國
立
交
通
大
學
科技管理研究所
碩
碩
碩
碩
士
士
士
士
論
論
論
論
文
文
文
文
RFID 的應用與挑戰
一、 RFID Applications and Challenges
研 究 生：何傑輝
指導教授：虞孝成 教授
中
中
中
RFID 的應用與挑戰
RFID Applications and Challenges
研 究 生：何傑輝 Student：Jeffrey W. Hill
指導教授：虞孝成 Advisor：Dr. Hsiao-Cheng Yu
國 立 交 通 大 學
科技管理研究所
碩 士 論 文
A ThesisSubmitted to Institute of Management of Technology College of Management
National Chiao Tung University in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Master of Business Administration in
Management of Technology June 2009
Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
FID Applications and Challenges
Student: Jeffrey W. Hill Advisor: Dr. Hsiao-Cheng Yu
Institute of Management of Technology
National Chiao Tung University
Abstract
Since human civilization has stepped in the era of electrical and electronic devices, the pace and magnitude of technological breakthrough has been unprecedented, over any past time period. Ironically, the need and expectations of the society have been a step ahead. At any particular time, there exist few technical fronts where the above two factors exist in equilibrium. Further, the equilibrium is short lived.
RFID stands for Radio Frequency IDentification, it is a technical breakthrough in the
challenging field of providing unique identity to a person or thing and being able to monitor it or them. What sets it apart from numerous other short lived breakthroughs is that despite being around for decades, its ramifications with modern technologies are capable of meeting the enormous demand, relevant to its scope, which again is constantly touching new horizons. Despite being such a versatile technology and being adopted by industry giants like Wal-Mart, the technology is still under skepticism in larger proportion.
This literature review paper explores the obstacles or the challenges that prevent the global adoption of this unique and exemplary technology. The challenges are made special by the fact that there are very few technologies that exist in the equilibrium like RFID, and hence are not available for study at all the times. Further they are unique to each technology.
This paper starts with an insight into the history of RFID. Then a concise section on the topic that commands numerous books and research papers to itself, the components of RFID and how they integrate into this technological marvel. The numerous uses of RFID are hard to fit in any paper. Thus we carefully select the areas, relevant to a broader audience, and give a comprehensive account of how RFID has been instrumental in these areas. Next comes the challenges in RFID adoption. The paper presents challenges ranging in duration from the inception of RFID, to the contemporary ones originating from the small material component changes in present day RFID. The paper concludes by giving a brief outline of present scenario and recommendations derived after balancing the challenges against the present and potential scope of RFID technology.
Foreword
This thesis paper is part of my required studies for the completion of my Master of Business Administration in Technology Management at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. I chose this topic, as it is a product that has the ability to truly revolutionize the way we
conduct our every day lives. I wanted to learn why this amazing technology has been slow to take hold because at first look one would imagine a quick and sweeping integration into society, yet this has not been the case.
I am truly grateful to my thesis advisor Professor Yu and all of the other professors and staff I have come to know here at National Chiao Tung University. Their patience and teachings have been remarkable. The experience has been one that I will never forget and I will always be grateful.
