RFID Tag Anticollision using MC-CDMA Technique Prepared and introduced by Montadar Abas Taher B.Sc.

in Electronics and Communications Engineering, M.Sc. in Satellite Engineering. Assistant Lecturer in Diala University/ Collage of Engineering/ Department of Communications Engineering.
Page 2 to 25 is a comprehensive study about the RFID system. Page 26 to 35 is the Literature Survey

Page 35 to 38 is the proposal Page 39 to 40 is the References

1. Introduction: [1]

Radio frequency identification (RFID) or auto-identification (ID) is a contactless data transmission and reception technique between the data carrying device, called a transmitter responder (transponder) or an RFID tag, and an interrogator, which is also known as an RFID reader. A more abstract approach to defining Auto-ID reveals that Auto-ID involves the automated extraction of the identity of an object. The contactless ID system relies on data transmission via radio frequency electromagnetic (EM) signals, and consequently, the whole operation is line-of-sight and weather independent. These advantages overcome the limitations of optical barcodes, which are line-of-sight and weather dependent and need manual operation. Atypical RFID system, as shown in Figure 1, comprises 1) an RFID transponder, which carries the ID data; 2) an RFID interrogator/reader, which interrogates the tag and extracts the data from it; and 3) application software acting as an interface between the user and the RFID system. In brief, RFID technology is based on radio waves in order to transmit data by the reader to the tag, and in return, it receives modulated returned echoes from the tag via the reader. The transponder modulates the EM wave and transmits the data back to the reader, where it is processed for real-time ID, asset tracking, security surveillance and many other authentication and management purposes.

Figure 1. RFID system block diagram.

The omnipresent barcode that triggered a revolution in ID systems is showing inadequacies in many applications. Though barcodes are cheap to manufacture, they lack the ability to be programmed and reprogrammed and have low data storage capacity. Due to these limitations large corporations have been experiencing significant financial loss. However, any novel competing technology will inevitably face harsh criticism and skepticism before large-scale implementation. RFID technology is currently experiencing this phenomenon. Organizations are demanding a good return of investment (ROI) before approaching this new technology. Complete implementation of RFID technology in manufacturing

processes, supply chain management, inventory control in warehouses, counterfeit prevention in bank notes and secured documents is not a trivial task. The crucial issues of cost, reliability, security, and standards must be delineated and solved before being implemented in the mainstream of businesses, government services, and many other areas. Researchers and engineers throughout the world have been developing low-cost, small, reliable, and efficient RFID tags. A vast number of active and passive RFID systems can be found in the market today. As development of RFID technology advances, so do the design and operating principles of RFID transponders. Hence, a wide range of RFID transponders have been designed and are available in the commercial market.

2. RFID Transponder System Architecture: [1]

Data carrying devices that are fixed on the items to be identified in an RFID system are called transponders or tags. The main purpose of a transponder is to carry ID information of the object. The block diagram of a passive RFID transponder is shown in Figure 2. It is composed of 1) an antenna; 2) a radio frequency (RF) transceiver section; 3) an analog detection and/or rectification section, which detects, and in passive tags, rectifies RF power into an equivalent dc voltage; and 4) a digital control section that is either a microprocessor or some other digital system.

Figure 2. Block diagram of a passive RFID transponder

2.1 Detection Section: [1]

The detection/rectification section converts RF energy received by the transponders antenna and converts it to a baseband signal or an equivalent dc voltage. In a fully passive tag, a voltage doubler or quadrupler circuit is used to pump up the voltage for efficient operation of the digital section. Therefore, the RF section receives the signal from the reader, which is used to provide dc power supply for the control section and modulate and transmit the RF signal so that the ID data can be retransmitted to the RFID reader.

Depending on the tags ability to be read only (RO) or read/write (R/W), the RF section can be modified in such a way that it also extracts the interrogation code from the reader. The extracted code is transformed from an RF signal to a baseband signal using demodulation circuitry and sent to the control section for further processing. It is important to note that the RF signal from the reader has to provide sufficient power to the tag for efficient communication between the two entities. Passive and semipassive RFID systems that use amplitude shift-keying (ASK) modulations for reader-tag communication are especially affected by this RF signals power budget. In this regard, the RF rectifier circuit plays a vital role. The rectifier circuit can be realized in various ways depending on the technology used for the transponder design. In the rectifier circuit, there is a limiter and voltage pump circuit for either limiting or increasing the dc power. Obviously, the closer the transponder is to the RFID reader, the more power it will extract.

2.2 Digital Control Section: [1]

The block diagram of the transponder control section is shown in Figure 3. The digital section has both analog and digital signal processing subsections. Todays trend is to integrate the digital control section into a single integrated circuit (IC) so that minimum spacing and package dimensions are achieved. Additionally efficient power budgeting is possible when the functional blocks are in close proximity to each other. That is why very low-powered RFID ICs are available in the market. After the RF signal is received and demodulated in the RF section, the demodulated signal is sent to an analog to- digital converter (ADC), which converts the RF signal to a low frequency baseband signal. The baseband signal is then converted to a digital signal and processed further in the protocol detection circuit and decrypted. The signal is processed by the microcontroller, which generates a response signal. The response signal is sent to the encryption circuitry and then converted to an analog signal by the digital- to-analog converter (DAC). This signal is then modulated by an RF carrier signal and propagated back to the reader via the tag antenna. This operation is done in the RF section of the tag and the antenna.

Figure 3. Block diagram of the transponder control section.

So far we have discussed the basic architecture of the generic RFID tag. There are many different types of RFID tags. In the following, we present a comprehensive classification of RFID transponders, which is the outcome of extensive research, analysis, and synthesis of resources available on the Internet and in books, patents, scholarly journals, and conference proceedings.

3. Classification of RFID Transponders: [1]

There is growing interest in RFID systems from all commercial and government agencies such as giant retail chains like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, government agencies like the Department of Defense, and agriculture agencies like the National Live Stock Information System (NLIS) in Australia. A wide range of RFID transponders have been developed to meet the particular needs of all the potential users. Our literature review on RFID transponders defines a novel classification of RFID transponders. Figure 4 shows the classification of RFID transponders based on their power supplies, data processing modules, programmability, reading ranges, communication protocols, and antenna configurations.

Figure 4. Classification of RFID transponders available on the market.

4.1 Power Supply: [1]

The most important classification of RFID tags is based on their power supply requirements. RFID transponders are generally classified based on their modes of power supplies, and thus they can be defined in the following three major types: Active tags Semiactive tags Passive tags.

4.2.1 Active tags:[1]

Active RFID transponders have an on-board power supply in the form of a battery. An active tag uses battery power to amplify the signal and then transmit data back to the reader. Therefore, active tags do not need to use the RF carrier signals energy to energize the data processing section and hence have a longer reading range. Active tags can generally be differentiated by their digital section. The digital section provides the ID code as well as embedded security protocols and encryption techniques. The data processing and protocol execution are controlled by the processor, which, in some cases, has additional coprocessors to perform the encryption and data processing instructions. Active tags have the ability to process and store more data than passive tags due to the on-board power supply and are less sensitive to the strength of the readers interrogation signal. When communicating with the reader, the tag is the first entity to be engaged in data transmission. Because the presence of the reader is not necessary for data transmission from the tag, an active tag can maintain a continuous data transmission without the presence of a reader. This type of communication between the reader and the tag is known as transponder driven. Although the active transponder has an on-board power supply, additional techniques for extending the battery life with low-power consumption have been implemented in the form of sleep modes. Active tags that do not detect the interrogation zone of a reader hibernate by going into a sleep mode, and thus they do not waste power. The most significant advantage of active RFID transponders is that they are reprogrammable, and therefore, can be used on a variety of items repetitively until the battery power is exhausted.

4.2.2 Semiactive Tags: [1]

The difference between the active tag and the semiactive tag is that a semiactive tag has the provision of the on-board power supply for minor signal processing tasks but this power is not utilized for amplification of received and transmitted signals. Thus a semiactive tag consumes much less power from the on-board battery and has a longer life compared to an active tag. However, due to this budgeted power allocation that is only for the signal processing unit, semiactive tags have less reading range compared to an active tag. Therefore, the semiactive tag is an in-between approach compared to a fully active tag and a batteryless fully passive tag. When communicating with the reader, the tag must first acknowledge the interrogation signal of the reader in order to reply; this communication protocol is known as interrogator driven. Some semiactive tags can still perform complex tasks such as data processing and encryption and can achieve reading range almost as good as active tags. These advantages are able to be exploited with the advent of very-low-powered highly efficient microprocessors available in todays market.

