Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - Research Review Essay by Paul Frederick - Computer Collection of Essays from Scholarship 2007-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com

Paul Frederick

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - Research Review Essay
- by Paul Frederick

Since the advent of radar, radio frequencies have been used to determine the identification of different objects. (The Magic of RFID, 42) In today's society, the uses of radio frequency (RF) are more advanced than ever before. In this essay, I plan to review and discuss the concepts, devices, and uses of RFID in reference to each of the journal articles I have examined.

The first article, cleverly named "Now you see it and now you don't", describes many of the characteristics and definitions of RFID. According to this article, RFID is defined as an "automatic way to collect product, place, time, or transaction data quickly and easily without human intervention or error" (Bansal, 1). RFID is based upon two parts: a reader and a transponder. The reader carries a small bit of radio energy which is used to extract data from the transponder IC and then send it back to the reader which then feeds it to a computer for processing. (Bansal, 1).

This type of identification collecting (as the article describes), can both be a godsend and a nightmare depending on who you are talking to. Most corporations see this product as a new and more advanced technique for identifying there products, and offering a real-time view of there software. A good example they point out, is that a whole shopping cart can be "read" at once without having to scan each item.

The flipside to the RFID technology, are security concerns brought on by privacy advocates. They say that RFID could be used to hinder people's personal security, as every device a person would use would be tagged and there actions could possibly be monitored by a third party. Theoretically, the money in your pocket could be monitored by a third party. Science has already helped ease the concerns of many privacy issues by implementing such things as the "Kill Tag" Approach, where a RF tag would be disabled after it was scanned at a checkout counter (Bansal, 2). Or the �Faraday Cage approach�, which requires a person to place there object in a metal cage, so that it would be shielded from transmitting.(Bansal,2) Other options such as passive or active jamming could be implemented to (illegally) interrupt the signal from reaching its source, by sending random signals to the receivers.(Bansal,2)

The second article I researched is called "The Magic of RFID". This article is quite a bit more in depth than the other articles I have and will discuss in this review. In particular, this article gives us a more in-depth overview of the uses for such tags, how the tags work, different immuring standards, and future problems which may arise.

Even though the technology is 40 years old, the reason it wasn't being used extensively was because of the price. Our economy, because of its size, would need to rely on a system like RFID to maintain low prices and high consumption rates of products in the future. At the moment, the price for RFID is around 50cents/tag, with the price dramatically dropping as the need and science improves (The Magic of RFID, 43). Analysts say that the cost for RFID tags would have to be less than 5cents each to actually be a worthwhile investment for companies. Those companies, such as Wal-Mart, Tesco, and the Department of Defense are interested in this developing technology for improved tracking of inventories. Commercial deployment will focus on pallet or crate level tracking in a warehouse, and may lead to individual item tracking in the future (as the prices per RFID fall because of use). Even though these uses are still to be seen, we have to understand the technology to understand there potential uses.

An RFID is made up of to basic components; an antenna and a silicon chip. RFID antennas are capable of running anywhere from 10 to 900 MHz, in the UHF band. Tags which run <100 MHz (or near field tags), are powered by magnetic induction while higher frequency tags (or far field tags), run on electromagnetic induction. The range of a tag is c/2*pi*f. So a 13.56Mhz RFID would only be readable to 3.6meters. The higher the frequency the lower the range, as a 915 MHz RFID can only be read six centimeters away. Generally the decrease in field strength is exponential as you go father away from the reader, so most RFID systems would be able to read at only approximately 30cm away from the ID (depending if you are using a standard frequency). (The Magic of RFID, 43)

Next, the chip on an RFID is quite important and can contain a fairly large amount of information (depending on use). A 96bit RFID could handle roughly 79 octillion different numbers. So the amount of IDs surpasses some of the most complex barcode systems we use today. Tamper evident (switch based) chips on IDs could be used as a simple security system. It could be used to notify that something was opened or contaminated. Memory on RFIDs could be used to store information such as the previous owner's information on a car's VIN tag. These two components makeup the basis of the ID itself, but the system isn't complete without a reader. (The Magic of RFID, 44)