Jeffrey W. Hill
Table of Contents Abstract ... i Foreword ... iii Table of Contents ... iv 1. Introduction ... 1 1.1. Overview ... 1 1.2. History ... 2 1.3. Research Methodology ... 4 1.3.1. Purpose ... 4 1.3.2. Design ... 4 1.3.3. Limitations ... 4 2.Literature Research ... 6
2.1. Supply Chain and Inventory Control ... 6
2.2. Costs ... 7
2.3. Health Care ... 10
2.4. Retail and Manufacturing ... 12
2.5. Standard ... 14
2.6. Consumers and Privacy ... 16
2.7. Data Collection ... 17
2.8. Material Effects ... 19
3. Components and Capabilities ... 21
3.1. Tag or Transponder ... 21
3.2. Reader and Antenna ... 23
3.3. Software ... 26
3.4. Data Warehouse/Management ... 27
3.5. Recent Positive Developments in Global Adoption ... 28
3.5.1. Materials Effects on Transmission ... 29
3.5.2. Gen 2 RFID Tags... 30
3.5.3. RFID Readers ... 32
3.5.5. Intel and Microsoft Involvement ... 35 3.5.6. Standards ... 36 3.5.7. Data Sharing ... 39 4. RFID Applications ... 42 4.1. Scientific Avenues ... 42 4.2. Main Uses ... 44
4.2.1. Product tracking, inventory systems & distribution centers ... 46
4.2.2. Logistics and Transportation ... 51
4.2.2.5. Transportation Payments ... 55 4.2.3. Passports ... 56 4.2.4. Race Timing ... 57 4.2.5. Hospitals ... 58 4.2.6. Human Implants ... 59 4.2.7. Asset Management ... 60 4.2.8. Animal Identification ... 61 4.2.9. Museums ... 63 4.2.10. Libraries ... 65 4.2.11. Schools ... 67 4.2.12. Prisons ... 69
5. RFID Challenges - Problems in RFID Adoption ... 72
5.1. Tag Frequency ... 72
5.2. Tagging Strategies ... 74
5.3 Tag and Infrastructure Costs ... 75
5.4 Distribution-Network Alignments ... 77
5.5. Consumer Fears ... 78
5.6 Standards ... 80
5.7 Data Sharing ... 81
5.8Patent Issues ... 81
5.9 Material Effects on Transmission ... 83
6. Conclusions and Recommendations ... 85
6.2. Costs ... 92
6.3. Privacy Concerns ... 93
6.4. Case and Pallet Tagging ... 93
1. Introduction
1.1. Overview
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a new generic technology that refers to the use of radio waves to identify objects (Technology Guide, 2002). It is essentially a wireless transmitter similar in size to a grain of salt. Once this chip is attached to an object, the small radio can send information specifically about that object to a small antenna and then on to a computer network (McGinity, 2004). The chip is powered by the antenna sending out the transmission.
Any technology can be judged by its impact on the present set-up. In that regard RFID fares extremely well. RFID has taken industry by storm. It already has been accepted as a viable alternative to the established and widespread UPC (Universal Product Code), like the bar codes printed on the back of books. This acceptance comes from a number of industries. Its fast growth and huge potential benefits have made it a buzzword in the retail industry with companies trying to upgrade their manufacturing style so that the inclusion of RFID is possible. Leading the charge is Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer that has shown how off shoring can be made easily manageable through RFID technology. The US Department of Defense (DoD), mandated that their suppliers supply their products with an RFID tag on each individual piece of equipment that is ordered (Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, n.d.).
Several major computer companies, including Intel, HP, IBM, and Sun, have announced their efforts and future plans to support RFID. The usage of RFID is slowly becoming widespread
ranging from tagging animals and products to use by space satellites to track firefighters and ambulance vehicles back on the planet.
CNN included RFID as one of the “Ten Technologies to Watch” in 2004 (CNN, 2004). ZDNet called RFID one of the ten strategic technologies for 2005 (ZDNet, 2004). The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) announced RFID as one of top 10 major emerging technologies impacting the accountant industry in 2004 (AICPA, 2004) and said that RFID in the near future is ‘certain to affect businesses and individuals’. With the recent introduction of the new EPC Gen 2 tag the RFID industry seems poised grow as the overwhelming demand for the chip showed at the time of launch. This paper will show that despite great challenges, RFID is beginning to take hold in the global market and is making great strides to not only replace the UPC but to change delivery and tracking methods of products and people and changing our ways of transportation and even payment in many spectrums of the world.
1.2. History
Harry Stockman first identified RFID technology, in his 1948 paper “Communication by Means of Reflected Power”. In his paper he recognized that devices that emit and read radio frequencies could one day communicate with one another and in turn be a mechanism for sophisticated information gathering and exchange. Although Stockman’s idea made sense it took several years and many technological advancements before his vision could be realized.
RFID technology is derived from World War II era techniques. The techniques were based on the assumption that aircraft were allowed to identify themselves to other friendly aircraft and commanders on the ground. Before the invention of the transistor and the evolution of
microelectronics, this technology was large, heavy, and consumed exorbitantly high amounts of power.