4.2.3 Passive Tags: [1]

Passive Tags do not possess an on-board power supply and therefore rely only on the power emitted from the reader for both data processing and transmission. Passive tags may or may not contain an IC, memory block, or application specific IC. This means that some passive tags perform data processing, but others do not. These tags are usually in the form of electronic article surveillance (EAS) transponders commonly found in retail shops for security purposes or surface acoustic wave (SAW) tags. Most passive tags have low power consumption and low cost due to the nature of their design. Because they rely solely on the readers emitted energy to cull its operating energy, all passive transponders must have an RF front end, an analog circuit, and depending on their data processing techniques, a digital circuit. The RF front end of the passive RFID tag consists of the antenna and the impedance matching circuit in order to minimize signal reflection between the antenna and transponder circuit. The analog part of the passive tag may comprise an LC tuning circuit and a rectifier. The rectifier supplies the required dc voltage to the digital circuit. The digital circuit of the RFID passive tag is completely optional and may have an IC, ASIC, or just a memory block of a few kilobits. Most passive tags have precisely designed microchips and/or ICs that contain digital logic sectors, which process data rapidly. Passive tags from Alien Technology and Intermec are shown in Figures 5 and 6. Passive RFID transponders can be made using printing techniques. There have been tremendous efforts and interests in direct printing of RFID tags on plastic, fiber, and other low-cost laminates to compete with the ultra-low-cost optical barcodes. Also, all ink-jet-deposited processes capable of creating high quality passive devices for RFID applications have been envisaged and are being developed. Due to the absence of on-board power supplies, passive RFID tags have a much shorter reading range (up to 2m). They are more vulnerable to environmental effects and have poorer or no data processing abilities at all and hence cant be easily reprogrammed. The advantages of passive RFID systems are low cost and low maintenance. Due to these salient features, passive tags are used in a wide range of applications such as medical, supply chain management, and wireless sensing.

Figure 5. Alien Technology passive RFID transponders. (Courtesy of Alien Technology Corporation.)

Figure 6. Intermec passive RFID transponder. (Courtesy of Intermec Corporation.)

4.3 Data Processing: [1]

The next embodiment of the classification is the data processing techniques of RFID tags. RFID transponders can process data using ICs or exploiting physical effects (chipless).

4.3.1 RFID IC: [1]

RFID transponders that contain ICs (Figure 6) usually comprise digital circuits operating as memory blocks and microprocessors or microprocessor systems, or ASICs. Some of these transponders are active, and some are passive. RFID chip manufacturers design highly power efficient, low-cost RFID transponders that are direct competitors of bar codes. Liu, Yang and Zhang [14] report a 900 MHz passive transponder. This transponder consists of an RF antenna and a matching circuit, an analog section, a digital section, and a memory block, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Block diagram of a RFID tag consisting of a RF front end, analog and digital section and data storage memory block.

The RF antenna and matching circuit represent the RF front end of the tag that has the function of receiving and transmitting the RF signal from and back toward the reader device. The analog circuit can have various functions depending on the architecture and operating principles of the tag but must rectify the induced voltage from the readers carrier signal in order to support the operations of the digital section and memory block. The digital section usually consists of sequential networks and acts like a state machine. The memory block can be electrically erasable programmable RO memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM) or ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM). EEPROM has high power consumption during writing operations and a limited write cycle. It is used in a wide range of applications due to its low manufacturing cost and high number of possible reprogramming cycles. The FRAM chips are used due to their low read power consumption in comparison to the EEPROM as well as their significantly lower write time. Manufacturing difficulties have hindered widespread usage of FRAM. RFID transponders with microprocessor units are able to implement complex functions such as anticollision protocols and authentication using dedicated central processor units (CPUs). Transponders with microprocessors will become increasingly common in applications using contactless smart cards in the near future due to their excellent processing capabilities. Some RFID transponders have been developed with embedded digital signal processors for efficient and high data rate transfer. Although microprocessors tend to have high power consumption, great efforts have been made to lower their power consumption so that they can be used in RFID transponders for complex signal and data processing applications. RFID transponders containing microprocessors usually use interrogator driven procedures for communication due to their ability to be interrogated and answer upon a request or command. A typical operating sequence of this type of RFID transponders is comprised of three sections: receiving and decoding the request from the reader, data processing, and finally, data encryption and transmission back towards the reader. In order to be enabled with such powerful features the RFID transponder is usually developed using the architecture shown in Figure 8. The transponder module comprises the antenna, high frequency (HF) interface, microprocessor (CPU) with internal random access memory (RAM) and encryption coprocessor, and RO memory (ROM) and RAM blocks for data storage. The antenna and HF interface enable effective data transmission between the reader and the transponder and thus establish the link between the RF and digital circuitry in the RFID transponder architecture. The HF interface consists mainly of the feeding and impedance matching network, modem circuit and ac/dc conversion circuit for supplying power to the digital section. The CPU consists of the microprocessor, internal registers, the encryption coprocessor, and the microprocessors internal RAM. Complex systems like these demand an efficient operating system. The transponders operating system is implemented in the external ROM and thus cannot be deleted after the loss of the power supply (upon leaving the interrogation zone of the reader or loss of battery power). The operating system consists

of software drivers and applications that manipulate hardware for anticollision procedures, data processing, and authentication. Encryption and authentication procedures and protocols are needed since these types of transponders can process and retrieve data that has a dollar value [bank account numbers, personal ID numbers (PINs), etc]. The application data is stored in an EEPROM and can be changed depending on which types of services the RFID transponder and RFID system are providing. These types of transponders are usually found in the form of smart cards and are at a higher cost than chipless transponders or those with simple memory functions.

Figure 8. Block diagram of a RFID transponder with a microprocessor.

4.3.2 Application Specific Integrated Circuit: [1]

The use of ASIC in RFID transponder design in recent years has accelerated tremendously. Researchers and engineers around the world have been working on ways to minimize the physical dimensions of RFID transponder ICs, lower power consumption, and finally, have produced a low-cost, efficient RFID transponder IC. Using high operating frequencies for RFID, designers minimize the physical dimensions of passive components, which have geometrically dependent parameters and performances. Furthermore designers and engineers have developed ASICs that can perform complex data processing using efficient engineering solutions and smart planning. Nowadays, almost all RFID ASICs are mode from complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, which is passive and consumes very little power. A typical RFID transponder IC (ASIC) is composed of an RF front end, rectifier, demodulator, modulator, low-power digital logic and EEPROM, as shown in Figure 9. Most RFID transponders like the one shown in Figure 10 operate in two phases: charge up phase and data transmission phase. During the charge up phase, the storage circuit rectifies energy from the readers EM waves. The equivalent dc power is used to support the operations of the digital sectors of the ASIC. In data transmission phase, the transponder starts to transmit data to the reader. In this case, the modulation block is used

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to power the modulation of the carrier signal received from the reader in order to send valid information. The demodulation block is used to decode any commands from the reader toward the tag. The reader usually modulates its signal using ASK because it requires a simple demodulating circuit (single diode as an envelope detector).

Figure 9. Transponder ASIC block diagram.

Figure 10. Circuit structure of RFID embedded microchip.

As for the tag binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or ASK is preferred. Backscattering modulation is used by varying the RF input impedance of the transponder and influencing the scatter aperture (described in the Semipassive Transponder Design section). The low-power digital logic performs three tasks during the data transmission phase: Generates the clock signal for the EEPROM Relocates data from the EEPROM into the shift register Generates modulation signals to perform data transmission by means of modulation toward the reader. The EEPROM contains stored data and allows the incoming data to be stored and preserved after the power supply is cut off. AR/W transponder supported by EEPROM allows greater flexibility and broadens the RFID systems potential applications. Transponder ASICs have gone a step further by developing embedded RF antennas.

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Hitachi has disclosed this invention by presenting their embedded RFID microchip in 2004. Embedding an antenna on an RFID chip is an ideal method of reducing the area of RFID devices and their cost. The shape of the RFID antenna is similar to a coil antenna, and the received EM energy by the antenna is used to power up the RFID chip. An ultra small RFID chip structure is shown in Figure 10. As shown in Figure 10, the microchip is completely passive and draws power from the RF carrier signal received from the reader. The internal voltage of the chip increases in proportion to the EM field energy and can possibly exceed the breakdown voltage of the CMOS circuits. Therefore, a voltage limiter circuit is used to prevent the breakdown of the IC. This circuit activates when the input voltage exceeds a certain threshold voltage level in order to protect the IC. As for most batteryless transponders, the EM wave is rectified by a power rectifier at the front end of the chip. This circuit consists of a combined capacitor and diode, which are similar to conventional back-bias circuits of dynamic random access memory large scale integration (DRAM) LSI. This structure is based on the principle that an RFID chip needs at least one port (also called a terminal pair) to connect to the antenna terminals and is shown in Figures 11 and 12.

Figure 11. The rectifier circuit of the microchip for one port antenna terminal.

Figure 12. Rectifier and limitation circuit for passive RFID transponder IC.

