RESEARCH OF

RFID & ANTENNA

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement
for the award of

Bachelor of Engineering
In
Electronics & communication Engineering
July, 2007

By
Pawan sharma

Under the guidance of

Mr. Ravi Pratap Singh Kushwah

Senior R&D Engineer
Bar Code India Ltd.
Gurgaon, India.

Jagan Nath Gupta Institute of

Engineering & Tecnology
Plot No. IP-263, Sitapura Industrial Area,
Phase-IV, Jaipur-302022
 CERTIFICATE

Certified that Pawan Sharma pursuing the course B.E (Electronics &
Communication Engineering) from Jagan Nath Gupta Institute of
Engineering & Technology, jaipur, has completed her training under my
supervision in the Software Division of the R&D Department. At Omnia
Tecnology Pvt. Ltd, Gurgaon.
The training has been carried out from 1th July ‘07 to 6th Augest ‘07.

Ravi Pratap Singh Kushwah

Senior R&D Engineer
Omnia Tecnology Pvt. Ltd.
Gurgaon.
 CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work that is presented in this dissertation,

entitled

Research of RFID & Antenna

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of B.Tech
in Elec. & Comm. Engineering from the Jagan Nath Gupta Institute of
Engineering & Technology, jaipur, is an authentic record of work carried out
during the period July 2007 to Augest 2007 at Omnia Tecnology Pvt. Ltd.,
Gurgaon.

No part of this dissertation has been submitted to any other university or

institution for any other degree or reward.

Date: 25th May 2007 PAWAN SHARMA

Place: Gurgaon Instt. Roll No: A-38
Electronics&CommunicationEngineeing
JNIT Institute of Engg.
Jaipur.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful realization of the project is an outgrowth of a

consolidated effort of the people from disparate fronts. It’s only with their
support and guidance that the developer could meet the end.

I am deeply indebted to my Project In charge Mr. Ravi Paratp

Singh Kushwah, Senior R& D Engineer, for his invaluable technical
guidance and moral support provided during the course of my project.
I am thankful to all my colleagues at Bar Code India Ltd for their full
cooperation and help during my stay there.

Special thanks to Dr. Y.C. Bhat, Director JNIT Institute of Engg.

Jaipur, Mr. Chaturvedi, HOD Elec.&Comm. Deptt. for providing me with
an opportunity to take up this project and for their constant support and
encouragement.

Pawan sharma
July, 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. COMPANY PROFILE
1.1 About Bar Code India Ltd.
1.2 Services Provided

II. PART-A (Study Phase)

2.1 BARCODES
2.1.1 History
2.1.2 Symbologies
2.2 Benefits of using Barcodes
2.3 Replacing Barcodes-Evolution of RFID.
2.4 Advantages of RFID vs. Barcodes

III. PART-B Radio Frequency Identification

3.1 Overview
3.2 RFID Frequencies
3.2.1 LF
3.2.2 HF
3.2.3 UHF
3.3.4 Microwave
3.3 How RFID Technology works?
3.4 RFID System
3.5 Reader
3.5.1 Overview
3.5.2 Components
3.5.3Types
3.5.4 Serial Reader
3.5.5 Network Reader
3.5.6 Stationary Reader
3.5.7 Handheld Reader
3.6 Tags
3.6.1 Passive Tags
3.6.2 Active Tags
3.6.3 Semi-Active Tags
3.6.4 Read-Only Tags
3.6.5 WORM
3.6.6 Read/Write
3.6.7 Non-RFID Tags
3.7 Communication between Reader and Tags
3.7.1 Modulated backscattering
3.7.2 Transmitter Type
3.7.3 Transponder Type
3.8 Reader Antenna
3.8.1 Antenna Polarization
3.8.1.1 Linear
3.8.1.2 Circular
3.8.1.3 Patch
3.8.2 Antenna Power
3.8.2.1 ERP
3.8.2.2 EIRP
3.9 Host and Software System
3.9.1 Edge Interface System
3.9.1.1 Middleware
3.9.1.2 Enterprise Backend Interface
3.9.1.3 Enterprise backend
3.9.1.4 Communication Infrastructure
3.9.2 Basic Concepts
3.9.2.1 Tag Collision
3.9.2.2 Reader Collision
3.9.2.3 Tag Readability
3.9.2.4 Tag Robustness
3.9.3 Characterization of RFID systems
3.9.3.1 Based on Operating System
3.9.3.2 Based on Read range
3.9.3.3 Based on Physical Coupling System
3.9.4 EPC Standard Classification of RFID systems.
3.10 Current Uses

IV. PART-C Project Description-

Technical Implementation of the System
4.1 Serial Port Communication
4.1.1 Why Visual Basic?
4.1.2 Overview with example
4.1.3 Parameters
4.1.4 I/O Function in Visual Basic
4.2 RS-232
4.3 Some Programming Terminologies
4.3.1 Port Enabling
4.3.2 Receiving Data
4.3.3 Using Variables
4.4 Some RFID Facts
4.5 Conclusion

V. REFERENCES
 LIST OF TABLES

1. RF Properties of Example Material Types.

2. Properties of MSComm Control.
3. MSComm Control Handshake Constants.
4. OnComm Control.
5. Error Constants.
6. Input Mode Constants.

LIST OF FIGURES

1. Concept of RFID
2. A schematic diagram of an RFID system
3. A RFID System with example components.
4. Simplified Block Diagram of a Reader
5. Systematic diagram of a reader
6. Symbol XR480 Reader
7. Stationary Reader from Intermec Corporation
8. IA39D Rugged Antenna
9. Advanced ID Reader HH 800
10. Components of Passive Tag
11. Backscattering Communication
12. Amplitude Modulated Backscattering Signal
13. Transmitter Communication
14. Simple Antenna Pattern
15. An example antenna pattern containing protrusions
16. Wave Pattern from a Linear polarized antenna.
17. Wave Pattern from a Circular polarized antenna.
18. A basic Patch Antenna.
19. An RFID System from IT perspective.
20. Inductive coupling
21. Operating principle of a backscatter transponder
22. Hand with the planned location of RFID chip.
23. Hand after the operation to insert the RFID tag was completed.
24. Character frame encoding
25. RS 232 System
26. Visual Basic Forms (1-10)
ABOUT BAR CODE INDIA LTD

Omnia Technologies is a manufacturer of hi-quality RFID Tags and Labels. Our plant situated at
Industrial Modern Township (IMT), Gurgaon, India has all the modern state of the art manufacturing
facility for manufacturing RFID products.

Omnia has the capabilities to manufacture the RFID tags and labels in various frequency ranges like
125 KHz, 13.56 MHz, 868 MHz. etc.

Our Research and Development Department with analysts and designers, comprises of state-of-the-
art test equipment & analyzers with a focus to develop high quality, innovative and industry relevant
designs at competitive prices.

The Environmental Test Lab consists of all the required testing equipments that ensure products are
validated at regular interval.

Current product range (Different frequencies – LF, HF and UHF):

Tags
Key Fobs
Mount on Metal
Wrist Bands
Customized Tags.

Software Services

Apart from hardware components, the main component of any AIDC solution
is the software which enables the hardware components to deliver the desired results.
 Bar Code India Ltd develops these enabling software components in order to achieve
the AIDC solution objective. With in-house skilled team of software developers and
solution designers, the turnkey solutions are provided. In order to achieve these
objectives, industry standard software development procedures are followed.

Barcode Scanners

Barcode Printers

Mobile Computers

Wireless

RFID

Consumables

Manufacturing

Logistics

Retail

In-The–Field

Healthcare

Bar coding
Mobile Computing

Wireless LAN

RFID

Field Application

System Integration

Label Printing

PART-A
2.1 BARCODES
2.1.1 History

The first barcode was developed in 1948 by two graduate students at Drexel
Institute of Technology, Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland. They filed for a
U.S. patent in October 1949 and it was granted in 1952. Its implementation was made
possible through the work of Raymond Alexander and Frank Stietz, two engineers with
Sylvania, as a result of their work on a system to identify railroad cars (who were also
granted a patent). It was not until 1966 that barcodes were put to commercial use and
they were not commercially successful until the 1980s.

While traditionally barcode encoding schemes represented only numbers, newer

symbologies add new characters such as the uppercase alphabet to the complete ASCII
character set and beyond. The drive to encode more information in combination with the
space requirements of simple barcodes led to the development of matrix codes (a type of
2D barcode), which do not consist of bars but rather a grid of square cells. Stacked
barcodes are a compromise between true 2D barcodes and linear codes, and are formed
by taking a traditional linear symbology and placing it in an envelope that allows
multiple rows.

2.1.2 Symbologies

The mapping between messages and barcodes is called a symbology. The

specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the single digits/characters of the
message as well as the start and stop markers into bars and space, the size of the quiet
zone required to be before and after the barcode as well as the computation of a
checksum.

Linear symbologies can be classified mainly by two properties:

• Continuous vs. discrete: Characters in continuous symbologies usually abut, with

one character ending with a space and the next beginning with a bar, or vice versa.
Characters in discrete symbologies begin and end with bars; the inter character space
is ignored, as long as it is not wide enough to look like the code ends.
• Two-width vs. many-width: Bars and spaces in two-width symbologies are wide or
narrow; how wide a wide bar is exactly has no significance as long as the symbology
requirements for wide bars are adhered to (usually two to three times more wide
than a narrow bar). Bars and spaces in many-width symbologies are all multiples of
a basic width called the module; most such codes use four widths of 1, 2, 3 and 4
modules.

Some symbologies use interleaving. The first character is encoded using black
bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded, by varying the width of the
white spaces between these bars. Thus characters are encoded in pairs over the same
section of the barcode. Interleaved 2 of 5 is an example of this.
Stacked symbologies consist of a given linear symbology repeated vertically in multiple.

There are a large variety of 2-D symbologies. The most common are matrix
codes, which feature square or dot-shaped modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2-D
symbologies also come in a variety of other visual formats. Aside from circular patterns,
there are several 2-D symbologies which employ steganography by hiding an array of
different-sized or -shaped modules within a user-specified image (for example, Data
Glyph).

2.2 BENEFITS OF USING BARCODES

In point-of-sale management, the use of barcodes can provide very detailed up-
to-date information on key aspects of the business, enabling decisions to be made much
more quickly and with more confidence. For example:

• Fast-selling items can be identified quickly and automatically reordered to meet

consumer demand,
• Slow-selling items can be identified, preventing a build-up of unwanted stock,
• The effects of repositioning a given product within a store can be monitored,
allowing fast-moving more profitable items to occupy the best space,
• Historical data can be used to predict seasonal fluctuations very accurately.
• Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in
shipping/receiving/tracking.

• When a manufacturer packs a box with any given item, a Unique Identifying
Number (UID) can be assigned to the box.
• A relational database can be created to relate the UID to relevant information about
the box; such as order number, items packed, qty packed, final destination, etc...
• The information can be transmitted through a communication system such as
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) so the retailer has the information about a
shipment before it arrives.
• Tracking results when shipments are sent to a Distribution Center (DC) before being
forwarded to the final destination.
• When the shipment gets to the final destination, the UID gets scanned, and the store
knows where the order came from, what's inside the box, and how much to pay the
manufacturer.

The reason bar codes are business friendly is that bar code scanners are relatively
low costing and extremely accurate – only about 1/100,000 entries will be wrong.

2.3 REPLACING BARCODES—EVOLUTION OF RFID

RFID tags are often envisioned as a replacement for UPC or EAN barcodes,
having a number of important advantages over the older barcode technology. They may
not ever completely replace barcodes, due in part to their higher cost and in other part to
the advantage of more than one independent data source on the same object. The new
EPC, along with several other schemes, is widely available at reasonable cost.

The storage of data associated with tracking items will require many terabytes on
all levels. Filtering and categorizing RFID data is needed in order to create useful
information. It is likely that goods will be tracked preferably by the pallet using RFID
tags or at package level with Universal Product Code (UPC) or EAN from unique
barcodes.

The unique identity in any case is a mandatory requirement for RFID tags,
despite special choice of the numbering scheme. RFID tag data capacity is big enough
that any tag will have a unique code, while current bar codes are limited to a single type
code for all instances of a particular product. The uniqueness of RFID tags means that a
product may be individually tracked as it moves from location to location, finally ending
up in the consumer's hands. This may help companies to combat theft and other forms
of product loss. Moreover, the tracing back of products is an important feature that gets
well supported with RFID tags containing not just a unique identity of the tag but also
the serial number of the object. This may help companies to cope with quality
deficiencies and resulting recall campaigns, but also contributes to concern over post-
sale tracking and profiling of consumers.