In the 1970s, Sandia National Laboratories in the United States began incubating commercial applications. From there it went on to launch several businesses. One of them was the
Amtech Corporation. Amtech was a pioneer in the field of commercialized animal tagging, and the motor vehicle account tag used on some toll roads beginning in the 1980s. At about the same time, industrial applications in manufacturing automation, warehouse automation, and asset tracking were starting to being deployed.
In the 1992 to 1994 timeframe, the North American rail industry deployed the Amtech technology for tracking rail equipment, tagging over 30,000 locomotives and 1.2 million rail cars and deploying reader devices at key control points along the railroad right-of-way.
From 1998 through 2003, leadership of retail initiatives had been centered at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where in 1999 the Auto-ID Laboratory Center was established. In late 2003, the Auto-ID Laboratory Center at MIT officially closed and transferred its intellectual property to EPCglobal.
Present day applications of RFID according to one of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject and one of the founders of Amtech, Dr. Jeremy Landt, include “preventing theft of automobiles, collecting tolls without stopping, managing traffic, gaining entrance to buildings, controlling access of vehicles to gated communities, automated parking, corporate campuses and airports, dispensing goods, tracking library books, providing ski lift access, buying
hamburgers, and the growing opportunity to track assets in supply chain management.” (Landt , 2001).
1.3. Research Methodology
1.3.1. Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to show that despite great challenges and skepticism RFID is beginning to take hold in the global market and is making great strides to not only replace the Universal Product Code (UPC) but to change delivery, tracking and transportation methods in many spectrums of the world. This paper will show that despite these challenges and
skepticisms, RFID has truly made great strides in the last few years to overcome these challenges and is truly set to become an integral part of our everyday lives in the very near future.
1.3.2. Design
This paper was conducted using the process of literature review. Research included books, journals, research papers, technology magazines, business magazines, literature from the U.S. Department of Defense, other government web sites, various company web sites and other sources. All efforts were made to get as accurate an account of the current RFID market as possible.
1.3.3. Limitations
In the RFID market there are virtually unlimited applications. An effort was made to look at the most widely used applications globally. Nonetheless, some areas of RFID usage will be left out. It would be impossible to fit all of the applications that RFID is and can be used for into one paper. There was also a limit on current information. While this paper tried to be as
accurate as possible there will be continuous updates and debates as to the technology, its applications, usage, etc. As this is a new immerging technology it is ever evolving and while an effort to obtain the most up to date information was made, it is possible that there is more current information could come to light during the writing of this paper.
2.
Literature Research
The literature review section of this paper will analyze some of the findings that other researchers have found while investigating RFID applications. RFID has proven itself to be able to streamline the business process and enable companies to be able to see their assets in real time yet the Warehousing Education and Research Council (2006) found that even with the many positive aspects of RFID most companies continue to implement RFID based on compliance rather than based on ROI.
2.1. Supply Chain and Inventory Control
It has been found that manufacturers and retailers both stand to gain substantially from the benefits of RFID to better maintain their inventory. Much lower inventory levels can be maintained due to the fact that RFID can provide a precise, real-time inventory count at all times. Having this information has also led to out of stock problems to reduce significantly and manufacturers of time sensitive goods such as perishables will know exactly when certain components of their stock are reaching expiration or spoilage dates. Fewer employees are also needed to control, monitor, and process inventory and theft prevention is improved (Kelly and Erickson, 2005).
A paper written by Wamba, Lefebvre, Bendavid (2007), noted many companies that are using RFID to enhance their supply chain and inventory control, one such company is Scottish Courage, a British beverage firm. It is using RFID to track its 2 million kegs throughout the supply chain. As a result the company has eliminated shrinkage, reduced cycle times and improved delivery for outgoing and incoming stock. They also found Marks and Spencer had been seeing significant advantages in RFID by tracking reusable trays and dollies leading to
an 80% reduction in the time taken to read a stack of trays and increasing data accuracy and reliability.
A paper written by Rebecca Angeles (2005) reviewed RFID supply chain applications and implementation issues. In her paper she found information to support the business case for the adoption of RFID based on her research of trade literature. She stated that the technology promised to offer both process freedoms and near perfect information visibility throughout the supply chain across many different industries.