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These small microchip transponders can be effectively put on products and are suitable for paper media and even small products due to their extremely small dimensions (0.4 0.4 mm). The development of new methods and principles of designing low-cost RFID ASIC transponders is at its peak today. A whole variety of new design methodologies for achieving reader-transponder data transmission and new applications for transponder ICs are enhanced. Due to their IC architecture, packaging of RFID transponders at microwave frequencies has been developed as well. RFID transponder packaging requires unique materials and innovative methods in order to provide functional, reliable and inexpensive transponders. Packaging methods as chip-on-board (COB) and chip-in-board (CIB) allow designers to utilize the existing semiconductor infrastructure to achieve a reliable microwave transponder and provide high volume manufacturing capabilities. Techniques for direct chip attachment (DCA) include COB, chip-on-flex (COF), chip-onglass (COG), multichip module (MCM), and tape-automated bonding (TAB). COB has by far become one of the most widely used high-density assembly technologies. Once considered useable only for inexpensive throwaway applications, COB has made a comeback as a reliable way of producing complex high volume RFID transponders. Using this type of packaging can provide cost effective designs and lower the manufacturing and implementation cost of RFID transponders. Most recently, researchers have been working on printing RFID transponders onto organic substrates, such as paper. The Department of Defense and large retailers such as Wal-Mart have encouraged the tremendous drop in price by showing significant interest in RFID technology. Rida, Yang, and Tentzeris present the design and characterization of novel paperbased ink-jet printed UHF antennas and transponders. They report the use of two methods for printing RFID tags onto paper. The first method was an ink-jet printing where a low-cost Dimatrix printer system was used with a specially formulated conductive silver ink. The second method was based on conventional lamination and copper etching chemistries. The integration of sensors with RFID transponders is also reported in order to allow large-scale production of wireless sensing systems using ink-jet printing systems. The outcome in the near future would be to design a flexible three-dimensional package with embedded actives and passives and thin film battery in paper substrates that is expected to be the cheapest solution for wireless sensing with RFID transponders for large volume applications.

4.3.3 Chipless RFID Transponders: [1]

Chipless RFID transponders exploit the physical effects of the transponders design. All chipless RFID tags are exclusively passive and they differ fundamentally from transponders containing an IC in terms of operational principles and power consumption. Chipless RFID transponders do not need a power supply because they do not contain any additional data carrying device/IC. The transponder itself generates data due to its physical architecture and design, and therefore, represents a unique ID device. There are four types of chipless RFID tags known today, and only one of these four types has been made available commerciallythe LC resonant chipless tag.

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4.3.4.1

SAW Tags: [1]

SAW tags use low-power RF waves in the ISM 2.45 GHz frequency range for their operation. Unlike microchip based tags, SAW transponders do not require dc power for data transmission. ASAW tag consists only of a dipole antenna attached to an inter-digital transducer (IDT) placed on a piezoelectric substrate (Figure 13). A series of well placed reflectors, which are positioned on the substrate, determine the ID code that is reflected in the form of RF waves. SAW tags have started appearing in the market, and might be widely used in the near future due to their advantages when compared to IC transponders. Currently, SAW tags are widely used in cell phones, color television, and so on.

Figure 13. Schematic of a typical SAW tag.

4.3.4.2

Nanometric Materials

The second type of chipless RFID transponders that are known to exist are based on nanometric materials, which are tiny particles of chemicals. These types of RFID transponders are very cheap and can easily be used inside bank notes or important documents for anticounterfeiting and authentication. They exhibit varying degrees of magnetism and when EM waves impinge on them they resonate with distinct frequencies, which are picked up by the reader. CrossID, an Israeli paper company, claims to have such 70 distinct chemicals that would thus provide unique ID in the order of 270 when resonated and detected suitably. Tapemark also claims to have nanometric resonant fibers that are 5 microns in diameter and 1mm in length [33]. These tags are potentially low cost and can work on low-grade paper and plastic package material. Unfortunately they only operate at frequencies up to a few KHz, although this gives them very good tolerances to metal and water. Like the SAW tags they are RO tags, cannot be reprogrammed and do not require any dc power supply, thus they are passive in nature.

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4.3.4.3

Thin-Film Transistor Circuits

Thin-film transistor circuits (TFTCs) are the third type of chipless RFID transponders known to exist today. They are being highly developed and around forty companies are working on TFTC tags. Most of them are capable of being printed at high speed and with low-cost plastic film. TFTCs can have the same electronic circuit as in a silicon RFID chip, so subject to limitations in the materials used; they can employ the same frequencies and standards as chip-based RFID. The ability to operate at 13.56 MHz is extremely important as a majority of tags operate at this frequency. It is the preferred frequency for cards, tickets, libraries, laundry, pharmaceutical, and postal items. TFTC tags offer advantages over active and passive chip-based transponders due to their small size and low power consumption. They require more power than other chipless tags but offer more functionality. However low-cost manufacturing processes for TFTC tags have not been developed yet. Another issue is the frequency of operation, which imposes a great challenge on RFID researchers and designers. The frequency limitation up to 13.56 MHz will not allow TFTC technology to be deployed in areas where a higher data transfer rate is required.

4.3.4.4

LC Resonant

LC Resonant chipless tags comprise a simple coil that is resonant at a particular frequency. The resonance of the tag causes an EM disturbance that identifies its presence when scanned by the reader. Hence these transponders are considered 1-b RFID transponders. Due to the fact that these transponders operate at a distance of several centimeters, the operating principle is based on the magnetic coupling between the reader antenna and the LC resonant tag. The reader constantly performs a frequency sweep searching for transponders. Whenever the swept frequency corresponds to the transponders resonant frequency, the transponder will start to oscillate producing a voltage dip across the readers antenna ports. The advantage of these tags is their price and simple structure (single resonant coil), but they are very restricted in operating range (few centimeters), information storage (1 b), operating bandwidth and multiple tag collision. These transponders are mainly used for EAS in many supermarkets and retail stores. Chipless RFIDs are still in the development stage, and many products havent left the prototyping cycle in laboratories. That is why chipless tags only occupied 0.4% of the RFID tag market in 2006, with cumulative sales of 100 million chipless tags produced to date compared to 2,322 million chipped RFID. Ultimately, the largest achievement of RFID will be the replacement of barcodes. It will mean RFID is implemented in the same way as the optical barcodes are being used today. The salient features of chipless RFIDs are: 1) they operate over ten meters in range, 2) carry up to 256 b of data, 3) they cost one tenth of their silicon chip equivalents and 4) they have a greater physical performance. Chipless RFID technology is addressing mainstream RFID applications and will rapidly grow causing market price reductions of one to two orders of magnitude.

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4.4

Programmability: [1]

Another classification of RFID transponders can be based on their programmability. Hence, we can classify RFID transponders as RO Write once read many (WORM) R/W. RO transponders can be programmed just once in a lifetime. The data is imprinted into the tag during the manufacturing process and cannot be removed or changed in anyway. Such tags are called factory programmed tags. This type of tag is good for small applications only, but is impractical when data needs to be customized based on the application. This tag type is used today in small pilot programs and business applications. WORM tags can be written once; this is generally done by the tag user, not by the manufacturer. In practice however, WORM tags can be reprogrammed around a hundred times. If a tag is reprogrammed more than the defined times, it is permanently damaged and useless. AWORM tag is also called field programmable. This type of tag is commonly used in businesses today. R/W tags can be programmed and rewritten a large number of times. Usually a RW tag contains an EEPROM or Flash memory so it can be reprogrammed over and over again. The number of reprogramming cycles can go up to 100.000. Data security is a challenge for R/W transponders and they are more expensive to produce. Hence, they are not widely used in todays applications but researchers are working on lowering the cost of these tags and enabling their use in a large number of applications.

4.5

Communication Range: [1]

RFID transponders can be classified using other criteria, one of which may be the most important classification of RFID transpondersrange. We can distinguish between three types of transponders depending on their range. Close coupled Remote coupled Long-range systems. Close coupled transponders operate at a small range, up to 1cm. For operation the transponder must be inserted into the reader or positioned in a predefined place to enable reading purpose. This type of transponder is passive and is powered by a strong magnetic field emitted by the reader. The close coupling systems allows significant power transmission between the reader and transponder and thus powerful microprocessors may be used on the tag. Close coupled systems are used in security systems where large range is not required. Close coupling systems are used as ID-1 format contactless smart cards

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(ISO 10536). The role of close coupled RFID transponders and systems are becoming less important on the market due to the development of low-cost chipless RFID systems. Remote coupled transponders operate at read ranges up to 1m. Almost all of the remote coupled transponders operate at HF frequencies using inductive coupling. This means that power supply is supported from the reader using the magnetic field. These RFID tags are also known as inductive radio transponders. There is a few numbers of transponders that operate using the field strength of the electric field and they are called capacitive coupling. At least 90% of all remote coupled RFID transponders are inductive. Long-range RFID transponders have reading ranges significantly above 1m. There are systems that operate up to 30m using battery powered active transponders with active transmitters. All long-range systems operate using UHF or microwave frequencies and use backscattered modulation to communicate with the reader. The operating frequencies are 868 MHz (Europe), 915 MHz (USA), 2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz. Typical ranges of 3 m can be achieved using passive transponders and ranges up to 30 m can be achieved using active transponders. The power from the battery is never used for data transmission, but only to power the tags chip (data carrying device). The power of the EM field received from the reader is the only power used for data transmission.

4.6

Communication Protocol: [1]

RFID Transponders can communicate with the interrogator by initiating the communication upon detecting an interrogator field or by responding to the interrogators query. Hence, we can classify two types of tag communication protocols: Transponder driven (tag talk first); and Interrogator driven (interrogator talk first). Transponder driven protocols are asynchronous procedures since the reader does not control or initiate the data transfer. Once the transponder is located in the interrogators radiation field it starts transmitting data to the reader. Transponder driven protocols are considered very slow and inflexible and are usually implemented in active and some semi/active RFID systems. An example of a transponder driven protocol is the ALOHA protocol. This procedure is used exclusively with RO transponders. The data transfer is sent to the reader in a cyclical sequence and represents only a fraction of the repetition time so there are relatively long pauses between data transmission. The procedure relies on the low probability that two transponders will not transmit their data packages at the same time causing a collision. Interrogator driven procedures are controlled by the reader/interrogator as the master device. The nature of these procedures is considered synchronous since all the transponders are interrogated by the reader simultaneously. The communication link between the reader and transponder is established by selecting an individual transponder from a large group via authentication. Once the data transfer is complete, the communication link with the transponder is terminated and another transponder is

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selected. The authentication of transponders is done either by polling or by a binary search and hence each transponder must have a unique ID code to avoid multiple transponders responding.

