less than $10 apiece.

• Active tags can initiate communication and typically have onboard power. They can

communicate the longest distances – 100 or more feet. Currently, active tags typically

cost $20 or more. A familiar application of active tags is for automatic toll payment

systems, like the Northeast’s “E-ZPass,” that allow cars bearing active tags to use express

lanes that don’t require drivers to stop and pay.

2.4 Radio Frequency

Communication between RFID tags and readers is also affected by the radio frequency used,

which determines the speed of communications as well as the distance from which tags can be

read. Higher frequency typically means longer read range. Low-frequency (“LF”) tags, which

operate at less than 135 kilohertz (KHz), are thus appropriate for short-range uses, like animal

identification and anti-theft systems, such as RFID-embedded automobile keys. Systems that

operate at 13.56 megahertz (MHz) are characterized as high frequency (“HF”). Both low-

frequency and high-frequency tags can be passive. Scanners can read multiple HF tags at once
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and at a faster rate than LF tags. A key use of HF tags is in contactless “smart cards,” such as

mass transit cards or building-access badges.

The third frequency, Ultra-High Frequency (“UHF”), is contemplated for widespread use by

some major retailers, who are working with their suppliers to apply UHF tags to cases and pallets

of goods. These tags, which operate at around 900 MHz, can be read at longer distances, which

outside the laboratory environment range between three and possibly fifteen feet. However, UHF

tags are more sensitive to environmental factors like water, which absorb the tag’s energy and

thus block its ability to communicate with a reader.

2.5 Read/Write Capacity

Another important feature of RFID tags is their “read/write” capacity, or “read- only”

status. These terms refer to a tag’s ability to have data added to it during its lifetime. The

information stored on a “read-only” tag cannot be altered, but a writeable tag (with read/write

capacity) can receive and store additional information. Read/write applications are most
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prevalent when tags are re-used. They are usually more sophisticated and costlier than read-only

applications. In addition, read/write applications have shorter read ranges. Read- only tags are

well-suited to applications like item-level tagging of retail goods, since they are less expensive

and, as part of a networked system, can provide a great deal of information by directing the

reader to the associated database(s) where information about the tagged item is maintained.

2.6 RFID Applications

RFID technology is used in many office buildings to control the movement of staff in legal and

illegal departments. Some applications of RFID technology include:

• Security applications

• Warehousing and stocking goods

• Livestock management

• Controlling entry and exit of vehicles

• Books and libraries management

• Medical and experimental analysis

• Access control

• Controlling the number of rounds. For example, number of rounds a runner should run will

be automatically recorded.
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• Vehicle identification

2.7 Benefits of RFID

Both readers and tags can be in different sizes and shapes. Some of the benefits of using RFID

technology include:

• Tags can be hidden or embedded in most materials.

• Due to the fact that tags are available in different sizes and shapes, users can choose one of

them according to their needs.

• To read the code, tag does not have to be placed under direct vision of the reader.

• Due to the nature of tags (no need for direct contact), there will not be any wear or tear.

2.8 Future Scoop

RFID technology uses radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. After sixty

years of development RFID is being used in many fields. There are some problems

needed to overcome before RFID technology becomes widespread in the world. One

major problem is the high costs, the other is privacy issue. After avoiding problems, the

RFID technology will be a big help to human. Price of RFID tags are expected to

decrease. RFID tags will only become cheaper and more powerful with improving

technology and design experience. Some standards for RFID system are under

development. Also, there is improvement in tag life expectancy and durability in past few

years. The RFID technology brings new opportunities as well as challenges to the AIDC
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infrastructure. Although RFID suffers from many limitations but still Demand for RFID

systems is increasing day by day. RFID tags can combine with sensors of different kinds.

This would allow the tag to report not simply the same information over and over but

identifying information along with current data picked up by sensors. Over times, the

proportion of “scan-it-yourself” will increase. RFID technology does not replace barcode.

This technology improves barcode by adding functions which existing barcode

technology fail to achieve.

3 Conclusion

RFID technology will open new doors to make organizations, companies more secure,

reliable, and accurate. The first part of this paper has explained and described the RFID

technology and its components, and the second part has discussed the RFID technology

in terms of advantages and limitations. The last part explores RFID technology

applications. The paper considers RFID technology as a means to provide new

capabilities and efficient methods for several applications.

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4 References

1. Frederick E Terman, Radio Engineers Handbook, McGraw Hill, 1943

2. Landt J. The history of RFID, 2004

3. Journal, R. RFID (radio frequency identification) technology news & features2002

4. Ahson, S.A. and Ilyas, M. RFID handbook: Applications, technology, security, and

privacy;2008.

5. Anderson, R. (1998) The use of Polymer Thick Film for printing of Contactless

Smartcard Coils. DuPont Photopolymer & Electronic Materials. Smart Card

Technologies and applications – second workshop on smart card technologies and

applications. IEEE Tagungsband, Berlin, 16 November 1998