2.4 ADVANTAGES OF RFID VERSUS BARCODES

RFID tags and barcodes both carry information about products. However, there
are important differences between these two technologies:

• Barcode readers require a direct line of sight to the printed barcode; RFID readers do
not require a direct line of sight to either active RFID tags or passive RFID tags.
• RFID tags can be read at much greater distances; an RFID reader can pull
information from a tag at distances up to 300 feet. The range to read a barcode is
much less, typically no more than fifteen feet.
• RFID readers can interrogate, or read, RFID tags much faster; read rates of forty or
more tags per second are possible. Reading barcodes is much more time-consuming;
due to the fact that a direct line of sight is required, if the items are not properly
oriented to the reader it may take seconds to read an individual tag. Barcode readers
usually take a half-second or more to successfully complete a read.
• Line of sight requirements also limit the ruggedness of barcodes as well as the
reusability of barcodes. (Since line of sight is required for barcodes, the printed
barcode must be exposed on the outside of the product, where it is subject to greater
wear and tear.) RFID tags are typically more rugged, since the electronic components
are better protected in a plastic cover. RFID tags can also be implanted within the
product itself, guaranteeing greater ruggedness and reusability.
• Barcodes have no read/write capability; that is, you cannot add to the information
written on a printed barcode. RFID tags, however, can be read/write devices; the
 RFID reader can communicate with the tag, and alter as much of the information as
the tag design will allow.
• RFID tags are typically more expensive than barcodes.
• Human intervention is required to scan a barcode, whereas in most applications an
RFID tag can be detected "hands off."
• Barcodes must be visible on the outside of product packaging. RFID tags can be
placed inside the packaging or even in the product itself.
• The readability of barcodes can be impaired by dirt, moisture, abrasion, or
packaging contours. RFID tags are not affected by those conditions.
• More data can be stored in an RFID tag than can be stored on a barcode.
• RFID has portable databases.
• Multiple tags can be Read/Write at the same time.

II. PART –B
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION

1. Overview
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one member in the family of Automatic
Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies and is a fast and reliable means of
identifying just about any material object automatically.

Primarily, the two main components involved in a Radio Frequency Identification

system are the Transponder (tags that are attached to the object) and the Interrogator
(RFID reader). Communication between the RFID reader and tags occurs wirelessly and
generally does not require a line of sight between the devices.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying

on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders.
An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal,
or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. All RFID tags contain at
least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information,
modulating and demodulating a radio frequency (RF) signal and perhaps other
specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal.

The RFID tag can automatically be read from several meters away and does not have
to be in the line of sight of the reader. The current thrust in RFID use in supply chain
management for large enterprises. RFID increases the speed and accuracy with which
inventory can be tracked and managed thereby saving money for the business.

RFID technology uses radio waves to automatically identify physical objects (either
living beings or inanimate items). Therefore, the range of objects identifiable using RFID
includes virtually everything on this planet (and beyond).
3.2 RFID Frequency

Radio waves are the carriers of data between the reader and transponders. The
approach generally adopted for RFID communication is to allocate frequencies
depending on application. The frequencies used cover a wide spectrum.

These specified bands are:

• Low frequency (LF)

• High frequency (HF)
• Ultra high frequency (UHF)
• Microwave frequency

The following subsections discuss these frequency types.

3.2.1 Low Frequency (LF)

Frequencies between 30 KHz and 300 KHz are considered low, and RFID
systems commonly use the 125 KHz to 134 KHz frequency range. A typical LF RFID
system operates at 125 KHz or 134.2 KHz. RFID systems operating at LF generally use
passive tags, have low data-transfer rates from the tag to the reader, and are especially
good if the operating environment contains metals, liquids, dirt, snow, or mud (a very
important characteristic of LF systems). Active LF tags are also available from vendors.
Because of the maturity of this type of tag, LF tag systems probably have the largest
installed base. The LF range is accepted worldwide.
3.2.2 High Frequency (HF)

HF ranges from 3 MHz to 30 MHz, with 13.56 MHz being the typical frequency
used for HF RFID systems. A typical HF RFID system uses passive tags, has a slow data-
transfer rate from the tag to the reader, and offers fair performance in the presence of
metals and liquids. HF systems are also widely used, especially in hospitals (where it
does not interfere with the existing equipment). The HF frequency range is accepted
worldwide.

The next frequency range is called very high frequency (VHF) and lies between 30
and 300 MHz. Unfortunately, none of the current RFID systems operate in this range.
Therefore, this frequency type is not discussed any further.

3.2.3 Ultra High Frequency (UHF)

UHF ranges from 300 MHz to 1 GHz. A typical passive UHF RFID system
operates at 865-867 MHz in India. RFID system operates at 315 MHz and 433 MHz. A
UHF system can therefore use both active and passive tags and has a fast data-transfer
rate between the tag and the reader, but performs poorly in the presence of metals and
liquids (not true, however, in the cases of low UHF frequencies such as 315 MHz and 433
MHz). UHF RFID systems have started being deployed widely because of the recent
RFID mandates of several large private and public enterprises. The UHF range is not
accepted worldwide.

3.2.4 Microwave Frequency

Microwave frequency ranges upward from 1 GHz. A typical microwave RFID

system operates either at 2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz, although the former is more common,
can use both semi-active and passive tags, has the fastest data-transfer rate between the
tag and the reader, and performs very poorly in the presence of metals and liquids.
Because antenna length is inversely proportional to the frequency, the antenna of a
passive tag operating in the microwave range has the smallest length (which results in a
small tag size because the tag microchip can also be made very small). The 2.4 GHz
frequency range is called Industry, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band and is accepted
worldwide.

International restrictions apply to the frequencies that RFID can use. Therefore,
some of the previously discussed frequencies might not be valid worldwide.

Radio waves are susceptible to interference from various sources, such as the following:

• Weather conditions such as rain, snow, and other types of precipitation. However, as
mentioned before, these are not an issue at LF and HF.
• The presence of other radio sources such as cell phones, mobile radios, and so on.
• Electrostatic discharge (ESD): ESD is a sudden flow of electrical current through a
material that is an insulator under normal circumstances. If a large potential
 difference exists between the two points on the material, the atoms between these
two points can become charged and conduct electric current.

Table 1: RF Properties of Example Material Types

Material LF HF UHF Microwave

Clothing RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent
Dry wood RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-absorbent
Graphite RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-opaque RF-opaque
Liquids
RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-absorbent RF-absorbent
(some types)
Metals RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-opaque RF-opaque
Motor oil RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent
Paper
RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent
products
Plastics RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-lucent (some types)
Shampoo RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-absorbent RF-absorbent
Water RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-absorbent RF-absorbent
Wet wood RF-lucent RF-lucent RF-absorbent RF-absorbent

3.3 How RFID technology works?

A radio device called a tag is attached to the object that needs to be identified.
Unique identification data about this tagged object is stored on this tag. When such a
tagged object is presented in front of a suitable RFID reader, the tag transmits this data
to the reader (via the reader antenna). The reader then reads the data and has the
capability to forward it over suitable communication channels, such as a network or a
serial connection, to a software application running on a computer. This application can
then use this unique data to identify the object presented to the reader. It can then
perform a variety of actions such as updating the location information of this object in
the database, sending an alert to the floor personnel, or completely ignoring it (if a
duplicate read, for example).

As you can understand from this description, RFID is also a data-collection

technology. However, this technology has some unique characteristics that enable users
to apply it in areas beyond the reach of traditional data-collection technologies, such as
bar codes.
 An RFID application is implemented by an RFID system, which constitutes the
entire technology end-to-end.

3.4 RFID System

An RFID system is an integrated collection of components that implement an

RFID solution.

An RFID system consists of the following components (in singular form) from an
end-to-end perspective:

• Tag. This is a mandatory component of any RFID system.

• Reader. This is a mandatory component, too.
• Reader antenna. This is another mandatory component. Some current readers
available today have built-in antennas.
• Controller. This is a mandatory component. However, most of the new- generation
readers have this component built in to them.
• Sensor, actuator and annunciator. These optional components are needed for
external input and output of the system.
• Host and software system. Theoretically, an RFID system can function
independently without this component. Practically, an RFID system is close to
worthless without this component.
• Communication infrastructure. This mandatory component is a collection of both
wired and wireless network and serial connection infrastructure needed to connect
the previously listed components together to effectively communicate with each
other.

Figure 2: A schematic diagram of an RFID system.

The basic system consists of central reader with its controller. The reader has an antenna
for communication to take place through it. The reader has a communication interface to
interact with the tag which has to be identified. The reader has a software system as its
backend. The tag is placed in the vicinity of the antenna.

Figure 3: An RFID system with example components.

These figures may seem "reader-centric" because the RFID reader seems to be at
the center of the entire system. Therefore, this figure might seem to be slanted, for
example, toward the RFID vendor viewpoint.

1. Trigger event detected by sensors.

 2. Reader is turned on.
3. Reader reads a tag.
4. Tag data is sent to the software system by the reader.
5. Software system instructs the reader to turn on the annunciator.
6. Annunciator is turned on.
7. Trigger is sent to reader.

3.5 READER
3.5.1 Overview

An RFID reader is a device that is used to interrogate an RFID tag. The reader
has an antenna that emits radio waves; the tag responds by sending back its data.

An RFID reader typically contains a module (transmitter and receiver), a control

unit and a coupling element (antenna). The reader has three main functions: energizing,
demodulating and decoding. In addition, readers can be fitted with an additional
interface that converts the radio waves returned from the RFID tag into a form that can
then be passed on to another system, like a computer or any programmable logic
controller. Anti-Collision algorithms permit the simultaneous reading of large numbers
of tagged objects, while ensuring that each tag is read only once.

An RFID reader, also called an interrogator, can read from and write data to
compatible RFID tags. Thus, a reader also doubles up as a writer. The act of writing the
tag data by a reader is called creating a tag. The process of creating a tag and uniquely
associating it with an object is called commissioning the tag. Similarly, decommissioning
a tag means to disassociate the tag from a tagged object and optionally destroy it. The
time during which a reader can emit RF energy to read tags is called the duty cycle of
the reader. International legal limits apply to reader duty cycles.

The reader is the central nervous system of the entire RFID hardware system—
establishing communication with and control of this component is the most important
task of any entity which seeks integration with this hardware entity.

A number of factors can affect the distance at which a tag can be read (the read
range). The frequency used for identification, the antenna gain, the orientation and
polarization of the reader antenna and the transponder antenna, as well as the
placement of the tag on the object to be identified will all have an impact on the RFID
system’s read range.

A reader has the following main components:

• Transmitter
• Receiver
 • Microprocessor
• Memory
• Input/output channels for external sensors, actuators, and annunciators (Although,
strictly speaking, these are optional components, they are almost always provided
with a commercial reader.)
• Controller (which may reside as an external component)
• Communication interface
• Power

Figure 4: Simplified Block Diagram of a RFID Reader

Oscillator Modulator Amplifier

To/
Fro
m
Antenn RFI
a D

Tag
Demodulat Filter/
or Amplifier

Decoder Display To Video

Module Display
Figure 5: The components of an example reader.

The following subsections describe these components.

Transmitter

The reader’s transmitter is used to transmit AC power and the clock cycle via its
antennas to the tags in its read zone. This is a part of the transceiver unit, the component
responsible for sending the reader’s signal to the surrounding environment and
receiving tag responses back via the reader antenna(s). The antenna ports of a reader are
connected to its transceiver component. One reader antenna can be attached to each such
antenna port. Currently, some readers can support up to four antenna ports.

Receiver

This component is also part of the transceiver module. It receives analog signals
from the tag via the reader antenna. It then sends these signals to the reader
microprocessor, where it is converted to its equivalent digital form (that is, the digital
representation of the data that the tag has transmitted to the reader antenna).

Microprocessor

This component is responsible for implementing the reader protocol to

communicate with compatible tags. It is performs decoding and error checking of the
analog signal from the receiver. In addition, the microprocessor might contain custom
logic for doing low-level filtering and processing of read tag data.

Memory

Memory is used for storing data such as the reader configuration parameters and
a list of tag reads. Therefore, if the connection between the reader and the
controller/software system goes down, not all read tag data will be lost. Depending on
the memory size, however, a limit applies as to how many such tag reads can be stored
at any one time. If the connection remains down for an extended period with the reader
reading tags during this downtime, this limit might be exceeded and part of the stored
data lost (that is, overwritten by the other tags that are read later).

Input/Output Channels for External Sensors, Actuators, and Annunciators

Readers do not have to be turned on for reading tags at all times. After all, the
tags might appear only at certain times in the read zone, and leaving readers perpetually
on would just waste the reader’s energy. In addition, as mentioned previously,
regulatory limits apply to the reader duty cycle, too. This component provides a
mechanism for turning a reader on and off depending on external events. A sensor of
some sort, such as a motion or light sensor, detects the presence of tagged objects in the
reader’s read zone. This sensor can then set the reader on to read this tag. Similarly, this
component also allows the reader to provide local output depending on some condition
via an annunciator (for example, sounding an audible alarm) or an actuator (for
example, opening or closing a security gate, moving a robot arm, and so forth). Sensors,
actuators, and annunciators are discussed later in this chapter.