4.7

Antenna Configuration: [1]

RFID transponders can be differentiated on the number of antennas for data reception and transmission as single antenna tags or multiple antenna tags. Single antenna tags use the single antenna mode for backscatter modulation and for extracting power from the readers EM field. The transmitting and receiving circuit of the transponders is usually connected to the transponder via switch in order to create data transmission and data reception mode. In data transmission mode the tag sends data back to the reader via backscatter modulation. In data reception mode the transponder receives data from the reader and extracts power from the EM field for operation. The advantage of the single antenna tag is that it has smaller dimensions but passive transponders with single antennas cannot be in transmission mode very long or they will lose power and reset the digital circuitry. Multiple antenna tags are not as present on the market as single antenna tags due to the fact that they have larger dimensions and hence are more expensive. These types of transponders use multiple antennas that operate in a single mode such as data transmission or data reception. For example, if we have a multiple antenna tag like the one shown in Figure 14 one of its antennas will be used for receiving data from the reader and the other antenna will be used for sending data to the reader. In this way the transponder will constantly be in data transmission and data reception mode and hence will not be subjected to potential power loss due to long transmission modes.

Figure 14. Texas Instruments passive RFID transponder. Courtesy of Texas Instruments (www.ti.com).

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5. Readers or Interrogators: [2]

A software application that is designed to read data from a contactless data carrier (transponder) or write data to a contactless data carrier requires a contactless reader as an interface. From the point of view of the application software, access to the data carrier should be as transparent as possible. In other words, the read and write operations should differ as little as possible from the process of accessing comparable data carriers (smart card with contacts, serial EEPROM). Write and read operations involving a contactless data carrier are performed on the basis of the masterslave principle (Figure 15). This means that all reader and transponder activities are initiated by the application software. In a hierarchical system structure the application software represents the master, while the reader, as the slave, is only activated when write/read commands are received from the application software.

Figure 15: Masterslave principle between application software (application), reader and transponder

To execute a command from the application software, the reader first enters into communication with a transponder. The reader now plays the role of the master in relation to the transponder. The transponder therefore only responds to commands from the reader and is never active independently (except for the simplest read-only transponders). A simple read command from the application software to the reader can initiate a series of communication steps between the reader and a transponder. A read command first leads to the activation of a transponder, followed by the execution of the authentication sequence and finally the transmission of the requested data. The readers main functions are therefore to activate the data carrier (transponder), structure the communication sequence with the data carrier, and transfer data between the application software and a contactless data carrier. All features of the contactless communication, i.e. making the connection, and performing anticollision and authentication procedures, are handled entirely by the reader.

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5.1 Reader and Tag communication: [3]

In a typical system, tags are attached to objects. Each tag has certain amount of internal memory in which it stores information about the object, in particular an object identifier such as the Electronic Product Code (EPC). When these tags pass through a reader, they transmit information back to the reader, thereby identifying the object. The data then is filtered and routed to the backend IT systems. The RFID front-end and the IT backend. A reader emits a signal at the selected frequency band, such as 860 - 960MHz for UHF or 13.56MHz for HF. Any corresponding tag in the vicinity of the reader will detect the signal and use the energy from it to wake up and supply operating power to its internal circuits. Once the Tag has decoded the signal as valid, it replies to the reader, and indicates its presence. If' many tags are present then they will all reply at the same time, which at the reader end is seen as a signal collision and an indication of multiple tags. The reader manages this problem by using an anti-collision algorithm designed to allow tags to be sorted and individually selected. Once a tag is selected, the reader is able to perform a number of operations such as read the tags identifier number, or write information to it (in the case of a read/write tag).

5.2 RFID Interrogator Components and their Function: [4]

Figure 16 shows the components of a basic interrogator. They include A receiver that holds an amplifier and a demodulator A transmitter that holds a modulator and a power amplifier An oscillator A controller/processor An input/output port to an antenna

5.2.1 Receiving: [4]

The amplifier expands the signal received from the tag through the interrogators antenna for processing, and the demodulator extracts the information from the signal. The controller/processor performs the data processing functions and manages the communications with the external network.

5.2.2 Transmitting
The oscillator provides the carrier signal to the modulator and a reference signal to the demodulator circuits. The modulator adds information to the signal to be transmitted to a tag. Then the power amplifier amplifies the modulated signal and routes it to the antenna. The antenna radiates the signal to a tag.

20

Figure 16: Basic RFID interrogator anatomy.

5.3 Communication Methods: [4]

RFID interrogators use different methods to communicate with RFID tags depending on whether the RFID system is active or passive. Passive and semi-passive tags use passive backscatter to communicate. The signal is generated by the interrogator and radiated through the antenna. The signal is then demodulated by the tag to decode the readers commands. The reader requested data is reflected back to the interrogator through the modulated signal. This method is also discussed in detail previous sections on tags. Active tag communication differs from passive methods in that the tag does not reflect the signal from the interrogator. Because an active tag has its own power source and transmitter, the tag does not have to wait for the interrogator to transmit a signal. This tag can send its data or beacon at certain intervals as defined by the system.

5.4 Read and Write Range

The capability of an RFID interrogator to communicate successfully with a tag is heavily dependent on two factors: The distance between the interrogator and the tag The tag and the tags dwell time The tags dwell time is the time a tag is in the interrogators RF field. An RFID interrogators read range is the distance between the interrogator and the RFID tag at which the signals from the tag can be read properly. Similarly, an RFID interrogators write range is the maximum distance at which information within the RF signal from the interrogator can be received correctly and stored within the memory of

21

the tags microchip. More power is needed to write to a tag than to read it. As a result, the tags need to be closer to the antenna to write than to read. The general rule is that the write range is 5070% of the read range of a particular interrogation zone.

5.5 Types of RFID Interrogators: [4]

The three types of RFID interrogators are Fixed Hand-held Mobile interrogators Table 1 highlights the major characteristics of each type of interrogator.
Table 3.1 Interrogator Types and Their Characteristics:

Interrogator Type
Fixed Interrogators:

Characteristics
Can read tags as well as write to tags, depending on the type Can be mounted to walls, doors, or other structures Can be integrated with stationary devices, such as conveyors, door portals, sortation systems, manufacturing lines, and others Need an external power source Typically can accommodate multiple antennas Can be hard-wired or wirelessly connected to the local area network (LAN) Are much smaller than fixed interrogators and usually come in the shape of a gun or a tablet Have capabilities similar to those of fixed interrogators but are much smaller Can be used not only to read from tags but also to write to tags (some models, however, are just read-only) Have an antenna built into the unit Are primarily used for exception processing due to their portability and capabilities Can be used in low-volume applications for tag data verification, case, and pallet association or tag searches Can have both barcode and RFID functionality Are tied directly into the IT infrastructure Dont need their own power because they are typically connected to a power source through the attached tethered cable Have limited mobility due to their wired connections to other devices and to their external power source Are connected to the network through a wireless LAN protocol or device-specific protocols Need a power source (battery) built into the device Are able to achieve greater mobility due to their wireless capability Can have PCMCIA cards to connect to laptop PCs

Hand-held Interrogators: Hand-held interrogators can be either tethered or wireless.

Tethered interrogators

Wireless interrogators

Mobile Interrogators:

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These interrogators can come in different forms (for instance mobile phone, PDA, or vehicle mounted). Mobile phones and PDAs

Vehicle mounted interrogators

Differ from hand-held interrogators in size and form factor Usually are powered from their own power source (battery) or by the vehicle they are mounted on Typically have wireless connectivity Are very small in size but have fairly advanced functionality Are a proven technology Are attractive to industrial applications Are typically mounted on forklifts or clamp trucks Are built to withstand environmental extremes Are placed for minimal contact with material being handled

5.6 Interrogation Zone Considerations: [4]

Special considerations should be addressed when setting up an RFID system with multiple interrogators that have overlapping interrogation zones. You can deal with these types of situations in several ways, such as using dense interrogator mode, interrogator synchronization, arbitration, and anticollision protocols. Some of these features are only available with Generation 2 devices.

5.6.1 Dense Interrogator Mode: [4]

Dense interrogator mode, also called dense reader mode, provides each interrogator the capability to operate at a slightly different frequency, which helps reduce the radio interference between interrogators. Other techniques are used as well, such as Listen Before Talk (LBT), frequency hopping, or a combination of the two.

5.6.1.1

Listen Before Talk

Using the LBT technique, an interrogator tries to listen or hear whether another interrogator is using a channel. If it learns that another interrogator operates on that channel, it rolls to another channel to avoid interfering with the other interrogator.