Yet even with the many positive aspects of RFID many companies continue to implement RFID based on compliance rather than based on ROI (Warehousing Education and Research Council, 2006). In a recent study by Vijayaraman (2008) it was found that 24% of the 174 companies surveyed in Europe and the U.S. thought they would never implement RFID technology in their organization for use in their internal supply chain or for integrating with their packaging materials. Lack of customer demand was the most important reason for these companies for not considering RFID implementation. Lack of standards, cost, lack of
foreseeable benefits, and lack of understanding were other reasons for not considering RFID technology. The major concerns found for the companies with respect to implementing new RFID technology were cost related, including the cost of implementation, the cost of tags,
and the cost of automated label applicators as noted by Vijayaraman, (2008).
2.2. Costs
One of the most major constraints on the growth of RFID are costs. Roberts (2006) states that passive tags with some data storage currently cost between 5 and 10 cents each when
with much more expensive tags costing up to $100 each. He claims that at current prices it is not economically viable to incorporate tags into every retail item. Walker (2004) notes that many applications such as RFID-enabled warehouses require specialized hardware such as RFID enabled fork-lifts, conveyor belts, inventory wands and sorting machines that add to the total cost making the price too much for many companies. In May of 2004 AMR Research conducted its Risk Assessment Profile which Evaluates RFID Implementation Risk for Consumer Product Manufacturers. The research found that a conservative cost estimate for RFID implementation for a typical consumer packaged goods manufacturer would be around $13 to $23 million for shipping 50 million cases per year.
A secondary problem is that even with the cheap tags now becoming available at the five cent level, these prices are only available in massive quantities. SmartCode, an Israeli RFID systems provider, offers its customers Gen 2 Electronic Product Code (EPC) RFID inlays for 5 cents each but only in volumes of 100 million or more (Roberti, 2006). Avery Dennison corporation is offering inlays for 7.9 cents in volumes of 1 million or more.
A study conducted in 2008 by Bottani and Rizzi found that using an investment analysis that the introduction of RFID at the pallet tagging level provided positive net present value for all types examined. They found manufacturer’s distribution centers (DCs) in particular had the greatest benefits. They found the case level tagging scenarios sometimes had the opposite affect.
Fish and Forrest (2007) found that in the United States the average retailer spends more than $500,000 on RFID hardware and software, including chips, inserts, printers, tags, antennae, readers, data aggregations and filtering systems, middleware, and directory services. Webster
(2008) estimates that smaller companies will have to invest $100,000 to $300,000, while the price tag for a large manufacturer could hit $20 million.
When asked about the time it takes to implement RFID, companies that have started or bagan
to test pilot RFID have stated it takes anywhere from 3 months to 6 months (Vijayaraman,
2008) adding to the cost of implementation. Forrester Research believes that optimizing processes, analyzing data, and training workers would cost companies more than the purchase of RFID technology (Walker, 2004). “Firms will incur costs from conversion (including consultants), reallocation of staff, additional hiring, and maintenance contracts” (Smart, 2004).
Wamba (2007) sees RFID as having long term financial benefits. They find that RFID continues to show the promise as an integration tool to aid collaboration with others in the supply chain in an effort to reduce costs throughout the network. Wal-Mart has come forward
stating that the changeover offers the retailer major benefits. They estimated that the
introduction of RFID technology to their supply chain will save the company up to $8.35 billion annually as well quickly providing important product information.
A recent survey found that high cost remains the primary roadblock to greater RFID
implementation in health care (Blair, 2007) yet others are claiming the opposite. The UMass Memorial Medical Center in the United States has lab's stents and balloons that can cost up to $3,000 each. Each of its pacemakers are worth up to $30,000. This is why the center has adopted RFID. Kim Carter, a top administrator at the center, said that their RFID system has helped her bring consigned and paid stock (cash tied up in inventory) down to $100,000,
from about $400,000. As the amount of surplus equipment they need is now much less (Baard, 2008).