Controller

A controller is an entity that allows an external entity, either a human or a

computer program, to communicate with and control a reader’s functions and to control
annunciators and actuators associated with this reader. Often, manufacturers integrate
this component into the reader itself (as firmware, for example). However, it is also
possible to package this as a separate hardware/software component that must be
bought together with the reader. Controllers are discussed in detail later in this chapter.

Communication Interface

The communication interface component provides the communication

instructions to a reader that allow it to interact with external entities, via a controller, to
transfer its stored data and to accept commands and send back the corresponding
responses. You can assume that this interface component is either part of the controller
or is the medium that lies between a controller and the external entities. This entity has
important characteristics that make it necessary to treat this as an independent
component. A reader could have a serial as well as a network interface for
communication. A serial interface is probably the most widespread type of reader
interface available, but next-generation readers are being developed with network
interfaces as a standard feature. Sophisticated readers offer features such as automatic
discovery by an application, embedded Web servers that allow the reader to accept
commands and display the results using a standard Web browser, and so forth.
Power

This component supplies power to the reader components. The power source is
generally provided to this component through a power cord connected to an
appropriate external electrical outlet.

3.5.3 TYPES OF READERS

Like tags, readers can also be classified using two different criteria. The first
criterion is the interface that a reader provides for communication. Based on this,
readers can be classified as follows:

• Serial
• Network

The following subsections describe these reader types.

3.5.4 Serial Reader

Serial readers use a serial communication link to communicate with an

application. The reader is physically connected to a computer’s serial port using an RS-
232 or RS-485 serial connection. Both of these connections have an upper limit on the
cable length that can be used to connect a reader to a computer. RS-485 allows a longer
cable length than RS-232 does.

The advantage of serial readers is that the communication link is reliable

compared to network readers. Therefore, the use of these readers is recommended to
minimize dependency on a communication channel.

3.5.5 Network Reader

Network readers can be connected to a computer using both wired and wireless
networks. In effect, the reader behaves like a network device installation that does not
require any specialized knowledge of the hardware. Note, however, that SNMP-type
monitoring features are currently available for just a few network reader types.
Therefore, the majority of these readers cannot be monitored as standard network
devices.

The next classification of reader type can be made based on its mobility, as follows:

• Stationary
• Handheld

The following subsections describe these reader types.

3.5.6 Stationary Reader

A stationary reader, also called a fixed reader, is what its name implies. These
readers are mounted on a wall, portal, or some suitable structure in the read zone. The
structure on which the reader is mounted may not be static! For example, some
stationary readers are mounted on forklifts. Similarly, you can mount these readers
inside delivery trucks. In contrast to tags, readers are not generally very tolerant of harsh
environmental conditions. Therefore, if you install a reader outdoors or on moving
objects, take care to ruggedize it properly. Stationary readers generally need external
antennas for reading tags. A reader can provide up to four external antennas ports.

Figure 6: Symbol XR480 Reader

The XR480 reader builds on Symbol’s commercially proven XR400 RFID reader
platform and supports the European ETSI 302-208 standard reliable read performance
for today’s industrial-scale RFID implementations. The XR480 also delivers Generation 2
(Gen 2) dense-reader mode operation which enables flexibility.

The XR480 is the only commercially available EPC-compliant RFID reader

approved for use in Europe to provide support for up to eight read points which helps
decrease deployment complexity and increases flexibility. The Symbol XR480 is also the
first commercially available EPC-compliant RFID reader. XR480 RFID reader enables
seamless integration and interoperability with existing IT infrastructure while reducing
the support costs associated with multi-platform environments

Figure 7: IF4 Stationary Reader from Intermec Corporation

 • An intelligent peripheral – capable of internal filtering to reduce network
traffic.
• Software configurable to read/write EPC Class 1, EPC Gen 2 and ISO tags.
• Factory configurable to operate in 865MHz, 869MHz, 915MHz or 950MHz
RFID bands.
• Directly monitors and controls presence detectors and signal lights.

Figure 8: IA39D Rugged Antenna

• Rigid matching network and circuit boards

• Stainless steel mounting hardware.
• The IA39D is specifically designed for operation in the 865 – 928 MHz
frequency band.

A stationary reader can generally operate in the following modes:

• Autonomous
• Interactive

The following subsections describe these modes.

Autonomous Mode

In autonomous mode, a reader continuously read tags in its read zone. Every
time a tag is read, it is saved to a list, usually called a tag list. An item on the tag list is
associated with what is generally called persist time. If the associated tag cannot be read
for a period of time exceeding it’s persist time, it is dropped from the tag list. An
application running on a host machine can register itself to receive the tag list
periodically. A tag list includes information such as the following:

• Unique tag identifiers

• Reading time
• How many times a particular tag has been read since it has been discovered (that is,
first read by the reader)
• The antenna ID that read a particular tag
• Reader name

Interactive Mode

In interactive mode, a read receives and executes commands from an application

running on a host machine or from a user using a vendor-supplied client to
communicate with the reader. After the reader fully executes the current command, it
waits for the next. A reader can execute a range of commands, from sending the current
tag list to the command invoker to changing the reader’s configuration parameters.

3.5.7 Handheld Reader

Figure 9: Advanced ID Reader HH 800

WORK INSTRUCTION FOR ADVANCED ID READER

(1) WAKE UP
Push the power switch and hold it for a moment.

(2) OWNER ID
Reader is now waiting for the User to enter the owner ID.
(a) Inputting owner ID by reading (scanning) an RFID tag.
 Once the unit reads a tag which is present in front of the antenna, it will
‘beep’ and then display Action screen.
(b) Inputting owner ID by using the keyboard.
Owner ID is keyed into the reader manually and then ‘OK’ is pressed to
confirm. The unit will then ‘beep’.

(3) ACTION
Users have to select action for the reading. Users can define each action by
using 16 buttons on the keyboard.
Press ‘OK’ to confirm the action.

(4) TAG COUNT

(a) Display current Tag Count and wait for user to continue.
(b) Display current Tag Count and wait for user to reset or continue.

(5) DATA DISPLAY

To read RFID tags in Read Mode, point the antenna module at tags-
(a) Reader will read the tags.
(b) Display unique tag ID of each tag read.
(c) Count continually as long as switch is pressed.
(d) LCD will display the action selected.
(e) If lot of tags present, it will display the last tag read.

A handheld reader is a mobile reader that a user can operate as a handheld unit.
A handheld reader generally has built-in antenna(s). Although these readers are
typically the most expensive (and few are commercially available), recent advances in
reader technology are resulting in sophisticated handheld readers at lower prices.

At Barcode India Ltd, the most frequently used reader is Advanced ID Reader as
shown in figure above.

3.6 TAGS

An RFID tag is a device that can store and transmit data to a reader in a contact
less manner using radio waves.

RFID tags can be classified in two different ways. The following list shows the first
classification, which is based on whether the tag contains an on-board power supply
and/or provides support for specialized tasks:

• Passive
• Active
• Semi-active (also known as semi-passive)
 The following subsections discuss these in detail. (The other classification is
discussed after this.)

3.6.1 Passive Tags

This type of RFID tag does not have an on-board power source (for example, a
battery), and instead uses the power emitted from the reader to energize itself and
transmit its stored data to the reader. A passive tag is simple in its construction and has
no moving parts. As a result, such a tag has a long life and is generally resistant to harsh
environmental conditions. For example, some passive tags can withstand corrosive
chemicals such as acid, temperatures of 400ºF (204ºC approximately), and more.

In tag-to-reader communication for this type of tag, a reader always

communicates first, followed by the tag. The presence of a reader is mandatory for such
a tag to transmit its data.

A passive tag is typically smaller than an active or semi-active tag. It has a

variety of read ranges starting with less than 1 inch to about 30 feet (9 meters
approximately).

A passive tag is also generally cheaper compared to an active or semi-active tag.

A contact less smart card is a special type of passive RFID tag that is widely used
today in various areas (for example, as ID badges in security and loyalty cards in retail).
The data on this card is read when it is in close proximity to a reader. The card does not
need to be physically in contact with the reader for reading.

A passive tag consists of the following main components:

• Microchip
• Antenna

The organization of these components is as shown in the figure below.

Figure 10: Components of a passive tag.

• The power control/rectifier converts AC power from the reader antenna

signal to DC power.
• It supplies power to the other components of the microchip.
• The clock extractor extracts the clock signal from reader antenna signal.
• The modulator modulates the received reader signal.
• The tag’s response is embedded in the modulated signal, which is then
transmitted back to the reader.
• The logic unit is responsible for implementing the communication
protocol between the tag and the reader.
• The microchip memory is used for storing data. This memory is generally
segmented (that is, consists of several blocks or fields). Addressability
means the ability to address (that is, read or write) the individual
memory of a tag’s microchip. A tag memory block can hold different data
types, such as a portion of the tagged object identifier data, checksum (for
example, cyclic redundancy checks [CRC]) bits for checking the accuracy
of the transmitted data, and so on. Recent advances in technology have
shrunk the size of the microchip to less than the size of a grain of sand.
However, a tag’s physical dimensions are not determined by the size of
its microchip but by the length of its antenna.

3.6.2 Active Tags

Active RFID tags have an on-board power source (for example, a battery; other
sources of power, such as solar, are also possible) and electronics for performing
specialized tasks. An active tag uses its on-board power supply to transmit its data to a
reader. It does not need the reader’s emitted power for data transmission. The on-board
electronics can contain microprocessors, sensors, and input/output ports powered by
the on-board power source.

An active tag consists of the following main components:

• Microchip. The microprocessor size and capabilities are generally greater than the
microchips found in passive tags.
• Antenna. This can be in the form of an RF module that can transmit the tag’s signals
and receive reader’s signals in response. For a semi-active tag, this is composed of
thin strip(s) of metal such as copper, similar to that of a passive tag.
• On-board power supply.

3.6.3 Semi-Active (Semi-Passive) Tags

Semi-active tags have an on-board power source (for example, a battery) and
electronics for performing specialized tasks. The on-board power supply provides
energy to the tag for its operation. However, for transmitting its data, a semi-active tag
uses the reader’s emitted power. A semi-active tag is also called a battery-assisted tag.

The reading distance of a semi-active tag can be 100 feet (30.5 meters
approximately) under ideal conditions using a modulated backscatter scheme (in UHF
and microwave).

The next classification, as shown here, is based on the capability to support data
rewrites:

• Read-only (RO)
• Write once, read many (WORM)
• Read-write (RW)

Both active and passive tags can be RO, WORM, and RW. The following sections discuss
these classifications in detail.

3.6.4 Read Only (RO)

An RO tag can be programmed (that is, written) just once in its lifetime. The data
can be burned into the tag at the factory during the manufacturing stage. To accomplish
this, the individual fuses on the tag microchip are burned permanently using a fine-
pointed laser beam. After this is done, the data cannot be rewritten for the entire lifetime
of the tag. Such a tag is also called factory programmed. The tag manufacturer supplies
the data on the tag, and the tag users typically do not have any control over it. This type
of tag is good for small applications only, but is impractical for large manufacturing or
when tag data needs to be customized based on the application. This tag type is used
today in small pilots and business applications.
3.6.5 Write Once, Read Many (WORM)

A WORM tag can be programmed or written once, which is generally done not
by the manufacturer but by the tag user right at the time when the tag needs to be
created. In practice, however, because of buggy implementation, it is possible to
overwrite particular types of WORM tag data several times (about 100 times is not
uncommon)! If the data for such a tag is rewritten more than a certain number of times,
the tag can be damaged permanently. A WORM tag is also called field programmable.

This type of tag offers a good price-to-performance ratio with reasonable data
security, and is the most prevalent type of tag used in business today.

3.6.6 Read Write (RW)

An RW tag can be reprogrammed or rewritten a large number of times.

Typically, this number varies between 10,000 and 100,000 times and above! This re
writability offers a tremendous advantage because the data can be written either by the
readers or by the tag itself (in case of active tags). An RW tag typically contains a Flash
or a FRAM memory device to store its data. An RW tag is also called field
programmable or reprogrammable. Data security is a challenge for RW tags. In addition,
this type of tag is most expensive to produce. RW tags are not widely used in today’s
applications, a fact that might change in the future as the tag technology and
applicability increases with a decrease in tag cost.

It is important to briefly pause here and describe a type of RFID tag called surface
acoustic wave (SAW) before moving on to the next topic.

3.6.7 Non-RFID Tags

The concept of attaching a tag and having it wirelessly transmit its unique ID to a
reader is not the exclusive domain of RF waves. You can use other types of wireless
communications for this purpose. For example, you can use ultrasonic and infrared
waves for tag-to-reader communication.

Ultrasonic communication has the additional advantages that it does not cause
interference with existing electrical equipment and cannot penetrate through walls. As a
result, ultrasonic tagging systems can be deployed in hospitals, where such technology
can coexist with the existing medical equipment. In addition, an ultrasonic reader and a
tag must be within the same room for the tag to be read by the reader. This required
proximity can prove helpful in asset monitoring and tracking.