5.6.1.2

Frequency Hopping

Interrogation signals hop between channels within a certain frequency spectrum. In the United States, they can hop between 902 MHz and 928 MHz, and they can be required to listen for a signal before using a channel.

5.6.2 Interrogator Synchronization: [4]

In certain applications that require multiple interrogators operating at the same time and in the same proximity, it is necessary to coordinate their transmitting and receiving functions. The radio transmissions from the interrogators antennas may interfere with other interrogators, so much so that the tags are unable to completely understand the

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information being read or written and the interrogator may misread the tag. The level of interference depends on a number of factors, which include The sizes and types of the antennas The output power of the antennas The distances between antennas The presence (or absence) of shielding Variations in local conditions can affect the general noise background. For example, radio frequency interference (RFI) and electrical noise can travel from one interrogator zone to another via conducted metal structures. Metal structures can include the frames of metal buildings, reinforcing bars in concrete floors, and power or data cables. Several synchronization methods are used; we discuss the main three: Software synchronization Multiplexing Shielding

5.6.2.1

Software Synchronization:

The software synchronization method can be used when multiple interrogators are connected to the same communication bus. As interrogators are individually addressable, the controlling (host) computer is able to command each interrogator to transmit at a separate time so that it is not possible for more than one interrogator to be transmitting at the same time.

5.6.2.2

Multiplexing:

In the multiplexing method, a single interrogator is connected through a switching box (MUX) to multiple antennas. The interrogator output is directed to each antenna in turn, again ensuring that only one antenna is transmitting at a time. Multiplexers need to take advantage of solid state circuitry for switching versus mechanical switching. Because solid state switching introduces signal loss, the interrogator power output is normally increased to compensate for the discrepancy. Mechanical switches or relays are not feasible due to their construction and use of moving parts. The moving parts undergo high levels of wear, which reduce their functionality during high loads or peaks. Ultimately, the constant switching will result in failure of the mechanical switch. Multiplexing divides the time available to read a tag by the number of channels on the multiplexer. Because of this timing issue, the interrogator needs additional time to ensure a complete read has been achieved, especially if the tags are moving quickly through an interrogation field.

5.6.2.3

Shielding

Shielding prevents interference between interrogators. It also prevents tags that are passing outside the interrogating system from being interrogated by an adjacent system,

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and when antennas are close together, shielding prevents the same tag from being interrogated by an adjacent antenna. Shielding can also act as a barrier to prevent metal sheets or other objects that have been left next to an antenna from affecting the performance of tags and interrogators. Shielding can also be used when a large concentration of other devices operating in the 902928 MHz spectrum is present, such as older 900 MHz wireless systems or cordless phones.

6. Collisions and Anticollision Methods: [2]

When two or more tags respond simultaneously, this is known as a collision. Anticollision processing is the means by which the interrogator distinguishes one tag from the others so only one tag is processed at a time. Anticollision algorithms are commonly classified as either probabilistic or deterministic. In probabilistic algorithms (also called asynchronous), the tags respond at randomly generated times. There are several variations of probabilistic algorithms, depending on the amount of control the interrogator has over the tags. Many of them are based on the ALOHA scheme in networking. This scheme involves a node transmitting a data packet after receiving a data packet. If a collision occurs, a node becomes saturated and transmits the packet again after a random delay. The interrogator keeps transmitting until the collision does not happen. The times at which interrogators can respond can be slotted or continuous. This mode makes slight restriction in the transmission independence of individual data packets. If packet collisions happen under slotted ALOHA mode, the packets overlap completely, and that considerably increases the data transfer. In deterministic algorithms (also called synchronous), the interrogator sorts through the tags based on their unique identification number (UID). The tags do not have to rely on a complete collision-free transmission and do not have to take turns communicating to the interrogator. The simplest deterministic scheme is the binary tree/tree-walking scheme, in which the interrogator searches the tree of all possible identification numbers. This search is quite time consuming, and it is based on the knowledge of the tags UID. At each node in the tree, the interrogator checks for responses. Only tags whose identifier is a child of the checked node respond. The lack of a response implies that the subtree is empty. The presence of a response gives the interrogator an indication as to where to search next. There are two other common types of anticollision algorithms, FM0 and Miller Subcarrier. FM0 is currently used in ISO standards. This algorithm is fast but more susceptible to interference. Miller Subcarrier is slower but better in RF noisy environments and is supported by Generation 2 readers. This algorithm uses narrow spectrum for the tags to send back their signal and fits it between the channels used by the reader. That way the RF signals coming from the reader do not cover the signals coming back from the tags. Miller Subcarrier uses advanced filtering techniques to separate the tags response from the readers transmissions and other noise compared to FM0.

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7. The Problem Overview for this Proposal:

The collision problem under investigation occurs due to reading of tow tags at the same time. Another type of collision occurs due to tag interrogated by two readers (interrogator), the latest type of collision is called as dense reader problem which appears only when there are multiple readers at the same zone. Many methods were presented to solve the above problems but individually, i.e. the tag collision separated from the dense problem. So far not a single research combines these two problems. In the following section an overview will be presented for the most previous researches regarding to the above situations.

8. Literature Survey:
There are many methods to solve the collision problems such as the interrogator can send signals to allow tags to respond with a random number that is manipulated by the interrogator and transmitted to all tags in the field. Only the tag that matches the computed number generated by the interrogator will transmit its data. This process continues until all tags have transmitted their data. Another method is to cause tags to transmit at different frequencies, thereby avoiding a collision of signals. Another method involves the use of spread spectrum techniques. The technique can be either direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) or frequency hopping. Another method of collision resolution use part of unique identification code of the transponder to provide a specific time whereby transponder transmits its data and all other times the transponder remains inactive. This feature is limited by the vast number of unique transmission slots available and the time required to read all the possible tags in the field. Moreover, a single transponder in the field could take an inordinate amount of time to be read. If the unique identification code is truncated to allow for faster performance, then the probability of an un-resolved collision occurs due to the duplication of codes. One other method is to utilize a random oscillator and a binary number counter on each transponder which enables transmission from the transponder when the counter is in a specific state. This method has the disadvantage of requiring alignment of all the transponders asynchronously before coherent data can be received by the interrogator. Donald L Black, and Dale Yornes in the US patent No. 6091319 Jul. 18, 2000 [5] were implement a new method to resolve the collision problem as follows; sending data from a transponder having at least one memory, transmission criteria, transmit state and full cycle flag. The method comprises the steps wherein the transponder, such as by receiving a carrier signal from the interrogator; determines that it is time to transmit the data by

26

verifying that it is the transmit-armed state and that the carrier signal has been modified in a predefined manner; transmits its data in group or more data bits; determines whether its completes data has been read by the interrogator during the transmission of its data; and sets a full cycle flag after sending its complete data transmission. The transponder determines that the interrogator has read the complete data transmission by verifying that the carrier signal has not been modified until the full cycle flag is set. If the transponder determines that the interrogator did not read the complete data transmission, then the transponder stores a number in memory, iteratively changes the number until the number stored in memory satisfies the transmission criteria, and then transmits its data. This process of transmitting and determining whether the complete data has been read by the interrogator during data transmission is repeated until the transponder determines that the interrogator has read the complete data transmission. The invention also comprises a method for an interrogator to read one or more RFID transponders in a field by: providing a carrier signal; detecting the presence of at least one transponder; modifying the carrier signal in a predetermined manner, such as by sending out a continuous carrier signal; receiving data from all active transponders in the field; determining whether it has received a valid data transmission by checking the validity of each group of data as it is received; and upon determining an invalid data transmission, modifying the carrier signal-such as by suppressing the signal for a predetermined number of clock cycles-to inform all active transponders in the field that there was an incomplete read. The step of modifying the carrier signal is performed prior to the transponder sending its complete data transmission and it is performed substantially simultaneously upon the determination that invalid data transmission has been received. The interrogator iteratively repeats the steps of receiving data and determining whether it has received valid data, until the interrogator determines that it has read the complete data for each transponder in the field. The step of determining that the interrogator has received an invalid data transmission comprises detecting the interrogator's inability to compute a proper synchronization word, or a proper word length. After determining that the interrogator has received complete data transmission by determining that the word length is valid, the carrier signal is modified in a predetermined manner, such as by suppressing the signal for a predetermined number of clock cycles. The complete data for each transponder is transmitted from the interrogator to a computer system for processing. Anil Rohatgi in the propagation group document ID: PG-TR-050426-AR, 26 April 2005 [6] was proposed an RFID anti-collision system using the spread spectrum technique. The theory behind using the spread spectrum exclusion process is as follows. The data that is to be transmitted is multiplied by a pseudo random sequence. Each tag contains a unique sequence. The bit rate of the pseudo random sequence is much higher than the bit rate of the data. The output of this multiplication (high frequency) is then used by the back scatter modulation method to respond the interrogator. On the interrogator side, what is seen is a combination of multiple high frequency waves arriving at the same time. In order to recover the information, the receiver must have a way to process the data. The key to this recovery process lies within the unique pseudo random sequence that was combined with the data from the desired tag. If the interrogator knows the pseudo random sequence associated with the desired tag information, it can recover the data. To do this, theoretically all that needs to be done is to multiply the incoming

27

signal by the same pseudo random sequence that is combined with the desired data. Assuming the incoming waveform is centered on zero and has peaks that range from negative one, doing this operation would force the modulating sequence to converge to one for the desired wave, thus only leaving behind the low frequency data wave. When this unique pseudo random sequence is multiplied with the other waves comprising the incoming waveform received by the interrogator, other high frequency waves are created. Therefore the only low frequency wave left behind is the desired original data. Once the multiplication is completed, the original data can be recovered by passing the resulting waveform through a low pass filter. All the high frequency waves generated from other tags will be removed. Michael A. Hughes and Richard M. Pratt, in the US patent No 7009495 B2, Mar. 7, 2006, [7] implement another method to resolve the collision problem which can be explained clearly by a flow chart as shown below:
Star

Reader transmits a session ID and issues a command of enter tag discovery mode

Reader starts monitoring all discrete I.F. freq. for presence of on-off keyed modulated RF.

