The Practicality of Multi-Tag

RFID Systems
Leonid Bolotnyy
Scott Krize
Gabriel Robins

Department of

Computer Science

University of Virginia

Introduction
RFID
Tags types:

passive

semi-passive

active

Frequencies: Low (125KHz), High (13.56MHz), UHF (915MHz)

Coupling methods:

signal

signal
reader
antenna

Inductive coupling

Backscatter coupling

History
Radar invented - 1935
EAS invented - early 1960s
First RFID patent filed - 1973
First RFID book published - 1999
Auto-ID Center formed - 1999
EPCglobal formed - 2004
First RFID game marketed - 2006

Object Identification
Bar-codes vs. RFID
line-of-sight
scanning rate

Unreliability of object detection

radio noise is ubiquitous

temperature and humidity
objects/readers moving speed
liquids and metals are opaque to RF
milk, water, juice
metal-foil wrappers

object occlusion
number of objects grouped together
tag variability and receptivity
tag aging

Case Studies
Defense Logistics Agency trials (2001)

3% of moving objects did not reach destination

20% of tags recorded at every checkpoint
2% of a tag type detected at 1 checkpoint
some tags registered on arrival but not departure

Wal-Mart experiments (2005)

90% tag detection at case level
95% detection on conveyor belts
66% detection inside fully loaded pallets

Multi-Tag RFID
Use Multiple tags per object to increase
reliability of object detection/identification

The Power of an Angle

Inductive coupling: voltage ~ sin(), distance ~ (power)1/6
Far-field propagation: voltage ~ sin2(), distance ~ (power)1/2
B-field

Optimal Tag Placement:

4
1

[ x(2 cos x )dx (

0

[ x(2 cos x) dx] /(2 )

0

x )(2 cos x) dx] /

2

Equipment and Setup

Equipment

4 linear antennas by Alien Technology

4 circular antennas by Alien Technology
4 circular antennas by ThingMagic

Setup

empty room
20 solid non-metallic & 20 metallic and liquid objects
tags positioned perpendicular to each other
tags spaced apart
software drivers

Experiments
Read all tags in readers field
Randomly shuffle objects
Compute average detection rates
Variables

reader type
antenna type
tag type
antenna power
object type
number of objects
number of tags per object
tags orientation
tags receptivity

Linear Antennas

1Tag: 58%
2Tags: 79%
3Tags: 89%
4Tags: 93%

Circular Antennas

1Tag: 75%
2Tags: 94%
3Tags: 98%
4Tags: 100%

Linear Antennas vs. Multi-tags

Power = 31.6dBm
1
0.9
0.8

Detection Probability

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4

2 Readers, 2 Tags 84.5%

= 5.2%

0.3
0.2

1 Reader,

=14.4%

0.1

= 6.9%

0
1

2 Readers, 1 Tag

64.9%

1 Reader,

1 Tag

58.0%

12

14

10

11

=19.8%

2 Tags 79.3%

Object Number

13

15

=21.3%
16

17

18

19

20

Circular Antennas vs. Multi-Tags

Power = 31.6dBm

1
0.9

Detection Probability

0.8
0.7
0.6

2 Readers, 2 Tags 99.4%

= 5.2%

0.5

1 Reader,

=3.2%
0.4

= 15.1%

=8.4%

2 Tags 94.2%

2 Readers, 1 Tag

91.0%

1 Reader,

75.9%

1 Tag

=18.3%

0.3
1

10

11

12

Object Number

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Power
1 Tag

2 Tags

3 Tags

4 Tags

Decrease in detection with decrease in power

More rapid decrease in detection for circular antennas

Importance of Tag Orientation

Uni-polar tags

Bi-polar tags

Controlling Variables
1.

Radio noise

2.

Tag variability

3.

Reader variability

4.

Reader power level

5.

Distance to objects &

type, # of antennas

Detection in Presence of Metals & Liquids

Circular Antenna
1

Detection Probability

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

Power=31.6dBm, No Liquids/Metals

Power=31.6dBm, With Liquids/Metals

Power=27.6dBm, No Liquids/Metals

Power=27.6dBm, With Liquids/Metals

0
1

Number of Tags

Decrease in solid/non-liquid object detection

Significant at low power
Similar results for linear antennas

Multi-Tags on Metals and Liquids

0.9
0.8

Power=31.6dBm, Circular Antennas

Power=31.6dBm, Linear Antennas
Power=27.6dBm, Circular Antennas
Power=27.6dBm, Linear Antennas

Detection Probability

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

1 Tag

2 Tags
3 Tags
Antenna #1

1 Tag

2 Tags
3 Tags
Antenna #2
Number of Tags

Low detection probabilities

Drop in detection at low power

1 Tag

2 Tags
3 Tags
Antenna #1 and #2

Linear antennas outperform circular

Multi-tags better than multiple readers

Varying Number of Objects

Experiment 1: 15 solid non-metallic & 15 liquids and metals
Experiment 2: 20 solid non-metallic & 20 liquids and metals

Metals & Liquids

: 3%-13%

Detection Delta

Anti-Collision Algorithms
Algorithm

Redundant Tags

Connected-Tags

Binary

No Effect

No Effect

Binary Variant

No Effect

No Effect

Randomized

Linear Increase** No Effect*

STAC

Causes DoS

Slotted Aloha

Linear Increase** No Effect*

No Effect*

* Assuming tags communicate to form a single response

** If all tags are detected

Applications of Multi-Tags
Reliability

Availability

Localization
Safety

More Applications
Security

Packaging

Theft Prevention

Tagging Bulk Materials

Economics of Multi-Tags
Year

Cost

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2011

$1.04
$0.81
$0.45
$0.19
$0.13
$0.08
$0.06
$0.05
$0.01

Rapid decrease in passive tag cost

5 cent tag expected in 2008
1 penny tag in a few years

Cost Trends

Time

Business Case for RFID

Costs & benefits (business case)

Moores law
higher employee productivity
reduction in workforce
automated business processes
workforce reduction

Tag manufacturing yield and testing

30% of chips damaged during manufacturing

15% damaged during printing [U.S. GAO]
20% tag failure rate in field [RFIDJournal]
5% of tags purchased marked defective

RFID Tag Demand

Demand drivers
tag cost
desire to stay competitive

Increase in RFID tag demand

Decrease in RFID tag cost

Cost effective tag design techniques

memory design (self-adaptive silicon)
assembly technology (fluidic self assembly)
antenna design (antenna material)

Conclusion
Unreliability of object detection

radio noise is ubiquitous

temperature and humidity
objects/readers moving speed
liquids and metals are opaque to RF
milk, water, juice
metal-foil wrappers

object occlusion
number of objects grouped together
tag variability and receptivity
tag aging

Many useful applications

Favorable economics

Our Research
Multi-Tags

Generalized Yoking Proofs

3
RFID

PUF

Inter-Tag Communication

Thank You

Questions?