An infrared tag uses light to transmit its data to a reader. Because light cannot
penetrate through walls, an infrared tag and reader must both be in the same room for
communication. If an obstacle covers the light source of a tag, the tag can no longer
communicate with a reader (a serious disadvantage).

3.7 Communication between a Reader and a Tag

Depending on the tag type, the communication between a reader and a tag can
be one of the following:

• Modulated backscatter
• Transmitter type
• Transponder type

Before delving into the details of these communication types, it is important for
you to understand the concepts of near field and far field.

The area between a reader antenna and one full wavelength of the RF wave
emitted by the antenna is called near field. The area beyond one full wavelength of the RF
wave emitted from a reader antenna is called far field. Passive RFID systems operating in
LF and HF use near field communication, whereas those in UHF and microwave
frequencies use far field communication. The signal strength in near field
communication attenuates as the cube of the distance from the reader antenna. In far
field, it attenuates as square of the distance from the reader antenna. As a result, far field
communication is associated with a longer read range compared with near field
communication.

Next, a comparison between tag read and tag write is in order.

Tag write takes a longer time than tag read under the same conditions because a
write operation consists of multiple additional steps, including an initial verification,
erasing any existing tag data, writing the new tag data, and a final verification phase. In
addition, the data is written on the tag in blocks in multiple steps. As a result, a single
tag write can take hundreds of milliseconds to complete and increases with the increase
in data size. In contrast, several tags can be read in this time interval by the same reader.
Also, tag write is a sensitive process that needs the target tag to be closer (compared to
its corresponding read distance) to the reader antenna for the entire write operation.
This closer proximity ensures the tag antenna can derive sufficient energy from the
reader antenna signal to power its microchip so that it can execute the write instructions.
The power requirement for write operation is generally significantly higher than that
required for reading. The write operation might fail otherwise. However, a tag does not
have to stay close to the reader during a read operation. Also, during tag write
operation, any tag other than the target should not be in write range of the reader.
Otherwise, in some cases, this other tag might accidentally get written rather than the
target tag. This write range issue is clearly not relevant during a read operation, when
multiple tags can exist in the read range of the reader at the same time.

3.7.1 Modulated Backscattering

Modulated backscatter communication applies to passive as well as to semi-

active tags. In this type of communication, the reader sends out a continuous wave (CW)
RF signal containing AC power and clock signal to the tag at the carrier frequency (the
frequency at which the reader operates). Through physical coupling (that is, a
mechanism by which the transfer of energy takes place from the reader to the tag), the
tag antenna supplies power to the microchip. The word excite is frequently used to
indicate a passive tag microchip drawing power from a reader’s signal to properly
energize itself. About 1.2 volts are generally necessary to energize the tag microchip for
reading purposes. For writing, the microchip usually needs to draw about 2.2 volts from
the reader signal. The microchip now modulates or breaks up the input signal into a
sequence of on and off patterns that represents its data and transmits it back. When the
reader receives this modulated signal, it decodes the pattern and obtains the tag data.

Thus, in modulated backscatter communication, the reader always "talks" first,

followed by the tag. A tag using this scheme cannot communicate at all in the absence of
a reader because it depends totally on the reader’s power to transmit its data.

A related term, beam power, is also used in this context, and means that a tag is
using the reader’s power to modulate the reader signal back. Note that a passive tag
exclusively uses beam power to transmit its data. A semi-active tag uses beam power to
clock its oscillator and generate the transmit signal back. Thus, in essence, a semi-active
tag also uses beam power to transmit its data.
Figure 11: Backscatter communication.

This is the communication method used by a passive RFID tag to send data back
to the reader. By repeatedly shunting the tag coil through a transistor, the tag can cause
slight fluctuations in the reader’s RF carrier amplitude. The RF link behaves essentially
as a transformer; as the secondary winding (tag coil) is momentarily shunted, the
primary winding (reader coil) experiences a momentary voltage drop. The reader must
peak-detect this data at about 60 dB down (about 100 mV riding on a 100V sine wave) as
shown in Figure 1. This amplitude-modulation loading of the reader’s transmitted field
provides a communication path back to the reader. The data bits can then be encoded or
further modulated in a number of ways.

Figure 12: Amplitude Modulated Backscattering Signal

3.7.2 Transmitter Type

This type of communication applies to active tags only. In this type of

communication, the tag broadcasts its message to the environment in regular intervals,
irrespective of the presence or absence of a reader. Therefore, in this type of
communication, the tag always "talks" first rather than the reader.

Figure 13: Transmitter communication.

3.7.3 Transponder Type

This type of communication applies to a special type of active tags called

transponders (as discussed previously). In this type of communication, the tag goes to a
"sleep" or into a dormant stage in the absence of interrogation from a reader. In this
state, the tag might periodically send a message to check whether any reader is listening
to it. When a reader receives such a query message, it can instruct the tag to "wake up"
or end the dormant state. When the tag receives this command from the reader, it exits
its current state and starts to act as a transmitter tag again. (That is, it starts broadcasting
its message periodically to its surroundings.) In this type of communication, the tag data
is sent only when the reader specifically asks for it.

3.8 Reader Antenna

A reader communicates to a tag through the reader’s antennas, a separate device

that is physically attached to a reader, at one of its antenna ports, by means of a cable.
This cable length is generally limited to between 6 and 25 feet. (However, this length
limit may vary.) As mentioned previously, a single reader can support up to four
antennas (that is, have four physical antenna ports). A reader antenna is also called the
reader’s coupling element because it creates an electromagnetic field to couple with the tag.
An antenna broadcasts the reader transmitter’s RF signal into its surroundings and
receives tag responses on the reader’s behalf. Therefore, proper positioning of the
antennas, not the readers, is essential for good read accuracy (although a reader has to be
located somewhat close to an antenna because of the limitation of the antenna cable
length). In addition, some stationary readers might have in-built antennas. As a result, in
this case, positioning the antennas for a reader is equivalent to positioning the reader
itself. In general, RFID reader antennas are shaped like rectangular or square boxes.
Figure 14: Simple antenna pattern.

In reality, because of antenna characteristics, the footprint of an antenna is never

uniformly shaped like an ellipsoid but almost always contains deformities or
protrusions. Each protrusion is surrounded by dead zones. Such dead zones are also
called nulls.

The reflection of reader antenna signals on RF-opaque objects causes what is

known as multipath. In this case, the reflected RF waves are scattered and can arrive at
the reader antenna at different times using different paths. Some of the arriving waves
could be in phase (that is, exactly match with the original antenna signal’s wave pattern).
In this case, the original antenna signal is enhanced when these waves impose with the
original waves giving rise to protrusions. This phenomenon is also known as
constructive interference. Some of the waves could also arrive out of phase (that is, the
exact opposite of the original antenna wave pattern). In this case, the original antenna
signal is cancelled when these two wave types impose on each other. This is also called
destructive interference. Nulls are created as a result.
Figure 15: An example antenna pattern containing protrusions.

A tag placed in one of the protruded regions will read, but if this tag moves
slightly so that it is inside the surrounding dead region, the tag cannot be read (which
might lead to no intuitive tag-reading behavior). For example, when placed a certain
distance away from a reader, a tag does not read, but when moved slightly in one
direction, it can be read by the reader; if this tag is then moved slightly in another
direction, however, it cannot be read! The read behavior of a tag near a protruded region
is thus unreliable. Therefore, when you place an antenna to cover a read area, it is
important that you not depend on these protruded regions to maximize the read
distance. The best strategy is to stay inside the main ellipsoid-shaped region even if it
means sacrificing the read range by a few feet—better safe than sorry.

It is extremely important to determine the antenna footprint; the antenna

footprint determines where a tag can or cannot be read. The manufacturer might
provide the antenna footprint as part of the antenna’s specifications. However, you
should use such information as a guideline only, because the actual footprint will most
likely vary depending on the operating environment. You can use well-defined
techniques such as signal analysis to map an antenna footprint. In signal analysis, the
signal from the tag is measured, using equipment such as a spectrum analyzer and/or a
network analyzer, under various conditions (for example, in free space, different tag
orientations, and on conductive materials or absorptive materials). By analyzing these
signal strengths, you can precisely determine the antenna footprint.

Antenna polarization, another important concept of reader antenna design, is

discussed in the following section.

3.8.1 Antenna Polarization

 As discussed previously, an antenna emits electromagnetic waves into its
surroundings. The direction of oscillation of these electromagnetic waves is called the
polarization of the antenna. What does this mean to tag readability? A great deal! The
readability of a tag, together with its reading distance and reading robustness, greatly
depends on the antenna polarization and the angle at which the tag is presented to the
reader.

The main antenna types in UHF, based on polarization, are

• Linear polarized
• Circular polarized

3.8.1.1 Linear Polarized Antenna

In this antenna type, the RF waves emanate in a linear patter from the antenna.
These waves have only one energy field.

Figure 16: Wave pattern from a linear polarized antenna.

A linear polarized antenna has a narrower radiation beam with a longer read
range compared to a circular polarized antenna. In addition, a narrower radiation beam
helps a linear polarized antenna to read tags within a longer, narrow but well-defined
read region (compared to a circular polarized antenna), instead of reading tags
randomly from its surroundings. However, a linear polarized antenna is sensitive to tag
orientation with respect to its polarization direction. These types of antenna are
therefore useful in applications where the tag orientation is fixed and predictable.

3.8.1.2 Circular Polarized Antenna

RF waves radiate from a circular polarized antenna in a circular pattern. These

waves have two constituting energy fields that are equal in amplitude and magnitude,
but have a phase difference of 90º. Therefore, when a wave of an energy field is at its
highest value, the wave of the other field is at its lowest.

Figure 17: Wave pattern from a circular polarized antenna.

Because of the nature of polarization, a circular polarized antenna is largely

unaffected by tag orientation. Therefore, this type of antenna proves ideal for
applications where the tag orientation is unpredictable. A circular polarized antenna has
a wider radiation beam and hence reads tags in a wider area compared to a linear
polarized antenna. This antenna is preferred for an RFID system that uses high UHF or
microwave frequencies in an operating environment where there is a high degree of RF
reflectance (due to presence of metals and so forth).

Often, a patch antenna is used for making UHF antennas, as described in the following
subsection.

3.8.1.3 Patch Antenna

A patch antenna, also called a microstrip or planar antenna, in its basic form
consists of a rectangular metal foil or a plate mounted on a substrate such as Teflon. The
other side of the substrate is coated with a metallic substance. A microstrip connected to
the rectangular metal foil supplies power to the antenna. The power supply type can be
varied to make a patch antenna circular or linear polarized.
Figure 18: A basic patch antenna.

3.8.3 Antenna Power

An antenna emits power measured in either effective radiated power (ERP) units in
Europe or in equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) units in the United States. ERP and
EIRP are not the same but are related by the relation EIRP = 1.64 ERP.

3.8.2.1 Effective radiated power (e.r.p.) (in a given direction):

The power supplied to an antenna multiplied by the antenna gain in a given

direction. If the direction is not specified, the direction of maximum gain is assumed.
The type of reference antenna must be specified.

The product of the power supplied to the antenna and its gain relative to a half-
wave dipole in a given direction. If the direction is not specified, the direction of
maximum gain is assumed.

The effective radiated power of a transmitter (with antenna, transmission line,

duplexers, etc.,) is the power that would be necessary at the input terminals of a
reference half-wave dipole antenna in order to produce the same maximum field
intensity. ERP is usually calculated by multiplying the measured transmitter output
power by the specified antenna system gain, relative to a half-wave dipole, in the
direction of interest.

3.8.2.2 Effective isotropic ally radiated power (e.i.r.p.):

Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP), also known as Equivalent Isotropic

ally Radiated Power, is the amount of power that would have to be emitted by an
isotropic antenna (that evenly distributes power in all directions and is a theoretical
construct) to produce the peak power density observed in the direction of maximum
antenna gain. EIRP can take into account the losses in transmission line and connectors
and includes the gain of the antenna. The EIRP is often stated in terms of decibels over a
reference power level that would be the power emitted by an isotropic radiator with
equivalent signal strength. The EIRP allows making comparisons between different
emitters regardless of type, size or form. From the EIRP, and with knowledge of a real
antenna's gain, it is possible to calculate real power and field strength values.

The arithmetic product of (a) the power supplied to an antenna and (b) its gain.

The maximum possible value of antenna power is limited by national and

international (for example, FCC in the United States) regulations. To use an antenna
with higher power than the allowable limit, you must obtain explicit permission from
the appropriate regulatory body. You can always reduce antenna power, however, by
placing a small device called an attenuator in the transmission line (for example, between
an antenna connector and the reader port). As a result, the antenna’s signal strength is
reduced, and the antenna’s read range is diminished. Attenuation proves very useful in
situations where the read zone needs to be constrained as a part of system requirements
so that tags are only read inside but not outside this region. The ability of an attenuator
to reduce the antenna strength varies depending on the attenuator.