To recover the identity of the id, a reader simply decodes the change in current as a varying potential developed across a series resistance. In essence, the reader sends a signal, and reads the signal it receives back from the device. If multiple RFIDs are in the general area, the readers are capable of controlling a time window for each tag to respond, avoiding collisions (determined by the id code of the tag). (The Magic of RFID, 45)

The author pointed out two major problems with current implementations. There isn't one common set of RFID standards and there is a problem managing the databases which would be needed to hold the records for the IDs. The two main competing standards are ISO 14443 operates at 12.56 MHz; EPC global (96-bit) operates at 915 MHz. Wal-Mart will be implementing the EPCglobal standard, and Nokia will be incorporating an ISO 14443 standard reader on its cell phones. These inconsistencies can cause problem in the markets adaptation of this technology. The other problem discussed was that of the computer backend. The amount of information will greatly surpass what is currently in use and database management will have to deal with that change. This can possibly mean new database structures. (The Magic of RFID, 47)

The third piece looked at, is one called "enabling ubiquitous Sensing with RFID". This article contains a lot of the similar content of the previous articles, but goes into more detail with respect to uses. This article and "the magic of RFID" are authored by the same person, so his ideals remain from above.

In the beginning of this article, Mr. Want describes how the new system could dramatically change the way in which we do business. Having this system (in comparison to barcode), means that one could imbed the id into the packaging, sewn into an item, or even (and the best use), "sandwiched between a banknote's layered paper." Using this system he says can help bridge the digital and physical worlds better. (Enabling..., 1)

In this article, Mr. Want points out some common systems with currently deploy RFID technologies, and immerging technologies dealing with advanced IDs. Currently, RFIDs are used in commercial applications like door latches for buildings, Medial bracelets. He goes on to describe how one could setup RFIDs to do more than just contain an ID, and contain vital information, such as a temperature sensor, and a vibration sensor. So that if something is not correct, there wouldn't have to be a manual check of inventory to find out, thus saving money. Auburn University is currently researching these types of sensor RFID tags which would be designed to monitor the amount of contamination inside of something. These types of sensor technologies in RFID could potentially be used as an alert system for hazardous chemicals, or possibly chemical attacks. (Enabling�, 2) Because of there tiny size (the examples are roughly quarter sized), they would be easy to fit into anything. As the technology grows, more and more different types of sensors could be used online and "take data mining to a new dimension". (Enabling..., 3)

The fourth and last paper I looked named "Integrating RFID", dealt with the issue concerning databases brought up by the second paper, this one called if there was a database management system out there, it would have to be extremely fast, and extremely large. Many companies are worried that the number of possible numbers and the amount of items being used though the RFID system at one given time could possibly end up with an impedance mismatch, or in other words there would be a tag that could possibly be confused with another tag. (Sarma, 55) The author describes different ways to decrease the problem of impedance mismatch by developing a structure to have fault tolerance, as well as basic event essaying. (Sarma, 56) Basic event essaying would be "tag being read for first time", or "tag disappeared from view" known as RFID middleware. This along with volume management can help reduce problem when it comes to decoding/encoding RFID sensors with data. Some terms used to define the problem with Warehouse management are ERP (enterprise resource planning), which deals with pallets, and not items. Most systems discussed in this article use a combination of both existing barcode based systems, as well as newer RFID systems for the larger pallet/warehouse inventories. (Sarma, 54)

Overall, after immersing myself in varying articles describing this technology in great detail, its no wonder why so many companies are trying to hop on to this idea. As these journals pointed out, the future of industry rests on the decisions made by this major technology, and because of its many uses privacy advocates are worried about infringing rights. Overall, my opinion has to be that this technology is more of a blessing then it is a concern.

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