Transcript RFID Technologies

RFID Technologies
Master seminar : Tangible User Interfaces
Bruno Dumas – DIVA Group
University of Fribourg
9.12.2005
Presentation summary
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“RFID” ?
Base of the technology
Technical aspects
Advantages & Limitations
“Standard” applications
Applications to TUIs
Conclusion
“RFID” ?
• RFID -> Radio Frequency IDentification
• Derived from early military technology
(russian “bugs”, 1939 Allied IFF systems,
etc.)
• First papers on the RFID theory in the 60’s
• First high scale deployments in the 90’s
• 21st century : RFID everywhere ?
Base of the Technology
• Necessary elements : a reader and a tag
• Reader sends a wave at a given frequency
• If a tag is close enough to the reader, it will
receive the wave
• The tag is designed to take advantage of the
wave energy to send back an answer,
enclosing (for example) its identity
Base of the technology
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Technical aspects : Tags
• Different types of tags :
• (Pure) passive
• Semi-active (same technology than
passive tags, but battery assisted)
• Active (contain a transceiver, battery
assisted)
Increase in read range, but also in price !
Technical Aspects : frequencies
• RFID operates at different frequencies
Freqency
Price range
Read Range
Limitations
Applications
Low frequency
125-134 kHz
low
Low ( < 1 m.)
Low reading
speed
Animal/Container
tracking…
High Frequency
13.56 Mhz
Low to Middle
Low ( < 1.5 m)
Problems with
metal
Library, access
control…
Ultra-high freq.
860-930 MHz
Middle to High
High ( > 10 m)
Interference
problems
Pallet/Vehicle
tracking…
Microwave
2.4 GHz
High
High ( > 50 m)
Not widely
deployed
Vehicle access
control
Technical aspects : protocols
• Numerous protocols…
• … Really numerous :
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ISO standards
Industry-defined (EPC) standards
US Department of Defense standards
And *lots* of proprietary solutions…
Technical aspects : Protocols
• Proof by example : the 860-930 Mhz range
QuickTime™ et un
décompresseur T IF F ( LZ W)
sont requis pour visionner cette image.
Advantages
As Sokymat says…
But sometimes
very low range
Mainly valid for
high frequency tags
Depends of
the material
Not all tags have
this functionality
Only valid for low
frequency tags
Limitations
• Read range (for passive tags, less than 1
meter in most cases, sometimes even less
than a few cm !)
• Security (nothing at this time, at least among
the standards; planned ?)
• Multi-tag management (collision problems
with some types of readers and tags)
• Interferences with metals and liquids
• No unification between the different protocols
Case study : US Passport
• The US decided to introduce RFID chips into
their new passport
• Goal : easily integrate machine reading of
personal and biometrics data
• … All this with no security at all…
• They were finally told of the dangers and
reviewed the concept
• The « new » passport contains encryption,
shielding, some sort of PIN code…
“Real” advantages
• Cost will necessarily go down
• As a replacement for the bar code, good
technology
• Linked with other technologies (like
GPS or sensors), can become really
attractive
“Standard” Applications
• Presented as a successor of the bar
code (which shall still remain in place a
few years, though)
• Supply chain
• Traceability
• Animal Identification
• Checkpoint systems
• …
Application to TUIs
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Augmented documents
Tangible bookmarks
Easy “interfacisation” of random objects
Etc…
• What could be the limit when every
product is tagged ?
Conclusion
• Present state of the RFID :
• Nonetheless, will be a major piece of our
future
• Dearly desired by the industry
• Desirable for the TUI research
• … as a tool
• … mixed with other technologies ?
Final anecdote
• Some fundamentalist Christians firmly
believe that RFID is in reality…
• … The Mark of the Beast !!!
(Cf. Wikipedia.org for more details ^^ )
Questions ? …
References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID
• K. Finkenzeller, RFID handbook : fundamentals and
applications in contactless smart cards and
identification, Wiley & Sons 2004.
• S. Shepard, RFID : radio frequency identification,
McGraw Hill 2005.
• RFID: a week long survey on the technology and its
potential
• Bridging Physical and Virtual Worlds with Electronic
Tags
• Real Applications using RFID tags
• AIM RFID Emblem