Controller

A controller is an intermediary agent that allows an external entity to

communicate with and control a reader’s behavior together with the annunciators and
actuators associated with this reader. A controller is the only component of an RFID
system (or a reader, depending on point of view) through which reader communications
are possible; no other medium or entity provides this ability. As mentioned previously, a
controller for a reader can be embedded inside the reader or can be a separate
component by itself. An analogy is in order. A controller to a reader is what a printer
driver is for a computer printer. To print a document from a computer to a printer, the
computer must have the appropriate printer driver software installed. Similarly, to
retrieve tag data stored on a reader, a computer must use a controller—it cannot
communicate to the reader in any other way.
 A controller also provides (or uses, depending on viewpoint) a communication
interface for the external entities to interact with it (as described previously in the section
about readers).

3.9 HOST AND SOFTWARE SYSTEM

Figure 19: An RFID System from IT perspective

The reader (together with the tag and antenna) is located at the edge of the
system. This figure might be interpreted as how an RFID system looks from an IT or
system-integrator perspective.

An RFID system thus has two parts—the first part (edge) governed by laws of
physics and the second part involving information technology (IT). Both parts are very
important. A state-of-the-art IT system is worthless if the data from its physical
counterpart is unreliable and patchy. Similarly, a finely tuned RFID hardware setup is
useless if the associated IT system cannot intelligently manage and process the data
generated by this system. Detailed discussion of these components will be done in later
sections.

An RFID system supports bidirectional communication flows, from the readers

to the back end and from the back end to the readers.

The host and software system is an all-encompassing term for the hardware and
software component that is separate from the RFID hardware (that is, reader, tag, and
antenna); the system is composed of the following four main components:
• Edge interface/system
• Middleware
• Enterprise back-end interface
• Enterprise back end

In a nontrivial RFID system, all these components are present to some degree.
The following sections discuss these components.

3.9.1 Edge Interface/System

This component integrates the entire host and software system with the RFID
hardware (which consists of the reader, tag, and antenna). This integration is
accomplished by establishing communication with and control of the central nervous
system of RFID hardware: the readers. Therefore, this component’s main task is to get
data from the readers, control the readers’ behavior and use the readers to activate the
associated external actuators and annunciators.

This component is logically and physically closest to the RFID hardware and can
be considered to be at the edge when viewed from the host and software system
perspective. Therefore, this is also the right place for this component to activate external
actuators and annunciators without any need to go through the reader. This placement
proves very useful because then the choice and control capabilities of annunciators and
actuators are not limited by the reader support, but can be extended as and when
needed by customizing the edge system.

The edge system is also the perfect place to hide the nitty-gritty details of
interaction with a specific reader (through its controller) from a particular manufacturer.
Therefore, this component also provides an abstraction layer for any type of readers
needed by the RFID system. This abstraction layer is very desirable because then the rest
of the host and software system can use this abstraction to interact with any supported
readers, present and future, without any need to change itself.

This component can be viewed as a kind of a super controller that can be used to
interact with any supported reader controller in the RFID system.

Moreover, this component can do several other tasks that are beyond the
responsibilities of a simple controller, such as the following:

• Filter out duplicate reads from different readers

• Allow setting of event-based triggers that can automatically activate an annunciator
or an actuator
• Provide intelligent functions such as aggregating and selectively sending out tag
data to host and software system
• Remote reader management
• Remote management of itself
 As apparent from the preceding discussion, this component may actually be
hosted on specialized hardware as an embedded system. The rest of the host and
software system can then interact with this embedded system over a wired or a wireless
network. This component can be implemented using a standard such as Open Services
Gateway initiative (OSGi), which defines a standard for dynamic delivery of software
services to network devices (see Chapter 10). In a very simple case of a trivial, possibly
throwaway, pilot, this component might be completely absent.

3.9.1.1 Middleware

The middleware component can be broadly defined as everything that lies

between the edge interface and the enterprise back-end interface. This component can be
viewed as the central nervous system of the RFID system from the software perspective
(RFID readers can be considered the same from an RFID hardware perspective) in that it
provides core functionality of the system, including the following:

• Data sharing both inside and outside of an enterprise

• Efficient management of massive data produced by RFID system
• Provide generic components that can be used as building blocks for implementing
the business specific filtering and aggregation logic
• Open standard based so that it is compatible with a wide range of other software
systems
• Enable loose coupling between the edge interface and the enterprise back-end
interface (and thus any change in the former will minimally affect the latter)

In the extreme case of a trivial, possibly throwaway, pilot, this component might be
completely absent.

This is the most complex and important component of the host and software
system. As a result, a principle part of the implementation effort will be spent on
implementing this component. Therefore, when implementing an RFID system, it is
always preferable to procure this component as an off-the-shelf system from RFID
software and services vendors. You can then customize it to meet the application
requirements.

3.9.1.2 Enterprise Back-End Interface

The enterprise back-end interface component is used to integrate the middleware

component with the enterprise back-end component. This is the place for implementing
business process integration. Which processes need to be integrated with the RFID
system will determine the amount of effort needed to implement this component. This
effort can be substantial if business process changes are involved or comprehensive.

Because the middleware is a generic component, some customization is almost always

needed to trigger transactions and transfer data between it and the enterprise back end.
It is not uncommon to find enterprise-scale integration interfaces natively built in to the
enterprise scale systems, such as ERP and WMS that are available from large third-party
software vendors.

3.9.1.3 Enterprise Back End

The enterprise back-end component encompasses the complete suite of

applications and IT systems of an enterprise. This is thus the data repository and the
business processes engine for the entire enterprise. In an RFID system context, this
component provides the directory data for the tagged objects to the middleware
component.

Note that in general, integration with a handful of applications or systems is

necessary to achieve a satisfactory integration with the enterprise back end and hence
the business processes. This is, of course, assuming that this component is well
architected and implemented.

This component generally involves minimum effort from the implementation

perspective of an RFID system because this is already built and functional. However, in
some cases (for example, proprietary system elements), some effort might be necessary
to actually modify or enhance this component to make it compatible with the RFID
system that is being built.

3.9.1.4 Communication Infrastructure

This component provides connectivity and enables security and systems

management functionalities for different components of an RFID system, and is
therefore an integral part of the system. It includes the wired and wireless network, and
serial connections between readers, controllers, and computers. The wireless network
type can range from a personal area network (PAN, provided by Bluetooth), to a local area
network (LAN, offered by 802.11x technology), to a wide area network (WAN, provided by
2.5G/3G technologies). Satellite communication networks, for example, using
geosynchronous L-band satellites are also becoming an increasing reality for RFID
systems that need to work in a very wide geographical area where existence of a
pervasive reader infrastructure is not guaranteed.

It is now time to pause for a moment and learn about the basic concepts of an RFID
system.

3.9.2 Basic Concepts

This section discusses the following terms that are frequently used in reference to
an RFID system:

• Frequency
• Tag collision
• Reader collision
• Tag readability
• Read robustness

Frequency is the most important attribute of an RFID system. It has already been
discussed in detail in the beginning of this chapter.

The remaining terms are discussed in detail now in the following subsections.

3.9.2.1 Tag Collision

Contrary to popular belief, a reader can only communicate with one tag at a
time. When more than one tag attempts to communicate with the reader at the same
time, a tag collision is said to occur. In this case, in response to the reader’s query,
multiple tags reflect back their signals at the same time to the reader, confusing it. A
reader then needs to communicate with the conflicting tags using what is called a
singulation protocol. The algorithm that is used to mediate tag collisions is called an anti-
collision algorithm. Currently, the following two types of anti-collision algorithms are
most widely used:

• ALOHA for HF
• Tree Walking for UHF

Using one of these anti-collision algorithms, a reader can identify several tags in
its read zone in a very short period of time. Thus, it appears that this reader is
communicating with these tags almost simultaneously.

3.9.2.2 Reader Collision

When the read zone (or read window) of two or more readers overlap, the signal
from one reader can interfere with the signal from another. This phenomenon is called
reader collision. This situation can arise if the antennas of these two readers are installed
in such a manner that it gives rise to destructive interference (antenna footprint). As a
result, RF energy from one of the antennas of a reader "cancels out" the RF energy from
one of the antennas of the other reader. To avoid this problem, position the reader
antennas so that the antenna of one reader does not directly face the antenna of another
reader. If the direct facing of these antennas is unavoidable, separate them a sufficient
distance so that their read zones do not overlap. You can use proper attenuators to
attune the antenna power to achieve this. In addition, two antennas of the same reader
can generally overlap without creating a reader collision, because the power to the
antennas is physically transferred by the reader in such a manner that only one antenna
is active at a time. As a result, there is no chance of two or more antennas of this reader
emitting signals at the same time. You can also use another technique, called time
division multiple access (TDMA), to avoid reader collision. In this scheme, the readers are
instructed to read at different times rather than all reading at the same time. As a result,
the antenna of only one reader is active at a time. The problem with this approach is that
a tag can be read more than one time by different readers in the overlapping read zone.
Therefore, some intelligent filtering mechanism must be implemented by the controller
or the edge system/interface to filter out the duplicate tag reads.

3.9.2.3 Tag Readability

Tag readability of an RFID system for a particular operating environment can be

defined as the capability of the system to read a specific tag data successfully. Tag
readability depends on a number of factors (see Chapter 9, "Designing and
Implementing an RFID Solution"). From a simple perspective, an RFID system needs to
read a tag successfully just once to provide good tag readability. To make this guarantee,
however, the system should be designed so that it can read a single tag several times, so
that even if a tag read fails several times there’s a good chance that one of the reads will
succeed. In other words, an RFID system should have good read for robustness. This is
the topic of the next section.

3.9.2.4 Read Robustness

Read robustness (also called read redundancy) is the number of times a particular
tag can be read successfully when inside a read zone. As noted in the previous section,
an RFID system has to be designed such that it has good read robustness for the tags.
The speed of a tagged object can negatively impact the read robustness as the amount of
time spent by the tag in the read zone decreases with an increase in its speed. This
results in a decrease of read robustness for this tag. The number of tags present at one
time in the read zone also can hamper read robustness because the number of tags that
can be read by a reader per unit time is limited.

3.9.3 Characterization of an RFID System

An RFID system can be characterized in three different ways using the following
attributes:

• Operating frequency
• Read range
• Physical coupling method

These criteria are interrelated. The first two criteria are most frequently used in practice.
All three characterizations are discussed next.

3.9.3.1 Characterization Based on Operating Frequency

Operating frequency is the most important attribute of an RFID system. It is the

frequency at which the reader transmits its signal. It is closely associated with the typical
reading distance attribute. In most cases, the frequency of an RFID system is determined
by its typical reading distance requirement. Frequency has already been described
earlier in this chapter.
3.9.3.2 Characterization Based on Read Range

Read range of an RFID system is defined as the reading distance between the tag
and the reader. Using this criterion, an RFID system can be divided into the following
three types:

• Close coupled
• Remote coupled
• Long range

The following subsections describe these types.

Close-Coupled System

The read range of the RFID systems belonging to this class is less than 1 cm. The
LF and HF RFID systems belong to this category.

Remote-Coupled System

The RFID systems belonging to this class have a read range of 1 cm to 100 cm.
Again, this category contains LF and HF RFID systems.

Long-Range System

RFID systems having a read range of more than 100 cm belong to this class. RFID
systems operating in the UHF and microwave frequency range belong to this group.

3.9.3.3 Characterization Based on Physical Coupling Method

Physical coupling refers to the method used for coupling the tag and the antenna
(that is, the mechanism by which energy is transferred to the tag from the antenna).
Based on this criterion, three different types of RFID systems are possible:

• Magnetic
• Electric
• Electromagnetic

These following subsections discuss these different types.

Magnetic-Coupled System

These types of RFID systems are also known as inductive-coupled systems or

inductive-radio systems. Inductive Coupling is the transfer of energy from one circuit to
another through a shared magnetic field. An electrical current passing through the coil
of a primary conductor creates a magnetic field that induces an electrical current in the
coil of a secondary conductor exposed to the magnetic field.
 Low Frequency (LF) and High Frequency (HF) passive RFID devices use
inductive coupling to transfer energy from the interrogator's antenna to the tag. The tag
uses the transferred energy to power circuitry that modulates the impedance of the tag
antenna, thereby sending a data stream back through the magnetic field to the
interrogator

The LF and HF RFID systems belong to this category.

An inductively coupled transponder comprises of an electronic data carrying

device, usually a single microchip and a large area coil that functions as an antenna.

Inductively coupled transponders are almost always operated passively. This

means that all the energy needed for the operation of the microchip has to be provided
by the reader. For this purpose, the reader's antenna coil generates a strong, high
frequency electro-magnetic field, which penetrates the cross-section of the coil area and
the area around the coil. Because the wavelength of the frequency range used (< 135
kHz: 2400 m, 13.56 MHz: 22.1 m) is several times greater than the distance between the
reader's antenna and the transponder, the electro-magnetic field may be treated as a
simple magnetic alternating field with regard to the distance between transponder and
antenna.