Tag randomly selects a timeslot and IF freq.

Reader issues a sequence of timing pulses Reader transmits another enter discovery mode with the same session ID

Respective tags present a tone or simple modulation of IF during selected timeslot

Reader continues to issue timing pulses and to provide illumination until the final timeslot Have all tags been identified?

Reader identifies the timeslots and IF freq.s where a tone was detected. Reader sends discovered you message identifying the time slot and IF freq. for which tags tones were discovered

Discovered tags respond with a found me message which contains the tags ID number Stop

Reader issues a youre discovered message to cause the discovered tag(s) to leave discovery mode

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Cheng-Hao Quan, Won-Kee Hong, and Hie-Cheol Kim 2008 [8] introduces tree-based memory less anti-collision algorithms and slot aloha-based anti-collision algorithms based on EPC code with 96-bit identifier in RFID system and evaluate their performance. The performance results show that the collision tracking tree algorithm is found to have the highest performance than any other anti-collision algorithm, identifying 749 tags per second. Tree based memory less anti-collision algorithms can implement tags at a low cost because tags do not need to maintain their state information. Still, these algorithms need a memory to store some bits of an identifier in the reader during the process of tag identification and, for this; they have a memory structure of stack or queue. Here, we have a brief review of representative tree-based algorithms - tree-walking, query tree and collision tracking tree algorithm. In tree-walking algorithm, the reader begins a query to tags using k-bit prefix (B (0,k) ), which is a bit string from the 0th bit (b 0 ) to the kth bit (b k ) of a tag identifier for tag-reader communication. Each tag in the area checks the received prefix against its identifier and, if they match with each other, the tag sends the k+1th bit (b k+1 ) of the tag identifier to the reader. Here, tag responses can be either of two types. First, it is the case that all bits received from tags within readers area are 0 or 1. In this case, the reader creates a new prefix (B (0,k+1) ) by adding the received bit value to the existing prefix. Second, received bits contain both 0 and 1. This means that a collision has happened. The reader stores the prefix that had a collision into the stack and at the same time creates a new prefix (B (0,k+1) ) by adding 0. The new prefix is send to the tag in the next query-response process. This process is repeated as many times as the number of bits of the tag identifier until a tag is identified. If a tag is identified, the prefix stored in the stack is retrieved and a new prefix (B (0,k_+1) ) is created by adding 1 to the prefix, and using the new prefix a new query-response process is performed. If the stack is empty, it means that the whole tag identification process has been completed and all tags in the area have been identified. In query tree algorithms, tags matching with k-bit prefix (B (0,k) ) sent by the reader send bit strings from the k+1th to the last of their identifier (B (k+1,l) ) to the reader in all. Here, tag responses can be either of two types. First, only one tag or no tag responds. In this case, a new prefix (B (0,k_) ) is created using a prefix stored in the queue. Second, multiple tags respond together and collisions occur among them. In this case, 0 and 1 are added to the existing prefix and the prefixes are stored in the queue respectively. In addition, a new prefix (B (0,k_) ) is retrieved from the queue and is used in the next query-response. This process is continued until all tags in the area are identified. If the queue is empty, it means that the whole tag identification process has been completed and all tags in the area have been identified. In collision tracking tree algorithms, the reader makes a query to tags using a kbit prefix ( B(0,k) ) as a parameter. Each tag in the area checks the received prefix

29

against its identifier and, if they match with each other, the tag sends the reader a bit string (B k+1,l ) from the k + 1th bit (b k+1 ) to the last bit (b l ) of the tag identifier in order. On receiving identifier information from tags, the reader determines if there is a collision in the received bits. If a collision occurs as 0 and 1 are received at the same time, the reader stops receiving bits and orders the tag to stop the transmission of identifier. If all bits are 0 or 1 the reader continues to receive the remaining bits. If the last bit of identifier information is received without collision, a tag is identified. If a collision occurs, different from treewalking algorithms or query tree algorithms that add 0 or 1 to the existing prefix, a new prefix is created by adding 0 or 1 to all bits received without collision and is saved to be used as a parameter in the next query-response. If a tag is identified, a new prefix is stored in the stack or the queue to identify another tag in the area. The process is repeated until all tags in the area are identified. If the stack or the queue is empty, it means that the whole tag identification process has been completed and all tags in the area have been identified. Slot aloha-based anti-collision algorithms are based on aloha protocol, and some of them are I-Code algorithm, STAC algorithm and Bit-Slot algorithm. In I-Code algorithm, a reader cycle, namely, a query-response process is progressed using a frame composed of a number of slots. For tag identification, the reader sends < I, rnd,N > information to tags (I: the range of tag identifier, rnd: seed value for creating a random value, N: the number of slots in the frame). Here, each tag selects a slot from the frame at random, loads its identifier into the slot and sends it to the reader. The reader identifies tags using identifiers loaded into the slots of the frame. This process is repeated until all tags in the area are supposed to have been identified. The identification process has two problems related to the determination of frame size (N), and the exact guess of completion time of identification. First, if N is too large it causes the waste of time slots, and if it is too small it causes collisions among tags. I-Code algorithm uses the following method to determine N. In each reader cycle, slots in a frame containing responses from tags can be: 1) empty; 2) loaded with one tag identifier; or 3) loaded with multiple tag identifiers. Given frames received by a reader, a slot distribution of those frames based on the classification can be expressed as follows: < c0, c1, ck >. Here, c0 is the number of empty slots, c1 is the number of slots loaded with one tag identifier, and ck is the number of slots loaded with multiple tag identifiers. In a reader cycle, the minimum bound of the number of tags in the identification area denoted by n can be calculated by the equation n = c1 + 2ck. Depending on the calculated n, a new frame size (N) to be used in the next query response process is determined. Second, probability-based I-Code algorithm is not easy to know the point of time when tag identification is completed. I-Code algorithm solves the problem by introducing a model based on the homogeneous markov process to tag identification process. In case of STAC algorithm, if an empty slot or a collision slot is detected, the reader stops the transmission of the slot and sends tags the command close slot sequence that triggers the transmission of a new slot. This reduces unnecessary overhead and improves performance. In Bit-Slot algorithm, a frame is composed of special bits and the

30

operating process of the algorithm is as follows. In response to the readers query, each tag in the area generates a random value of the same size as that of tag identifier and sends it to the reader. The created value has 1 only in one bit and 0 in all the other bits. The reader inspects the bits of the received frame in order. If there is no bit with 1 in the corresponding position, it means that there is no response. Transmission of two or more bits with 1 means a collision. If there is only one bit with 1, the tag is identifiable and the received random value is sent to the tags in the readers area. Only the tag that sent the corresponding random value sends its identifier to the reader and the tag is identified. In tag identification, the process of selecting one out of multiple tags in the area is called tag singulation. If tag singulation is finished, the tag sends its identifier to the reader. Different from I-Code or STAC algorithm, Bit-Slot algorithm divides tag identification process into tag singulation and tag identifier transmission, and in tag singulation frame size is the same as the bit length of a tag identifier and a frame is composed of bits. Its tag identification speed is fast because the frame size is small. The following table shows a Percentage of collision, no-collision, and no-response; Tree walking 1.08% 98.92% Query Tree 49% 35% 16% Collision Tracking 48.1% 51.9% -

Collision No collision No response

Accordingly, among the anti-collision algorithms described above including the slot aloha algorithm, collision tracking tree algorithm is found to have the highest performance. Ping Wang', Aiqun Hu2 and Wenjiang Pei3, 2006 [9], used the mechanism of CDMA to solve the Problem of tag collision. Their design is based on the back-scatter modulation of Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID system. The layout of their design is: when activated, Tags generate a Gold sequence code, the length of which is determined by the Reader, or an Interrogator. The schedule of the anti-collision is established after consulting the TDMA schedule adopted by EPC specifications. Similar to the adjustment of the number of time slots, adjustment and rearrangement of the length of Gold sequence code can be made according to the commands of Interrogator, and thus the total time for identification can be reduced. Data is modulated with the Gold code before it is modulated in BPSK or ASK backscatter manner. The Interrogator receives the signals and pick up the data with correlation arithmetic. To simplify the system, the tags were assumed to be Read-Only. The signal from Interrogator to Tags is modulated in ASK or BPSK, not in a Spread Spectrum. The mechanism, as the figure shows below, is made up of the schedule of Tags and Interrogators. They made use of two M sequence code generator to compose Gold sequence code. Each M sequence code generator has a structure of (2Q-1) bits and Q initial values. Therefore the final result is Gold sequence codes with the length of (2Q-1) bits. Q value was chosen from 4,6,8,10,12, and so on. And Q is designed to be adjusted by the Interrogator through its commands in the progress of identification.