While buying RFID chips in large quantities will lead to a reduction in prices researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology this week announced the development of what they call an "RFID testbed," which allows for the testing of new tag prototypes much more cheaply and effectively than existing tag design processes, therefore allowing companies using the process to spend significantly less on research and development with an end result of lower chip prices (RFID Update, 2008). The system is a chip emulator, which is a piece of
hardware that emulates the signals of an RFID tag chip. “An antenna design is attached to the emulator, then stimulated by an RFID reader to generate a signal. That signal, which is the same signal that a real RFID tag with that antenna design would generate, is measured and analyzed, including how it reacts to the physical environment. That process is then repeated for any number of antenna designs, as engineers improve and iterate them in pursuit of a final product.” The process currently used is very costly as prototypes need to be produced by a semiconductor manufacturer for testing.
Gregory Durgin, assistant professor at George Tech's school of electrical and computer engineering says “with our testbed, you don't have to spend $30,000 or $100,000 every time you want to test a new type of signaling protocol."
2.3. Health Care
Health Care has already begun to show the benefits of RFID notes Correa, Gil, and Redin (2005), at Jacobi Medical Center in New York the RFID enabled patient ID system not only enhances patient care and staff working conditions but also saves the center one million US
dollars a year. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in the US has been using RFID to track new patients to ensure they do not get moved to the wrong location.
Pfizer drug company has also been testing RFID to ensure that consumers get the correct drugs and that counterfeit drugs are not obtained by the patient. Parts used in surgery have also benefited from RFID. When parts in a surgery kit are cleaned and sterilized a label is not suitable, but by embedding an RFID device into the tool itself it can confirm whether all the tools in the surgery kit have been cleaned and sterilized properly or not.
The tracking of equipment in the hospital itself has been showing great returns as less equipment needs to be purchased as now equipment can be immediately found.
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has been looking at RFID as a way to make sure blood slated for transfusion gets to the proper patient. They have found that the risk of transfusion of blood to the wrong patient is more than 100 times greater than the risk of transmitting an infectious disease through a blood transfusion (Bednarz, 2004). Medical errors in hospitals have become a leading cause of death, killing more people each year than AIDS globally. ”These medical errors can be classified as poor-decision making, poor communication, inadequate patient monitoring, patient misidentification, inability to respond rapidly and poor patient tracking” (Chao, Jen, Chi, Lin, 2007)
While many benefits have started to be shown in the health care industry, analysis still have many reservations. Chowdhury, B., Chowdhury, M. and D'Souza, (2008) stated in their research that an intruder with unauthorized readers can intercept the communication between the patient tags and RFID readers and can access sensitive patient information such as patient ID, name, drug allergies, etc.
Unauthorized readers are susceptible to gaining access to this information and it is therefore subject to misuse by hackers and criminals. Further, with respect to read and write
(reprogrammable) tags, unauthorized alteration of patient data is possible in the hospital information system which could lead to detrimental effects (Chowdhury, B. and D’Souza, 2008). A serious concern related to the Pfizer trial is that once consumers have purchased items from a pharmacy they do not want themselves or the purchased items to be tracked after passing the checkout (Michael and McCathie, 2005).
Frequency and serialization is also a significant issue in healthcare RFID enabled healthcare. Healthcare providers such as hospitals are very concerned as to which tag frequencies to use and where. With the serialization issue, they are concerned about what to include in a patient tag’s serial number. Some want the tag serial number to contain intelligence such as patient information; others do not want the tag intelligence information, rather a random serial number (Chowdhury, B. and D’Souza, 2008).
2.4. Retail and Manufacturing
A paper titled “A comparative Analysis of RFID Adoption in Retail and Manufacturing Sectors” published in 2008 found that the potential benefits for retail and manufacturing did not differ statistically but both saw improved operational efficiency and improved visibility throughout. It was found on the manufacturing side that operational efficiency and visibility were the most important while in retail improved inventory management and security were the key issues. The study noted that the growth in retail was exceeding that of manufacturing due to the fact that the scope of use was more widely known, whereas in manufacturing there was a belief that the product could not be as beneficial (Bhattacharya, Chu, Mullen, 2008).
Kelly and Erickson (2005) found that manufacturing will gain from RFID by better inventory control as manufacturers will now be able to track the production process from start to finish. Raw materials and supplies tracking are facilitated and goods in process will are readily identifiable along with backlogs in congestion in various parts of the manufacturing process.