A small part of the emitted field penetrates the antenna coil of the transponder,
which is some distance away from the coil of the reader. By induction, a voltage Ui is
generated in the transponder's antenna coil. This voltage is rectified and serves as the
power supply for the data carrying device (microchip). A capacitor C1 is connected in
parallel with the reader's antenna coil, the capacitance of which is selected such that it
combines with the coil inductance of the antenna coil to form a parallel resonant circuit,
with a resonant frequency that corresponds with the transmission frequency of the
reader. Very high currents are generated in the antenna coil of the reader by resonance
step-up in the parallel resonant circuit, which can be used to generate the required field
strengths for the operation of the remote transponder.

The antenna coil of the transponder and the capacitor C1 to form a resonant
circuit tuned to the transmission frequency of the reader. The voltage U at the
transponder coil reaches a maximum due to resonance step-up in the parallel resonant
circuit.
 Figure 20: Inductive Coupling

Electric-Coupled System

These types of RFID systems are also known as capacitive-coupled systems. The LF
and HF RFID systems belong to this category.

With capacitive coupling, the antenna’s resistance is no longer a critical factor, so

antennas can be constructed from materials of considerably higher resistance than the
metals used in inductive technology. In particular, this means that conductive inks,
which have a moderate resistance, can be used to form the antenna.

Electromagnetic-Coupled System

The majority of RFID systems belonging to this class are also called backscatter
systems. RFID systems operating in the UHF and microwave frequency range belong to
this group.

Electromagnetic waves are reflected by objects with dimensions greater than

around half the wavelength of the wave. The efficiency with which an object reflects
electromagnetic waves is described by its reflection cross-section. Objects that are in
resonance with the wave front that hits them, as is the case for antenna at the
appropriate frequency for example, have a particularly large reflection cross-section.
 Figure 21: Operation principle of a backscatter transponder

Power P1 is emitted from the reader's antenna, a small proportion of which (free
space attenuation) reaches the transponder's antenna. The power P1' is supplied to the
antenna connections as HF voltage and after rectification by the diodes D1 and D2 this
can be used as turn on voltage for the deactivation or activation of the power saving
"power-down" mode. The diodes used here are low barrier Schottky diodes, which have a
particularly low threshold voltage. The voltage obtained may also be sufficient to serve
as a power supply for short ranges.

A proportion of the incoming power P1' is reflected by the antenna and returned
as power P2. The reflection characteristics (= reflection cross-section) of the antenna can be
influenced by altering the load connected to the antenna. In order to transmit data from
the transponder to the reader, a load resistor RL connected in parallel with the antenna
is switched on and off in time with the data stream to be transmitted. The amplitude of
the power P2 reflected from the transponder can thus be modulated (à modulated
backscatter).

The power P2 reflected from the transponder is radiated into free space. A small
proportion of this (free space attenuation) is picked up by the reader's antenna. The
reflected signal therefore travels into the antenna connection of the reader in the
"backwards direction" and can be decoupled using a directional coupler and transferred to
the receiver input of a reader. The "forward" signal of the transmitter, which is stronger

3.9.4 EPC Gen2- An RFID Standard Classification

EPC Gen2 is short for EPC global UHF Class 1 Generation 2.

 • Initially, two classes of EPC tags—Class 0 and Class 1—existed. An important
development has occurred; EPC global member companies have defined a single,
next-generation tag standard—UHF Class 1 Generation 2 (Gen 2).
•
• Read-Only (Type 0): tags that contain permanent data, commonly referred to as "type 0"
tags within the EPC standard
• Read-Write (Type 0+): a standards-based EPC extension that allows Type 0 tags to be
written in real time
• Read-Write (Type 1): tags that can be written over by a reader; often referred to as "type 1"
tags within the EPC standard
• Class 1, Generation 2: Gen 2 tags retain many of the Gen 1 features while offering key
performance, capacity, security and RF efficiency advantages over Gen 1 tags.

EPC global is working on international standards for the use of RFID and the
EPC in the identification of any item in the supply chain for companies worldwide.

One of the missions of EPC global was to simplify the Babel of protocols
prevalent in the RFID world in the 1990s. Two tag air interfaces (the protocol for
exchanging information between a tag and a reader) were defined (but not ratified) by
EPC global prior to 2003. These protocols, commonly known as Class 0 and Class 1, saw
significant commercial implementation in 2002-2005.

In 2004 the Hardware Action Group created a new protocol, the Class 1
Generation 2 interface, which addressed a number of problems that had been
experienced with Class 0 and Class 1 tags. The EPC Gen2 standard was approved in
December 2004, and is likely to form the backbone of RFID tag standards moving
forward. This was approved after a contention from Intermec that the standard may
infringe a number of their RFID related patents. It was decided that the standard itself
did not infringe their patents, but it may be necessary to pay royalties to Intermec if the
tag were to be read in a particular manner. The EPC Gen2 standard was adopted with
minor modifications as ISO 18000-6C in 2006

3.10 CURRENT USES

• Passports

The RFID chips store the same information that is printed within the passport and
also include a digital picture of the owner. The passports incorporate a thin metal
lining to make it more difficult for unauthorized readers to "skim" information when
the passport is closed.
• Transport payments

RFID cards can be used to pay for public transit. It is used in many countries.

• Product tracking

Cattle Identification ca be done using RFID tags as a replacement for barcode tags.
The tags are required to identify a bovine's herd of origin and this is used for tracing
when a packing plant condemns a carcass

High-frequency RFID tags are used in library book or bookstore tracking,

pallet tracking, building access control, airline baggage tracking, and apparel and
pharmaceutical item tracking. High-frequency tags are widely used in
identification badges, replacing earlier magnetic stripe cards. These badges need
only be held within a certain distance of the reader to authenticate the

• Automotive

Microwave RFID tags are used in long range access control for vehicles.

Ford, Honda, and several other manufacturers use rfid-equipped ignition keys as anti-
theft measures.

• Animal identification

Implanted RFID tags are also used for animal identification. There are several more
or less incompatible systems.

• RFID in inventory systems

An advanced automatic identification technology such as the Auto-ID system

based on the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has two values for
inventory systems. First, the visibility provided by this technology allows an accurate
knowledge on the inventory level by eliminating the discrepancy between inventory
record and physical inventory. Second, the RFID technology can prevent or reduce the
sources of errors. Benefits of using RFID include the reduction of labor costs, the
simplification of business processes and the reduction of inventory inaccuracies.

• Human implants

Implantable RFID chips designed for animal tagging are now being used in
humans.
 Security experts are warned against using RFID for authenticating people due to
the risk of Identity Theft. Due to the resource-constraints of RFIDs it is virtually
impossible to protect against such attack models as this would require complex distance-
binding protocols.

Hand with the planned location of the RFID chip

Just after the operation to insert the RFID tag was completed

• RFID in libraries

Among the many uses of RFID technologies is its deployment in libraries. This
technology has slowly begun to replace the traditional barcodes on library items (books,
CDs, DVDs, etc.). However, the RFID tag can contain identifying information, such as a
book’s title or material type, without having to be pointed to a separate database

• Sensors such as seismic sensors may be read using RFID transceivers, greatly
simplifying remote data collection.
IV.PART C

PROJECT DESCRIPTION-
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF RFID
SYSTEMS

4.1 Serial Port Communication

4.1.1 Why Visual Basic?

Within the last ten years, Visual Basic has become one of the most popular
languages for developing business and enterprise applications. In large part, the success
of Visual Basic is due to its ability to hide technical complexity and allow developers to
focus on the big picture. With Visual Basic, developers can create software that meets the
need of their business or their customers without getting bogged down in low-level
details like memory management and communications interface implementation

Serial communication is a popular means of transmitting data between a

computer and a peripheral device such as a programmable instrument or even another
computer. Serial communication uses a transmitter to send data, one bit at a time, over a
single communication line to a receiver. You can use this method when data transfer
rates are low or you must transfer data over long distances. Serial communication is
popular because most computers have one or more serial ports, so no extra hardware is
needed other than a cable to connect the instrument to the computer or two computers
together.

4.1.2 MSComm Control

The MSComm control provides serial communications for an application by allowing

the transmission and reception of data through a serial port.

Syntax

MSComm

The MSComm control provides the following two ways for handling communications:

• Event-driven communications is a very powerful method for handling serial port

interactions. In many situations you want to be notified the moment an event
takes place, such as when a character arrives or a change occurs in the Carrier
Detect (CD) or Request To Send (RTS) lines. In such cases, use the MSComm
 control's OnComm event to trap and handle these communications events. The
OnComm event also detects and handles communications errors.

• You can also poll for events and errors by checking the value of the CommEvent
property after each critical function of your program. This may be preferable if
your application is small and self-contained. For example, if you are writing a
simple phone dialer, it may not make sense to generate an event after receiving
every character, because the only characters you plan to receive are the OK
response from the modem.

Each MSComm control you use corresponds to one serial port. If there is a need to
access more than one serial port in an application, more than one MSComm control
must be used. The port address and interrupt address can be changed from the
Windows Control Panel.

Although the MSComm control has many important properties, a few of them are as
under:

Table-2: Properties of MSComm Control

Properties Description

CommPort Sets and returns the communications port number.

Settings Sets and returns the baud rate, parity, data bits, and stop bits as
a string.

PortOpen Sets and returns the state of a communications port. Also opens
and closes a port.

Input Returns and removes characters from the receive buffer.

Output Writes a string of characters to the transmit buffer.

Table 2: Handshake Constants

Constant Value Description

comNone 0 No handshaking.

comXonXoff 1 XOn/XOff handshaking.

comRTS 2 Request-to-send/clear-to-send handshaking.

comRTSXOnXOff 3 Both request-to-send and XOn/XOff

handshaking.
Table 3: OnComm Constants

Constant Value Description

comEvSend 1 Send event.

comEvReceive 2 Receive event.

comEvCTS 3 Change in clear-to-send line.

comEvDSR 4 Change in data-set ready line.

comEvCD 5 Change in carrier detect line.

comEvRing 6 Ring detect.

comEvEOF 7 End of file.

Table 4: Error Constants

Constant Value Description

comEventBreak 1001 Break signal received

comEventFrame 1004 Framing error

comEventOverrun 1006 Port overrun

comEventRxOver 1008 Receive buffer overflow

comEventRxParity 1009 Parity error

comEventTxFull 1010 Transmit buffer full

comEventDCB 1011 Unexpected error retrieving Device Control

Block (DCB) for the port

Table 5: InputMode Constants

Constant Value Description

comInputModeText 0 (Default) Data is retrieved through the Input

property as text.
comInputModeBinary 1 Data is retrieved through the Input property as
binary data.

MSComm Control Example

The following simple example shows basic serial communications using a modem:

Private Sub Form_Load ()

'Buffer to hold input string

Dim Instring As String

'Use COM1.

MSComm1.CommPort = 1

'9600 baud, no parity, 8 data, and 1 stop bit.

MSComm1.Settings = "9600,N,8,1"

'Tell the control to read entire buffer when Input

'is used.

MSComm1.InputLen = 0

'Open the port.

MSComm1.PortOpen = True

‘Send the attention command to the modem.

MSComm1.Output = "ATV1Q0" & Chr$(13) ' Ensure that

'the modem responds with "OK".

'Wait for data to come back to the serial port.

Do

DoEvents

Buffer$ = Buffer$ & MSComm1.Input

Loop Until InStr(Buffer$, "OK" & vbCRLF)

'Read the "OK" response data in the serial port.

'Close the serial port.

 MSComm1.PortOpen = False

End Sub

4.1.3 Overview of Serial Port Communication with example

An IBM compatible PC is usually equipped with two serial ports and one
parallel port for external communication.

A serial port sends and receives data bit by bit compared to the parallel port in
which data is received and transmitted in multiple bits. A serial port started out as an
interface between a Data Terminal Equipment (such as a monitor) and data
communication equipment (such as a modem). In the beginning the serial port was used
primarily so that the data could be displayed on the terminal that was typed in by the
keyboard, but with advances in technology the applications of serial ports also increased
as manufacturers started using serial ports for a lot of applications. Also people started
using it for a lot more applications as engineers used it for data acquisition.
Programmers use it to interface additional devices like the printer or another computer
for direct talking between the computers. Today with advances in technology a serial
port is used for data transfer to handheld like palms. But with the serial port was the
problem of programming it to do specific tasks. Earlier it was being programmed in
DOS. But with advances in computer Technology with windows taking over the DOS,
there needed to be ways to have a serial interface with the computer and Visual Basic
seems to provide a relatively easy way of interfacing the serial port and hence we use it
more often now-a-days.

Examples

Visual Basic uses the Microsoft Comm. Control 6.0 component for serial interfacing.

Below are two examples that will guide u through how to do serial interfacing using
Visual Basic.

Example 1: To Display a User typed in text on a terminal connected to the serial Port of a
Computer

This program is to output simple text that would be displayed on a terminal

connected to the serial port of the computer.

The following steps will guide through the process of building a form.

1) Start Visual Basic and choose a standard exe project.