31

Interrogato

Quer ID1, RN Nm1/GC1

ACK

ACK

Rea
Data of tag 1/GC1

IDn, RN Nmn/GCn
IDx, RN Nmx0/GC in collision

Data of tag n/GCn

Interrogato

QueryRep
IDx, RN Nmx1/GCx1

ACK

Rea
Data of tag x/GCx1

IDz, RN Nmz1/GC in collision

Interrogato

QueryRep
IDy, RN Nmy2/GCy2

ACK

ACK

Rea Data of tag

IDz, RN Nmz2/GCz2

Data of tag z/GCz2

When received 'Query' command from Interrogator, every Tag works as diagram shown below.
Initial status

Miller modulation and Gold Code modulation of the tag, the signal transmitting

Query command

Set Q value and choose GC generator pick up ID_Nm from ID. Generate RN_Nm form GC

QueryAdjust received
Miller modulation of remaining bits of ID and RN_Nmiller, GC modulation and the signal transmitting

Regeneration of RN_Nm and new GC

Query command i d

Waiting for ACK

Query Rep command

ACK command received containing the tag ID Read command received

Waiting for Read

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When the number of Tags to be identified is relatively smaller, gold codes with shorter length can be adopted to shorten the total time of identification course. But when the number of Tags to be identified is large, longer length of Gold codes can reduce the count of collision and save time. For example, Gold codes with a length of 1024 bits are proper when the Tags' number is 1900. In the above mechanism, the length of codes can be set and adjusted by Interrogator to fit the variable number of Tags to be identified. Of course, longer length of code. It has been proved by theory and simulation that techniques of CDMA can realize the anti-collision of RFID system effectively, while holding the system advantages of anti-jamming, security, anti-multipath-fading performance. Maurizio A. Bonuccelli, Francesca Lonetti, and Francesca Martelli, March 2007 [10], they proposed a new probabilistic protocol based on a modified version of Slotted Aloha protocol, called Tree Slotted Aloha, to reduce the number of transmission collisions. All tags select a slot to transmit their ID by generating a random number. If there is a collision in a slot, the reader broadcasts the next identification request only to tags which collided in that slot. Joshua Y. Mainaa, Marlin H. Mickle, Michael R. Lovell, Laura A. Schaefer, 2008 [11], they presents analysis and demonstration of the application of code-division multiple access (CDMA) to radio frequency identification (RFID), particularly for the simultaneous reading of multiple RFID tags. They used an orthogonal Walsh code (sequence), which allows more than one transmission to take place simultaneously in such a manner that the receiver receives the cumulative power from all of the transmitting devices. The actual transmitted vector can be separated using the orthogonal basis vectors. The code from each device is used in conjunction with correlation to know whether a device participated in the communication and whether the information was transmitted. Because all devices (in this case, tags) respond to interrogation simultaneously when powered by the reader, the number of reads and responses will be reduced drastically. Piotr Jankowski-Mihulowicz, Wlodzimierz Kalita and Bartosz Pawlowicz, 2008, [12], they proposed an algorithm to solve the problem of dynamic location change of tags. In the paper there were presented operation stages in the RFID anticollision system necessary to communicate with groups of tags entering and leaving read/write device interrogation zone and communication phases in conditions of dynamic location change of tags. The mentioned aspects influence RFID system reliability, which is characterized by the efficiency coefficient and the identification probability of objects in specific interrogation zone. Yuan-Cheng Lai and Chih-Chung Lin, June 2008 [13], they have been made use of a previous algorithm, the Adaptive Binary Splitting algorithm (ABS), to compose a new algorithm a novel anti-collision method, the Pair-Resolution Blocking algorithm (PRB). And thus uses the information of recognized tags obtained from the last process of tag identification. Furthermore, PRB adopts a blocking technique which prevents recognized tags from being collided by unrecognized tags and utilizes a pair resolution technique

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which couples recognized tags to significantly reduce the identification delay. The analytical and simulation results show that PRB significantly outperforms ABS. Jeong Geun Kim, (Member of IEEE), June 2008 [14], he proposed A novel anticollision technique is to maximize identification performance in slotted Aloha based Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. It was observed that much higher throughput can be achieved by identifying tags in a divide-and-conquer method, in which the set of tags is partitioned into multiple subsets of roughly equal size and then each subset is identified in sequence. Numerical results showed that the throughput performance of their proposal outperforms existing methods by a significant margin. You-Chang Ko, Sumit Roy, Joshua R. Smith, Hyong-Woo Lee, and Choong-Ho Cho, June 2008 [15], they introduced a novel anti-collision scheme called BMSA (breadthfirst-search m-ary splitting algorithm) and conducted performance evaluations taking all airtime components in ISOC (International Organization for Standard/the International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 18000-6 Type C) standard into consideration. The proposed scheme yields improved tag read efficiency and latency of approximately 37%140% and 50%160% when compared to DMSA (depth-first-search m-ary splitting algorithm ) and ISOC baseline, respectively, for a typical EPC data size(96 bits) in ideal scenario. The reader collision problem occurs when the signal from one reader interferes with the signal from other readers. Such interference can result in lack of communication between the readers and some of the tags in the vicinity leading to incorrect and inefficient operation of an RFID system. This problem is further aggravated when mobile/hand-held readers are used in the system. The evolving standards like ETSI EN 302 208 for RFID readers use a CSMA based protocol called "Listen Before Talk" to reduce the reader collision problem. However, carrier sensing alone cannot solve the reader collision problem in RFID networks. For example, the signals from two readers that are out of range from each other may still collide at the tags in the region between them. Although this aspect of the reader collision problem seems similar to the hidden terminal problem encountered in traditional wireless systems, existing solutions such as RTS-CTS mechanisms are not applicable. One of the reasons being: A reader may communicate with multiple tags simultaneously. Hence separate collision avoidance will be required between CTS sent by these multiple tags, making the protocol more complicated. Shailesh M. Birari and Sridhar Iyer, 2005 [16], described Pulse, a distributed protocol to reduce reader collisions. The operation of the Pulse protocol is based on periodic beaconing on a separate control channel by the reader, while it is reading the tags. The protocol functions effectively not only with fixed REID readers but also with mobile RFID readers. They showed, using simulation in QualNet, that using Pulse protocol, the throughput (overall read rate) is increased by as high as 60% as compared to "Listen Before Talk" (CSMA) and by 232% as compared to Colorwave. They also presented an analytical model for their protocol in a single hop scenario.

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Joongheon Kim, Wonjun Lee, Jieun Yu, Jihoon Myung, Eunkyo Kim and Choonhwa Lee, 2005 [17], proposes an adaptive and dynamic localized scheme unique to hierarchical clustering in RFID networks, while reducing the overlapping areas of clusters and consequently reducing collisions among RFID readers. The scheme adjusts cluster coverage to minimize energy consumption, Low-Energy Localized Clustering for RFID networks (LLCR) addresses RFID reader anti-collision problem. LLCR is a RFID reader anti-collision algorithm that minimizes collisions by minimizing overlapping areas of clusters that each RFID reader covers. LLCR takes into account each RFID readers energy state as well as RFID reader collisions. For the energy state factor, we distinguish homogeneous RFID networks from heterogeneous ones according to computing power of each RFID reader. The simulation-based performance evaluation shows that LLCR minimizes energy consumption and overlapping areas of clusters of RFID readers. Kin Seong Leong, Mun Leng Ng (Member of IEEE), Alfio R. Grasso and Peter H. Cole, 2005 [18], they have identified synchronization of RFID readers as a mechanism to assist in RFID readers deployment in dense reader environments. Several fine-tuning methods are also proposed in optimizing the performance of a synchronized RFID system. As compared to conventional unsynchronized RFID systems, a synchronized RFID system can offer more coverage, less reader collision or interference, while strictly following the European regulations and the EPC C1G2 recommendation. However, these benefits require the use of more complex hardware and hence can marginally increase deployment costs. Bogdan Carbunar, Murali Krishna Ramanathan, Mehmet Koyutrk, Suresh Jagannathan and Ananth Gramab, 2008 [19], they have been addressed two important problems in wireless RFID systems. The first problem that of accurately detecting the tags covered by each reader, is made difficult by reader collisions occurring at remote tags, the second problem relates to extending the lifetime of the reader network by detecting and temporarily disabling the wireless interfaces of redundant readers. They defined redundancy in terms of discrete sets of points, tags, and proved that the optimization version of the problem is NP-complete. For both problems, they present distributed and localized algorithms, based on a randomized querying technique that ensures the accurate receipt of reader queries by tags. Also they provide a probabilistic analysis of the algorithms. Their extensive simulations showed the impact of reader collisions on the accuracy of a tree walking algorithm (TWA). Moreover, they show that their solution achieves high accuracy at the expense of slightly increased traffic overhead (on average 4 messages per query).