Wells Dairy in the United States found 18 months into their RFID use that, they had enabled the company to both comply with Wal-Mart’s RFID mandate and position Wells’ Dairy to take advantage of the information gathered by RFID. Improvements included “increased quality control, information gathering, safety and productivity for induction of products into storage. Additionally, the solution has freed up personnel, helped increase accuracy of freezer counts, decreased the number of misshipped pallets and minimized the need for manual reconciliation”(FoodProcessing.com, n.d.).
In a 2005 paper it was said that the use of RFID will demand more flexible processing systems irrespective of whether the packaging is done at the production facility or at a co-packer. This will have a direct impact on the operational efficiency and profitability of the packaging company (Mahna, 2005). For instance, if packaging suppliers were to consider adding tags to their boxes and displays, each tag would have to be individually identified and placed according to a specific product packaging level (Mahna 2005).
In 2005 Jones, Hill, Hillier, and Comfort reviewed the RFID market for retailers in the United Kingdom. Their research found that some retailers did not perceive that the return on
investment was significant enough and that the money could be better used in other areas, they cited Woolworth’s as one example as a company that had tried RFID and decided to
shelve the application for the time being. Cost of tags were named as the primary deterrent to the usage of the technology. Companies operating on low margins did not see any potential benefit to the new technology. A secondary problem was the lack of international RFID standards for the usage of the tags. Lastly companies cited the cost and process of having to update their current infrastructure to accommodate all the new information as a deterrent.
By adopting RFID technology Wal-mart has assessed it stands to achieve an annual savings of $600 million in out of stock supply chain reductions, $300 million in improved tracking through warehousing and distribution centers, and $180 million in reduced inventory holding and carrying costs (Asif and Mandviwalla, 2005).
2.5. Standard
According to Whitaker, Mithas, & Krishnan (2007), the lack of RFID standards leads to a delay in realizing a return on investment of RFID technology. While standardization of information formats placed on the RFID consumables goods has garnered wide support with the Electronic Product Code (EPC) in the retailing industry; standards dealing with RFID frequency and protocols for the communication of readers and consumables such as tags and labels are continuously evolving. Vijayaraman (2008) found that that the lack of a truly establish global standard is one of the major concerns for companies looking to implement RFID.
Jakovljevic, (2004) stated that a necessary condition for widespread adoption of RFID is the availability of pervasive standards. He warns that early adopters of RFID will be wary of locking into the wrong standards, which could lead to a potentially costly mistake both in terms of time and money. He goes on to say that contemporary supply chains are global and a
consensus on international standards on frequencies is needed. Without such consensus it will be hard for an item using a specific country standard to traverse international supply chains.
In what could be a blow to global standards Madam Zhang Qi, State Council Golden Card National Leader, Chairperson of the Chamber of China Information Industry and Secretary General of the Department of Information Product, Ministry of Information Industry(MII), commented, "China should be big enough to develop and deploy its own standards.”
Signaling that China may not be willing to follow global standards set by the rest of the world.
In a recent report done on hospitals the lack of standard is cited as an obstacle. “Lack of standards is a major obstacle for the deployment and support for widespread use of RFID system in hospitals. Currently there is no consistent or common standard for the air interface for healthcare industry. Item-level tagging is also necessary for most of the hospital
equipment or asset management processes where the payoff occurs. Without clear RFID standards and data ownership policies, investment of RFID system in healthcare has been a difficult task” (Chowdhury, B. and D’Souza, 2008).
As of July 11, 2006 the Gen 2 protocol for passive UHF RFID witnessed the convergence of EPCglobal and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for the first time,” says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Priyanka Gouthaman. “Therefore, global acceptance of the Gen 2 standard will encourage end-user confidence and investments in the passive UHF tags market” (Frost and Sullivan, 2007).
The EPC global Gen 2 protocol overcomes the many limitations of EPC global's legacy Class 0 and Class 1 solutions. Seeing the rate at which its popularity and usage is increasing, it can
be said that it is destined to quickly become the leading RFID specification for the UHF band centered around 900 MHz (860 MHz to 960 MHz). For most products this will overcome previous standards barriers, as the new Gen 2 standard works in all countries therefore can be used across the supply chain (O'Connor, 2006).