2) Create the form as shown below

 Form

To choose the Mscomm control, click on the Project and then components and
select the Microsoft Comm Controls 6. A telephone icon is displayed on the tool box.
Double click on it to select it and it is displayed on the form.

The Properties of the Mscomm1 are selected as shown in the properties windows below.
 Property Window

Once the form is done as shown above, then we enter the code as described
below the first part of the code would be to enable the comm port, this is done as shown
in the code below.

Private Sub optenable_Click()

'Enable Port

MSComm1.PortOpen = True

'Configure Port as Output

MSComm1.Output = "CPA00000000" + Chr(13)

End Sub
 As the user types the words in the text window, the words have to be outputted to the
terminal through the serial port and this is achieved using the code shown below.

Private Sub cmdEnter_Click()

MSComm1.Output = txtInput.Text + Chr(13)

End Sub

Once we are done using the com port we need to disable the port and this is done using
the code shown below.

Private Sub optDisable_Click()

MSComm1.PortOpen = False

End Sub

After the Program is executed if we want to quit the program we use the code shown
below.

Private Sub cmdExit_Click()

'Quit the application

End

End Sub

4.1.4 Serial communication parameters:

• The baud rate of the transmission

• The number of data bits encoding a character
• The sense of the optional parity bit
• The number of stop bits

Baud rate is a measure of how fast data are moving between instruments that use
serial communication. RS-232 uses only two voltage states, called MARK and SPACE. In
such a two-state coding scheme, the baud rate is identical to the maximum number of
bits of information, including control bits that are transmitted per second.

MARK is a negative voltage, and SPACE is positive. Figure 2 shows how the
idealized signal looks on an oscilloscope. The following is the truth table for RS-232:
Signal>3V=0 Signal>-3V=1
The output signal level usually swings between +12 V and -12 V. The dead area between
+3 V and -3 V is designed to absorb line noise.

A start bit signals the beginning of each character frame. It is a transition from
negative (MARK) to positive (SPACE) voltage. Its duration in seconds is the reciprocal
of the baud rate. If the instrument is transmitting at 9,600 baud, the duration of the start
bit and each subsequent bit is about 0.104 ms. The entire character frame of eleven bits
would be transmitted in about 1.146 ms.
Data bits are transmitted upside down and backwards. That is, inverted logic is used,
and the order of transmission is from least significant bit (LSB) to most significant bit
(MSB). To interpret the data bits in a character frame, you must read from right to left
and read 1 for negative voltage and 0 for positive voltage. This yields 1101101 (binary)
or 6D (hex). An ASCII conversion table shows that this is the letter m.
An optional parity bit follows the data bits in the character frame. The parity bit, if
present, also follows inverted logic, 1 for negative voltage and 0 for positive voltage.
This bit is included as a simple means of error handling. You specify ahead of time
whether the parity of the transmission is to be even or odd. If the parity is chosen to be
odd, the transmitter then sets the parity bit in such a way as to make an odd number of
ones among the data bits and the parity bit. This transmission uses odd parity. There are
five ones among the data bits, already an odd number, so the parity bit is set to 0.
The last part of a character frame consists of 1, 1.5, or 2 stop bits. These bits are always
represented by a negative voltage. If no further characters are transmitted, the line stays
in the negative (MARK) condition. The transmission of the next character frame, if any,
is heralded by a start bit of positive (SPACE) voltage.

4.1.5 I/O Functions in Visual Basic

Return values:
All functions return a 1 if successful and a 0 if un-successful.

Except for ReadString() which returns the string read from the port.
Open (PortName, Setup)
Result = IO1.Open ("LPT1:", "") 'Open a parallel Port.
Result = IO1.Open ("COM2:", "baud=9600 parity=N data=8 stop=1") 'Open a serial Port.

Close () 'Closes an open port.

Result = IO1.Close ()

WriteString(Data)
Result = IO1.WriteString("Hello World" + Chr(13) + Chr(10)) 'Sends "Hello World" to a
printer or other device.

ReadString(Length)
String = IO1.ReadString(30) 'Reads data from a port. Typically a request for data
precedes this command.

WriteByte(Data)
Result = IO1.WriteByte(Chr(10)) 'Sends Line feed to a printer or other device.

ReadByte(Length)
Result = IO1.ReadByte() 'Reads 1 data byte from a port. Typically a request for data
precedes this command.

SetTimeOut(Time)
Result = IO1.SetTimeOut(20) 'Sets timeout factor, how long a request is tried before an
error is returned.

SetHandshaking(HSMethod)
Result = IO1.SetHandshaking(2) 'Serial ports Only. 0 = None, 1 = Xon/Xoff, 2 =
Hardware

Full Example:

Dim Result As Integer

Dim Str As String

Result = IO1.Open ("LPT1:", "") 'Open a parallel Port.

Result = IO1.WriteString ("Hello World" + Chr(13) + Chr(10))

Result = IO1.WriteString (Chr(5)) 'Request data

Str = IO1.ReadString(30) 'Read result

Result = IO1.Close () 'Close the port now that we are done

ADR serial data acquisition interfaces require the sending and receiving of ASCII
data to operate. To communicate with the ADR boards using Visual Basic, the MsComm
control must be utilized to allow serial data transfer via a serial port ( Com1-Com4).
MSComm is a custom control shipped with VB4.0 and VB5.0 and must be loaded using
the Tools menu.

.
 The program was built using radio buttons for port control, three command
buttons, a text box to display analog data and the MSComm control for serial
communications. When run, the port is enabled using the radio buttons and then AN0 is
read every time the "Read AN0" button is clicked. The analog data is then displayed in
text box 1. PA0 can be set or reset using the "SET PA0" or "RESET PA0" buttons. When
run, the program appears as follows,

The MSComm properties allow the setting of communication parameters

including port selection and port enabling functions. The properties window is shown
below. Note the default settings for MSComm allow communication with the ADR
interfaces by merely selecting a com port ( com2 in our example ), and enabling the port.
The communication parameters of 9600,n,8,1 are the default parameters and need not be
altered to communicate with ADR products.
 The com port must be enabled to allow communication with the ADR board. The
code for the "Port Enable" radio button is

The port is enabled by setting MSComm1.PortOpen to TRUE. A "CPA00000000"

command is then sent using the MSComm1.Output function to configure port A as
output. The Chr (13) variable is a carriage return required by the ADR board.

The "Read AN0" button reads analog port 0 and displays the data in text box 1.
The code for this button is shown below.
 The RD0 command is sent using the MSComm1.Output function and then the
program loops until five characters are received into the serial buffer. ( The ADR112
returns four ASCII characters ranging from 0000 to 4095 and a carriage return in
response to a RD0 command. If an ADR101 is used, the loop should be set to 4
characters as a value of 000 to 255 will be returned along with a carriage return.) The
analog value is then retrieved and displayed in text box 1.

The SETPA0 button simply sends a SETPA0 command to the ADR112. The code for this
button is shown below.

The RESPA0 button simply sends a RESPA0 command to the ADR112. The code for this
button is shown below.
Before exiting the program, the comm port must be disabled. This is done with the "Port
Disable" radio button. The code for this button is shown below.

4.2 RS-232

The RS-232 is a standard developed by the Electronic Industries Association

(EIA) and other interested parties, specifying the serial interface between Data Terminal
Equipment (DTE) and Data Communications Equipment (DCE). The RS-232 standard
includes electrical signal characteristics (voltage levels), interface mechanical
characteristics (connectors), functional description of interchange circuits (the function
of each electrical signal), and some recipes for common kinds of terminal-to-modem
connections. The most frequently encountered revision of this standard is called RS-
232C. Parts of this standard have been adopted (with various degrees of fidelity) for use
in serial communications between computers and printers, modems, and other
equipment. The serial ports on standard IBM-compatible personal computers follow RS-
232.
Figure 25: (1) External Device (2) RS 232 Cable (3) RS232 Enabled CPU

Each transmitted character is packaged in a character frame that consists of a

single start bit followed by the data bits, the optional parity bit, and the stop bit or bits.
Figures show a typical character frame encoding the letter m.

Figure 26: Character Frame Encoding

4.3 Some Programming Terminologies:

4.3.1 PORT ENABLING

Port selection and enable functions can be programmed in the "load" and
"unload" subroutines in the "form" object or they may be controlled by radio buttons or
pull down menus.

4.3.2 RECIEVING DATA

When receiving data from the ADR board be sure to wait for the correct number
of characters to be received in the serial buffer. Check your ADR programming manual
for the correct number of characters to be received and add one for the carriage return.
The ADR1000 sends both a carriage return and line feed thus two must be added to the
number of characters expected.

4.3.3 USING VARIABLES

In many cases it may be desired to send a string incorporating a command and

some variable. For example, the "MAddd" command outputs to port A, the integer value
ddd. If ddd is a variable named PV, a string to set the port to the value of this variable
would look like;

MSComm1.Output = “MA” & Str(PV) + Chr(13)

The "Str" function converts the variable to an ASCII string and it is appended to "MA".
The Chr(13) is a carriage return.

4.4 Some RFID facts

There isn't a day goes by when you don't read another article about RFID in one
magazine or another. And the sad thing is they are being written by people who often
do not have a clue as to what RFID is or how it works. Many of them are not involved in
the RFID world on a daily basis and the things they report are often "hearsay" and
opinion from others. Here are a few of the facts as we see them, as well as some opinions
from someone who is working in the arena.

1. Standards are a long way off! – WRONG

Whether you are talking ISO or EPC global™ the standards are NOT a long way
off. In the ISO world, the standards for 2.45GHz, UHF (860 - 960MHz), and 433MHz
(active) are already approved. The standards for 125-134 kHz and 13.56 MHz are
complete and in the final ballot stage. The ballots are complete and published. The main
vendors of these products have been working in the ISO arena to help create these
standards and so are fully aware of the technical specifications and have already started
production in some cases to anticipate the publication.

In the EPCglobal™ world, things are moving just as fast. The specifications for the
original (Generation 1) Class 0 and Class 1 tags have been published and there will be
interoperability testing done in the summer. The new Generation 2 specifications are
also moving along and are close to completion (technically). There are various steps that
have to be taken before acceptance and publication of this specification. The main
vendors of the EPC technology are all participating in the work and so should know
what is happening in advance of the publication of the specification to allow hardware
designs to start as soon as possible.

2. What is the difference between ISO and EPCglobal™ UHF specifications?

Many have questioned the difference between ISO and EPCglobal™ UHF
specifications and why we have two different sets of specifications. When the work in
ISO started, there was no EPCglobal™ and the consensus was that we needed a
standard to provide the full read/write capabilities with memory. Thus the ISO
standard which is published is for a full read/write tag without references to a
numbering system. The tag can be used for any UHF application.

The EPCglobal™ world set a goal for a low cost tag at the basic level. So it has limited
functionality (depending on class) (read only, limited memory etc.) and has a reference
to a numbering system. The class system allows for more functionality at increased cost
levels. The ISO community is ready to adopt whatever EPCglobal™ comes up with as
the Generation 2 air interface and move it forward as a version C of the ISO 18000
standard.

3. EPCglobal™ Generation 2 is a read only tag! – WRONG

The concept of the EPCglobal™ system is to have several classes of tags that
define the functionality. When the original Class 0 and Class1 tags were approved it was
realized that they are not compatible with each other and that there is no path forward
to make higher class tags that have backward compatibility. At the same time some
users were suggesting that the current Class 0 and 1 specifications were inadequate for
their needs. So EPCglobal™ decided to move on to a Generation 2 of EPC tags. From the
original ideas, Class 1 tags are Write Once Read Many (WORM) tags with minimum
memory to hold the EPC number. Class 2 tags are passive field programmable tags with
user memory, encryption, etc. Class 3 tags are semi-passive tags with user memory,
encryption, etc. And Class 4 tags are active tags with user memory, encryption, etc. The
ideal goal is have one protocol that talks to all forms of UHF tags - this is Generation 2.

4. Class vs. Generation?

A quick way to help understand this easily misunderstood area is to think as

follows: Classes define the capability of the RFID tag from Class 0 to Class 4. Each Class
has more capability than the one below it and is backwards compatible. Generations
refer to the revisions of the specification. The first version (or generation) of Class 0 and
Class 1 tags has been posted to the EPCglobal™ web site. The new work on UHF
Generation 2 is progressing well and should be available in the Fall. Generation 2 will
apply to several classes of tag.

5. Patent issues will kill RFID! – WRONG

In the ISO arena there is a policy which states that standards should use
technology that is freely available where possible. If technology exists that is protected
by patents etc. and that technology is needed to implement a system, then the company
holding the IP (Intellectual Property) signs an agreement to make it available to
everyone on fair and reasonable terms without discrimination. This is how the ISO 18000
standards have been created.
In EPC global™ the original goal was to have a Royalty Free (RF) set of specifications.
However, in the field of RFID many people have put a lot of time and money into
developing technology and they have patents that protect their work. This means that it
is very difficult to design an RFID system that does not infringe on one or more of these
patents. EPCglobal™ has stated they will possibly allow RAND (Reasonable and Non
Discriminatory) licensing of technology as a alternative to RF. This may prove to be
necessary when all the research is concluded. However, this is most likely to be a license
to manufacture hardware and is unlikely to affect the user community.

