RFID Standards

University of HoustonBauer College of BusinessSpring 2007

Presentation Source: Bear and Stearns, 2003; RFID Journal; Auto-ID Inc.; CompTIA

What is standard?

Definition: A generic, all-encompassing term used to

describe documents that provide a specified set of mandatory or discretionary rules, requirements, or conditions concerned with performance, design, operation, or measurements of quality to accomplish a specific task

Source: www.llnl.gov/es_and_h/hsm/doc_5.01/doc5-01.html

Why do we need Standards?

Better interoperability Lower costs Lower costs:

Purchasing (economies of scale) Maintenance

Prior absence of universal standards hindered RFID adoption

The Essence of RFID Standards

The primary issue in RFID standardization is the “air interface” protocol, which outlines the mechanism through which tags and readers communicate wirelessly.

History of RFID Standards

In the beginning:

2) The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

3) The European Article Numbering/Uniform Code Council (EAN.UCC)

4) The Auto-ID Center

ISO (www.iso.org)

The ISO establishes global standards based on a consensus among interested parties

All RFID systems must follow ISO rules

No local ordinance should contradict ISO standards

ISO Standards

Animal Identification ISO 11784, ISO 11785, ISO 14223 Code Structure: Number of bits, information Technical concept: transmission method for data and reader specs for activating

transponder; differentiates between full/half duplex and sequential systems Air interface

Contactless Smart Cards ISO 10536, ISO 14443, ISO 15693 Card Type: Close coupling, proximity coupling, vicinity coupling Physical characteristics, dimensions, coupling areas, electronic signals, reset,

transmission protocols, power, initialization and anticollision ISO 10373: Test methods – load modulation, calibration, power supply

Data Carriers for Tools and Clamping Devices ISO 69873: dimensions for contactless data carriers and their mounting space,

retention knobs etc

ISO Standards

Container Identification ISO 10374, ISO 6346 – Optical identification Active, Microwave transponders Unmodulated carrier signal 850-950 MHz and 2400-2500 MHz Backscatter modulation using FSK

Anti-theft system for goods Detection gates, inspection and testing, false alarm rate, deactivation

devices

Item Management ISO 18000 series – parameters for air interface communication at

different frequencies, application requirement profiles

Scope of Standards

Frequency Ranges 13.56 MHz 860-960 MHz 2.45 GHz 5.8 GHz

Air Interface Standards

Data Objects and Identifiers

History of RFID Standards

The EAN.UCC and the Auto-ID Center announced a deal in which the UCC will license the EPC technology developed by the Auto-ID Center, providing the UCC with exclusive rights to the technology (EPC) (Bear and Stearns, 2003)

Auto-ID + EAN.UCC = EPCglobal

EPCglobal submitted its Generation 2 standard to ISO

21/07/2006 - The EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 protocol for radio frequency identification (RFID) has been endorsed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), paving the way for its use throughout the global supply chain. (http://www.foodproductiondaily-sa.com/news/ng.asp?n=69309-epcglobal-rfid-supply-chain)

History of RFID Standards

EPCglobal’s Gen 2 standard is the first global protocol

How did they do it? EPCglobal is a commercial enterprise EPCglobal had the objective of becoming a universal

standardization body with respect to Auto-ID (RFID) EPCglobal was quick in introducing its standards EPCglobal cooperated with companies

EPCglobal web site: www.epcglobalinc.org

Some Initial Standards by Auto-ID (EPCglobal)

EPC Standards

Electronic Product Code (EPC) Class 0 Class 1 Class 2

Savant Systems Object Name Service (ONS) Physical Markup Language (PML) Reader protocol

EPC

EPC (Electronic Product Code) is a new standard for identifying products

Barcodes may migrate to EPC as well, since Auto-ID (EPCglobal) has adopted the basic structures of the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)

EPC

Header

EPC Manager (Manufacturer)

Object Class

Serial Number

EPC EPC can be 64 or 96 bits; 96-bit EPC is expected to

become more common

4 bits are used to identify each symbol (letter of number)

The 96-bit EPC provides unique identifiers for: 268 million companies Each manufacturer can have 16 million classes and 68

billion serial numbers in each class

Unlike UPC, EPC uniquely identifies each product

Savant

Savant is a middleware specification developed by the Auto-ID Center

Savant acts as a “nervous system” of an RFID network

After readers pick up EPC codes, Savant manages and moves the data

Savant

Uses distributed architecture and is organized into a hierarchy of individual savants that manages the process of gathering and distributing data

Tasks savant can do: Data smoothing Reader coordination Data forwarding Data storage Task Management

Object Name Service (ONS)

Provides a global lookup service to translate an EPC into one or more Internet Uniform Reference Locators (URLs) where further information on the object may be found

These URLs often identify an EPC Information Service, though ONS may also be used to associate EPCs with web sites and other Internet resources relevant to an object

ONS provides both static and dynamic services: Static ONS typically provides URLs for information maintained by an

object’s manufacturer Dynamic ONS services record a sequence of custodians as an

object moves through a supply chain

ONS is built using the same technology as DNS, the Domain Name Service of the Internet

Source: Auto-ID/EPCglobal

Physical Markup Language (PML)

A collection of common, standardized XML vocabularies to represent and distribute information related to EPC Network enabled objects

PML standardizes the content of messages exchanged within the EPC network

It is a part of the Auto-ID Center’s effort to develop standardized interfaces and protocols for the communication with and within the Auto-ID infrastructure

The core part of the physical mark-up-language (PML Core) provides a standardized format for the exchange of the data captured by the sensors (readers) in the Auto-ID infrastructure

Reader Protocol

The Reader Protocol specifies the interaction between a device capable of reading (and possibly writing) tags, and application software

EPC Gen 2 Protocol

EPC Gen 2 is a UHF protocol

EPC Gen 2 Protocol is likely to become a global standard

Gen 2 protocol was designed to optimize performance in different regulatory environments around the world

EPC Gen 2 Protocol – Operating Mode

EPC Gen 2 Protocol is allows readers to operate in 3 different modes Single-reader mode Multi-reader mode Dense-reader mode

Dense mode is designed to prevent readers from interfering with one another

Dense mode uses a backscatter method called “Miller subcarrier”

EPC Gen 2 Protocol - Memory

Gen 2 tags are field programmable

Gen 2 tags have 4 memory areas: 3 required:

EPC Password Tag identification

1 optional

Memory areas can be locked temporary or permanently

EPC Gen 2 Protocol – Q Algorithm

Q Algorithm allows readers to query tags even if two tags have the same EPC or do not contain EPC at all

The query mechanism is based on random number generation

The reader does not have to transmit EPC, preventing eavesdropping

Sessions

Each Gen 2 tags can have 4 separate sessions for communicating

Sessions is a means for preventing interference (e.g. caused by different readers)

Conclusion

www.iso.org www.epcglobalinc.org