2.6. Consumers and Privacy
The paper “RFID and the perception of control: the consumer’s view” published in 2005 found that consumers feared losing privacy due to the introduction of RFID technology. Even when all of the potential advantages such as enhanced service were well understood the fear overrode nearly all of the perceived benefits. The paper concluded that retailers will have a difficult time addressing these fears with consumers and encouraged more open dialogue about the advantages and disadvantages of the technology with rights groups (Gunther and Spiekermann, 2005). RFID tags contain limited computational resources. Therefore it is a challenge to design adequate cryptographic algorithms for data security (Sarma, Weis, 2002).
Artafact LLC and BIGresearch recently found out that more than 60% of consumers who heard of RFID are very or somewhat concerned about the issues of privacy. The study was based on data collected from over 8000 consumers (Stegeman, 2004).
Ohkubo, Suzuki and Kinoshita found that while RFID tags have the ability to revolutionize society a close examination of personal privacy from both the technical and social aspects must be done. They found that the privacy concerns raised are serious enough to demand a research on comprehensive and effective technique to provide a solution (Ohkubo, Suzuki and Kinoshita, 2003).
Quirchmayr and Wills (2007) concluded that RFID while doubtlessly having many potential benefits still has many problems when it comes to the issue of privacy. They found that new legislation is needed to develop a modern legal framework that is able to cope with the new technologicval developments that will be essential for ensuring growth. They noted that as with all new technologies there will be abuse until legislation can be adopted to control it.
A paper by Spiekermann and Berthold (2005) drew the conclusion that a “disable model” of RFID tag could be implemented to alleviate consumer fears. This could be made mandatory through legislation. They note that RFID is not going to go away, so actions must be taken to ensure privacy protection. An RFID that is disabled upon purchase of an item or after a specific time period cold work to alleviate some consumer fears.
Some feel that the entire privacy issue is being overblown. Jay Cline (2004) of Computer World Security says that “RFID signals are so weak that they're easily blocked by metals and dense liquids. It's infeasible today for someone driving a vehicle down your street to intercept signals from RFID-tagged goods inside your home.” This opinion is agreed upon by Evan Schuman of eWeek.com (2004). He says its is all just overblown fear mongering but nonetheless and that “the reality is that RFID does not pose any true privacy threat” but that “if your customers all believe that it does, you must treat their fears with respect.”
2.7. Data Collection
Radio Frequency Data Collection (RFDC) is used to communicate information from a mobile location to a host computer in real-time. RF terminals provide a wireless data entry and
display with an RF base station which is connected to a host computer. RFDC provides an accurate, real-time system by allowing the host computer to interactively verify and update data. In addition, it eliminates paperwork, increases customer service, and reduces space requirements. RFDC can substantially improve an operation’s efficiency. In the past these systems have been out of the price range for most small to medium size businesses. Recent advances in RFDC technology have started to produce innovative products reducing prices so that smaller companies can begin afford these type of products (OmegaOnline, 2009).
Michael (2005) says that “RFID systems uniquely identify every product in real-time across the supply chain to increase efficiency in areas like retail, hospitals, farming, and public transport. They connect suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers and allow them to exchange product and trading partner data.” As a result companies can make substantial annual cost savings by reducing inventory levels and lowering distribution and handling costs, increasing security and product integrity, and improving flexibility by the data they gather from these processes.
Some however do not see these new streams of data to be an easy tool to integrate into an existing company’s infrastructure. The paper “RFID After Compliance” (2005) says controlling and manipulating the information received from RFID systems, then using it within your enterprise and sharing it with your suppliers is difficult. The amount of data collected with RFID systems may be staggering compared to what is currently collected. Many established information systems are not yet prepared to efficiently accept RFID data. A paper by Jones, Clark-Hill, Shears, Comfort, and Hillier (2004) says “the challenge of RFID implementation comes from integrating RFID systems and the data they generate with other functional databases and applications” A survey by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young of 275
respondents working in the packaging industry revealed that 46 percent of the respondents consider integration as the single biggest concern with RFID (Ferguson, 2004).