NOTE: EPCglobal™ only requires its "members" to sign documents about declaring IP
required implementing the specification ahead of time. The thousands of patents held by
companies that are not members of EPCglobal™ are still out there, and though they are
mostly application patents, they may be an issue.

6. All applications can be accomplished with UHF! – WRONG

There are six frequency ranges that RFID technology is allowed to operate in.
They are LF (125 - 135 kHz), HF (13.56 MHz), 433 MHz, UHF (860- 960 MHz), 2.45 GHz,
and 5.8 GHz. Each of these frequency areas has advantages and disadvantages. Many
applications can be accomplished using UHF technology but some of them will not
work as well as they might with other frequencies. UHF technology is good when longer
distance reads are needed, but many companies have seen problems with UHF when
exposed to liquid or metal objects. Other frequencies that are far less susceptible to the
effects of these materials may be a much better solution (LF or HF are better for these
applications). If an application needs to be compliant with others using UHF, then it is
obvious that this is the best way to go. If it is a closed application then there are many
choices in the RFID world and some of them may be much better than UHF.

7. RFID will not take off until the tags cost less than five cents! – WRONG

For many projects you do not need a $0.05 tag to be able to justify the project.
The cost of RFID tags has been high. Many vendors are still charging in the $0.50 range.
The cost of a tag is defined by many things: cost of silicon, silicon processing, die
handling and attachment process, antenna design, form factor of tag. Each of these
processes has to be optimized to get the lowest cost tag price. Many companies are
working to do this, not just for EPC global™ tags but for all RFID tags. The final factor in
all this is volume. If there is a large enough order, the price will fall as economies of scale
come in to play. This is true for all frequencies of RFID tags. Of course some tags will
always be more expensive than others; the cost of a wire antenna is likely to always be
more than that of a printed one. The five cent tag is still in the future when
manufacturing techniques have been devised to help reduce the cost, but many
applications can show a good ROI on tags at the 50 cents level.

8. RFID is available now! – RIGHT

Although you cannot buy an ISO 18000 standard yet (mid August 2004) or see
the EPCglobal™ Generation 2 specification (Oct 2004?), RFID is available now in many
different forms. RFID is NOT NEW. There have been commercial applications of RFID
available for more than ten years. While standards are good and very important, if you
are implementing a closed system, the technology you need may well be available right
now.

9. I must implement RFID or my competitors will overtake me! – WRONG

Although there are a lot of stories about RFID, the one where it is going to save
your company and ensure large profits for the rest of your life probably isn't true. As
with all business decisions, you need to look carefully at the need for RFID and
determine if there is a Return on Investment or a mandate that says you must
implement?

10. RFID is going to take away our privacy! – WRONG

Privacy is important to all of us, but there are sometimes reasons that we are
prepared to give away some of that privacy. Think about cell phones, loyalty cards,
credit cards. Each of these has taken away some of our privacy but we are willing to
sacrifice to get the advantage of the item. RFID will be very similar. We will be willing to
share information on some things to gain the advantages it will give us. Should it be
government controlled - absolutely NOT. Should the end user be made aware of the
issue- YES.

RFID tags cannot be read by a satellite in the sky. They do not contain your life
history (or your purchasing history). You cannot tell what color underwear someone is
wearing, simply by reading the tag in a library book. To tie any of these things together
will require access to many databases and presume knowledge that will difficult to find.
4.5 CONCLUSIONS
Various readers are programmed according to the specific requirements. The
memory settings and configuration of the RFID chips are studied and interfaces, with
the help of software are designed to make them communicate effectively with the
reader.
Different interfaces can be designed to read just the Tag ID, or sometimes the
page number and page settings also. All this is done with the help of Visual Basic.
Although other programming languages like C or C# can also be used, but Visual Basic
is often the most effective and easy interface. At Barcode India Ltd, all work is done in
Visual Basic.
During my stay at the company I studied the working and interfacing of the
following RFID Readers:
(1.) HITAG Proximity Reader Module RS232.
(2.) MiFare Standard card IC MF1 IC S50
INDEX
A wave is a disturbance that transports energy from one point to another.

Electromagnetic waves are created by electrons in motion and consist of oscillating

electric and magnetic fields. These waves can pass through a number of different
material types.

The highest point of a wave is called a crest, and the lowest point is called a trough.

The distance between two consecutive crests or two consecutive troughs is called the
wavelength.

One complete wavelength of oscillation of a wave is called a cycle.

The time taken by a wave to complete one cycle is called its period of oscillation.

The number of cycles in a second is called the frequency of the wave. The frequency of a
wave is measured in hertz (abbreviated as Hz) and named in honor of the German
physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. If the frequency of a wave is 1 Hz, it means that the
wave is oscillating at the rate of one cycle per second. It is common to express frequency
in KHz (or kilohertz = 1,000 Hz), MHz (or megahertz = 1,000,000 Hz), or GHz (or
gigahertz = 1,000,000,000 Hz).

Amplitude is the height of a crest or the depth of a trough from the undisturbed position.
The former is also called the positive amplitude, and the latter the negative amplitude. In
general, the amplitude at a certain point of a wave is its height or depth from the
undisturbed position, and is called positive or negative accordingly.

Radio or radio frequency (RF) waves are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths
between 0.1 cm and 1,000 km. Another equivalent definition in terms of frequency is
radio waves are electromagnetic waves whose frequencies lie between 30 Hz and 300
GHz. Other electromagnetic wave types are infrared, visible light wave, ultraviolet,
gamma-ray, x-ray, and cosmic-ray.

RFID uses radio waves that are generally between the frequencies of 30 KHz and 5.8
GHz.

A continuous wave (CW) is a radio wave with constant frequency and amplitude. From a
communications vantage, a CW does not have any embedded information in it but can
be modulated to transmit a signal.

Modulation refers to the process of changing the characteristics of a radio wave to encode
some information-bearing signal. Modulation can also refer to the result of applying the
modulation process to a radio wave.
Radio waves can be affected by the material through which they propagate. A material
is called RF-lucent or RF-friendly for a certain frequency if it lets radio waves at this
frequency pass through it without any substantial loss of energy. A material is called
RF-opaque if it blocks, reflects, and scatters RF waves. A material can allow the radio
waves to propagate through it but with substantial loss of energy. These types of
materials are referred to as RF-absorbent. The RF-absorbent or RF-opaque property of a
material is relative, because it depends on the frequency. That is, a material that is RF-
opaque at a certain frequency could be RF-lucent at a different frequency. The RF
properties of some example materials are provided in Table 1-2, following a discussion
of RFID frequency types.

ISO RFID DATA PROTOCOL

Introduction

The ISO RFID Data Protocol, as defined in ISO/IEC 15961 and 15962, is an
interface between an application, such as a library management system, and the RFID
tag. The figure below illustrates the components.

ISO/IEC 15961 Application Interface

The Application Commands and Responses allow business level

communication between the application and the RFID tag, instead of using the lower
level air interface commands.

Object Identifiers are used to provide unique codes for the data. This approach
offers two significant advantages:

1• The same type of standard tag can be used for different applications, bringing
economies of scale to many sectors.

1• User organizations are able to define a flexible set of data elements that form the data
dictionary from which the most relevant can be selected in a particular system. The data
dictionary can be extended and modified over time with minimal system changes.

The system information deals with features concerned with configuring the tag
for access purposes across the air interface and for efficient encoding.
ISO/IEC 15962 Encoding Rules

The encoding rules achieve a combination of flexibility and efficiency for the
bytes that are encoded on the RFID tag:

1• Data is compacted efficiently using the set of compaction techniques that reduce the
encoding on the RFID tag and across the air interface.
1• The data formatter minimizes the encoding of the object identifiers on the RFID tag
and on the air interface, but still provides complete flexibility for identifying specific
data without the recourse to rigid message structures.

The syntactical encoding rules effectively create a self-defining message structure

for each tag. This allows optional data from the application data dictionary to be
selected, for variable length data to be encoded, and for different formats of data (e.g.
numeric or alphanumeric) being encoded as efficiently as possible. Through the rules of
ISO/IEC 15962, it is possible to correctly interpret the data on the tag without any prior
knowledge of what data is encoded on the tag. This is important for supply chain
situations and inter-library loans.

The tag driver is the interface between the generic data protocol and the specific
type of RFID tag used in an application. System information held on the RFID tag is
used to configure a logical memory structure within the Data Protocol so that the bytes
from the tag can be correctly read or bytes created in the logical memory can be correctly
transferred to the RFID tag through the tag driver. The tag driver effectively converts the
business level commands into a series of air interface commands; it also takes the
business level data provided by the commands, processed by the encoding rules of
ISO/IEC 15962 into the relevant byte stream to transfer to the RFID tag.

The entire process is reversed for reading information from the tag, where the
encoding rules decompose the data, recreate object identifiers, and transfer this back as
application responses.
V. REFERENCES
Periodicals:
[1]. Sandip Lahiri “RFID-A technology Overview”, Prentice Hall PTR, Sep 30, 2005.

[2]. Varchaver, Nicholas (2004-05-31) "Scanning the Globe" Fortune Retrieved on

2006-11-27.
[3]. Dr.J.N.Stanford “Antenna Design Consideration for RFID Applications”, Cushcraft
Corporation
[4]Eugene F. Brighan, the Bar Code Manual, Thompson Learning, ISBN 0-03-016173-8

[5]. Dargan, Gaurav; Johnson, Brian; Panchalingam, Mukunthan; Stratis, Chris (2004).
“The Use of Radio Frequency Identification as a Replacement for Traditional
Barcoding”. Retrieved on 2006-05-31.

[6]. Landt, Jerry (2001). Shrouds of Time: The history of RFID (PDF). AIM, Inc.. Retrieved
on 2006-05-31.

[7]. Intermec Education Services. Understanding RFID - Educational Video. Retrieved on

2006-08-26.

[8]. News release: World's smallest and thinnest 0.15 x 0.15 mm, 7.5µm thick RFID IC
chip. Hitachi, Ltd (2006-02-06). Retrieved on 2007-01-26.

[9]. Hara, Yoshiko. "Hitachi advances paper-thin RFID chip", EETimes, 2006-02-06.
Retrieved on 2007-01-26.

[10]. Roberti, Mark. "[A 5-Cent Breakthrough", RFID Journal, 2006-05-06. Retrieved on
2007-01-26.

[11]. Radio Frequency Identification: An Introduction for Library Professionals. Alan

Butters. Australasian Public Libraries v19.n4 (2006) pp.2164-174.

[12]. "The State of RFID Applications in Libraries." Jay Singh et al. Information Technology
& Libraries no.1(Mar.2006) pp.24-32.

[13]. "Radio Frequency Identification." Rachel Wadham. "Library Mosaics" v14 no.5 (S/O
2003) pg.22.
[14]. "RFID Poses No Problem for Patron Privacy." "American Libraries" v34 no11 (D
2003) pg.86.

[15]. US Customs and Border Protection NEXUS website US Customs and Border
Protection SENTRI website

[16]. NADRA Driving LicenseNADRA Driving License

[17]. E. Schuster, S. Allen, D. Brock: Global RFID: The Value of the EPCglobal Network
for Supply Chain Management, Springer 2007

[18]. Fisher, Jill A. 2006. Indoor Positioning and Digital Management: Emerging
Surveillance Regimes in Healthcare. In T. Monahan (Ed), Surveillance and Security:
Technological Politics and Power in Everyday Life (pp. 77-88). New York: Routledge.

[19]. RFID chips can carry viruses. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2006-08-26.

[20]. RFID Passports cracked.Easily, cheaply, and quickly wired. Retrieved on 2007-03-
21.

[21]. RFID Passports cracked through the mail. the register. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.

[22]. Spy Chips press release

[23]. Greene, Thomas C. (2004). Feds approve human RFID implants. Retrieved on 2007-
03-01.

[24]. Albrecht & McIntyre (2006). The Spy chips Threat: Why Christians Should Resist RFID
and Electronic Surveillance, Tennessee: Nelson Current ISBN 1595550216

[25]. Gilbert, Alorie (2006). is RFID the mark of the beast?. News.com. Retrieved on 2006-
12-18.

[26]. Brown, Jim (2005). Group Fears RFID Chips Could Herald 'Mark of the Beast'.
Agape Press. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.

[27]. Baard, Mark (2006). RFID: Sign of the (End) Times?. Wired.com. Retrieved on 2006-
12-18.

Books:
[1]. Steven Holzner “Visual Basic 6, Black Book”, Coriolis Technology Press, 2006.

Websites:
[1]. http://www.barcodeindia.com/

[2]. http://www.omniatags.com/

[3]. http://www.google.co.in/

[4]. http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/

[5]. http://www.RFID-handbook.com