9. My proposal:
It is clear from the above survey that the most important technique is the CDMA which is very useful in the RFID field, however, this still has a problem due to the pseudo code used in its construction such as the Gold code and the Walsh code, in other words it still has limitations in the tag capacity due to the used code as stated above in ref. [9] and [10]. To overcome this problem, we can use the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM). The use of OFDM is a promising technology and it has useful

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several features for wireless multipath fading channels. It has been adopted in many recent standards for wireless local area networks and wireless metropolitan area networks as well as broadcasting standards. I suggest investigating the performance of OFDM with RFID when operating in such environment. This will also help in solving the congestion problem pointed in [9] by dividing the frequency sub bands between the different items to be identified (tags) or using spreading code for each tag through the Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) which is a combination of OFDM and CDMA. This will make the employed spreading code used shorter than that used by [9 and 11] even when the number of tags is large, moreover OFDM is a low-complexity technique to efficiently modulate multiple sub-carriers by using digital signal processing. To explain the above method, an overview of OFDM and CDMA must be presented. So that the following paragraphs will show that, OFDM [20] system is similar to the conventional FDM system. In FDM system the spectra of different subchannels do not overlap In such a system, there is a sufficient guard space between adjacent subchannels to isolate them at the receiver using conventional filters. Therefore, this arrangement does not achieve effective use of bandwidth. A much more efficient use of bandwidth can be obtained with a parallel system if the spectra of individual subchannels are permitted to overlap, as shown in Figure 17. However, it is possible to arrange the carriers in an OFDM signal so that the sidebands of the individual carriers overlap and the signals are still received without carrier interference. To do this the carriers must be mathematically orthogonal [20]. Figure 18 shows a simple block diagram for the OFDM system.
Amplitude ch.1 ch.2 ch.3 ch.4

f1

f2

f3

f4

Frequency

(a)
Amplitude

ch.1

ch.2

ch.3

ch.4

Saving in B.W f1 f2 f3 f4 Frequency

(b
Figure 17. Signal spectrum of multicarrier system (a) Non-overlapped signal spectrum (b) Overlapped signal spectrum

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d(k) Input Serial Binary Stream Serial to Parallel Converter Modulator

1 Parallel to Serial Converter S(n)

IFFT N

Channel 1

R(n)

Serial To Parallel Converter

d (k )
Demodulater FFT

Parallel To Serial Converter

Output Binary Data

Figure18. Practical OFDM system with FFT.

CDMA [9] technique has been considered to be a candidate to support multimedia services in mobile radio communications, because it has its own capabilities to cope with asynchronous nature of multimedia data traffic, to provide higher capacity over conventional access techniques, and to combat the hostile channel frequency selectivity. CDMA has several advantages such as, narrow band rejection, ISI (inter symbol interference) rejection, low probability of interception, and privacy. The CDMA [21] System is based upon a multiple access technique using orthogonal codes to keep various information channels separate from each other. Other methods in use include FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and FDMA/TDMA used together. The CDMA approach utilizes a family of orthogonal codes known as Walsh functions. When digitized speech information is combined with such a code and then modulated onto a carrier along with other coded speech signals having different Walsh codes, the data do not interfere with each other due to the orthogonal properties of Walsh codes (figure 19).

Figure 19. CDMA signal shape.

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Many spread spectrum techniques are currently available. For example, there is direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), timehopping spread spectrum (THSS), and hybrid techniques, which are combinations of the first three. Multicarrier CDMA is the combination of OFDM signaling and CDMA scheme has one major advantage that it can lower the symbol rate in each subcarrier so that longer symbol duration makes it easier to quasi-synchronize the transmissions. The MC-CDMA transmitter spreads the original data stream over different subcarriers using a given spreading code in the frequency domain. In other words, a fraction of the symbol corresponding to a chip of the spreading code is transmitted through a different subcarrier. Spreading code like the Hadamard Walsh code has been shown to be optimum in maintaining ortogonality between subcarriers, because here does not pay attention to the auto-correlation characteristics of the spreading code. Figure 20 shows the basic MCCDMA system of the jth user, where G MC denotes the processing gain, N C the number of subcarriers, and Cj(t)=[C 1 j C 2 j ..C GMC j] the spreading code of the jth user. In this figure the MC-CDMA scheme is discussed assuming that the number of subcarriers and the processing gain are all the same. Therefore, in this figure the number of subcarriers is equal to the processing gain (G MC =N C ).
C1j

Cos 2f 1t

C2j Data Stream Copier

Cos 2f 2t

CjGMC

Cos 2f GMC t

To Serial Converter NC=GMC

Parallel

Q1

Cos 2f 1t

Q2 Data Parallel NC=GMC To

Cos 2f 2t
Serial

C H A N N EL

QjGMC

Cos 2f GMC t

To Parallel

Figure 20. Basic MC-CDMA system when NC=GMC

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10. References:
1. Stevan Preradovic, Nemai C. Karmakar, and Isaac Balbin RFID Transponders, IEEE microwave magazine, p-p 90-103, 2008. 2. Klaus Finkenzeller, RFID Handbook, second edition, Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 3. Yan Chen, Integrating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) data with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) business processes, Thesis of Master of Engineering in Logistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2005. 4. OTA Training, RFID+ Exam Cram, Copyright 2006, by Exam Cram. Part of the Exam Cram 2 series. 5. Donald L. Black and Dale Yones, Method for Resolving Signal Collisions Between Multiple RFID Transponders in a Field, US Patent No. 62656963 B1, Jul. 24, 2001. 6. Anil Rohatgi, RFID Anti-Collision System Using the Spread Spectrum Technique propagation group document ID: PG-TR-050426-AR, 26 April 2005. 7. Michael A. Hughes, Pasco and Richard M. Pratt, SYSTEM AND METHOD TO IDENTIFY MULTIPLE RFID TAGS, US Patent No. 7009495 B2, Mar. 7, 2006. 8. Cheng-Hao Quan, Won-Kee Hong, and Hie-Cheol Kim, Performance Analysis of Tag Anti-collision Algorithms for RFID Systems, IFIP, EUC Workshops 2006, LNCS 4097, pp. 382391, 2006. 9. Ping Wang, Aiqun Hu and Wenjiang Pei, The Design of Anti-collision Mechanism of UHF RFID System based on CDMA, IEEE, APCCAS, p-p 1703-1708, 2006. 10. Maurizio A. Bonuccelli, Francesca Lonetti and Francesca Martelli, Instant collision resolution for tag identification in RFID networks, ScienceDirect, M.A. Bonuccelli et al. / Ad Hoc Networks 5, p-p 12201232, 2007 Elsevier Inc. 11. Joshua Y. Mainaa, Marlin H. Mickle, Michael R. Lovell and Laura A. Schaefer, Application of CDMA for anti-collision and increased read efficiency of multiple RFID tags, ScienceDirect, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, p-p 37 43, 26 2007 Elsevier Inc.

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12. Piotr Jankowski-Mihulowicz, Wlodzimierz Kalita and Bartosz Pawlowicz, Problem of dynamic change of tags location in anticollision RFID systems, ScienceDirect, Microelectronics Reliability, p-p 911-918, 48 2008 Elsevier Inc. 13. Yuan-Cheng Lai and Chih-Chung Lin, A Pair-Resolution Blocking Algorithm on Adaptive Binary Splitting for RFID Tag Identification, IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 12, NO. 6, pp 432-434, JUNE 2008. 14. Jeong Geun Kim, Member, IEEE, A Divide-and-Conquer Technique for Throughput Enhancement of RFID Anti-collision Protocol, IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 12, NO. 6, pp 474-476, JUNE 2008. 15. You-Chang Ko, Sumit Roy, Joshua R. Smith, Hyong-Woo Lee, and Choong-Ho Cho, RFID MAC Performance Evaluation Based on ISO/IEC 18000-6 Type C, IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 12, NO. 6, pp 426-428, JUNE 2008. 16. Shailesh M. Birari and Sridhar Iyer, Mitigating the Reader Collision Problem in RFID Networks with Mobile Readers, IEEE, 1-4244-0000-7/05/$20.00, pp 463468, 2005. 17. Joongheon Kim, Wonjun Lee, Jieun Yu, Jihoon Myung, Eunkyo Kim and Choonhwa Lee, Effect of Localized Optimal Clustering for Reader AntiCollision in RFID Networks: Fairness Aspects to the Readers, IEEE, 0-78039428-3/05/$20.00, pp 497-502, 2005. 18. Kin Seong Leong, Mun Leng Ng, Member, IEEE, Alfio R. Grasso and Peter H. Cole, Synchronization of RFID Readers for Dense RFID Reader Environments, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Applications and the Internet Workshops (SAINTW06), 0-7695-2510-5/05 $20.00, 2005 IEEE. 19. Bogdan Carbunar, Murali Krishna Ramanathan, Mehmet Koyutrk, Suresh Jagannathan, Ananth Grama, Efficient tag detection in RFID systems, ScienceDirect, J. Parallel Distrib. Comput., 2008 Elsevier Inc. 20. Eric Phillip LAWREY BE, Adaptive Techniques for Multiuser OFDM, thesis of Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, James Cook University, December 2001. 21. Shinsuke Hara and Ramjee Prasad, Overview of Multicarrier CDMA, IEEE Communications Magazine, 0163-6804/97/$1000, pp 126-133, December 1997.

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