2.8. Material Effects
Research conducted in 2008 found that when a metal or liquid item is tagged with RFID, the RF waves are refracted or reflected causing the item to sometimes pass by unread (Moon and Ngai, 2008). Thiesse and Michahelles (2006) also found liquids and metals to be obstacles in the mass deployment of RFID operating at UHF frequencies. They found when on or near these metals and liquids read rates were low. I was shown that at UHF frequencies organic materials absorb the power radiated by the reader, while metallic objects reflect the incident electromagnetic wave leading to a failure to power a tag and therefore a failed detection.
“The presence of products or packaging containing metal components block the RFID signal, or conveyor belts made up of static producing nylon, or glass fiber that produce radio noise may necessitate expensive changes in the physical infrastructure, increasing costs of RFID
infrastructure due to the fact that (Margulius, 2004).
Chowdhury, Chowdhury, D’Souza, (2008) had similar findings. They noted that supply chain management is an area of operations that is usually filled with metal, liquid and other harsh environments. They found that the metal objects and otherRFID tags that generate
electromagnetic energy disrupt the RFID signal and make it challenging for many businesses to tag and track with theirRFID enabled system. The RFID tag is also affected by objects surrounding it especially metallic containers/objects. It has been observed that the presence of metal and/water in the RFID tag vicinity causes a failed tag read. As radio waves bounce off
energy going to the tag. The same problems were found in healthcare management systems that are found normally teeming with metal, liquid and harsh environments (Banks, 2007).
Some solutions have been forthcoming. While not cheap, they are a solution. In June of 2006 ADASA, Inc., a leading technology company from the U.S. announced the availability of its "Foam Attached Tag" for businesses interested in attaching Gen 2 RFID tags to metal parts and liquid containers in their supply chains. Their new tag gave a convenient and reliable solution for any business wanting to use RFID technology on metals and liquid containers (ADASA Offers Metal Mount RFID Tags, 2006).
In 2008, the leading RFID products producer in China, Daily RFID announced it had developed the HF Metal Tag-08 RFID tag for use in metallic environments (PRLog, 2008).
Another company with a similar solution were GAO Tek Inc. which started offering a series of on-metal Gen 2 RFID Tags in October of 2008. The on-metal RFID tags were developed to withstand harsh environments, providing dependable transmission of data in demanding industry conditions such as changing temperatures and mechanical stress. (GAO Tek
Introduces New On-Metal Gen 2 RFID Tags, 2008). In 2008, GAO RFID Asset Tracking has announced its UHF Gen 2 RFID Tag (GAO116501), for containers, pallets, stillages and trolleys tracking. This contactless read and write tag is meant for applications in harsh environments and where long read range is required (Pressreleasepoint).
3. Components and Capabilities
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that combines radio broadcasting and radar. RFID systems are a means of storing and receiving data through electromagnetic transmission to a Radio Frequency compatible circuit.
There are three main physical components in an RFID system: 1. Tag or Transponder
2. Interrogator (Reader) 3. Antenna (attached to reader)
Physical components alone cannot make a device as versatile as RFID. Apart from the physical components there are two more constituents of RFID technology:
1. Software
2. Data Warehousing/Storage
(Figure 1: Taken from HighTechAid.com)
It is located on the device that is meant to be identified by the RFID system. At its simplest form, a tag is a beacon announcing its presence to a reader. These types of tags are often seen in retail stores used to prevent theft by announcing their presence when taken past a reader. The tag transmits data to the reader and it also has an antenna.
Radio tags are small devices that range in size from several inches to a tiny microchip. They come in a variety of appearances and are made by a number of different companies but they share some basic characteristics. They are generally very thin allowing them to be placed unobtrusively in many different kinds of products and goods from clothing, to cattle, to library books. The tiny chip that stores the information is surrounded by an antenna. On many devices it looks like a spider or octopus with an extremely small head surrounded by legs or tentacles which are the antenna.
RFID tag capabilities, however, extend well beyond a simple beacon. Tags can hold a unique identity (UID) of 8 bytes in length and can be used for inventory management on a global scale, such as a UPC. More than just an UID, a tag can carry re-writeable persistent, storage and is accessible via a reader (Ahson and Ilyas, 2008).
RFID tags are classified by its energy source as: • Passive
• Semi-Active (or Semi-Passive) • Active.
Passive tags do not have a battery to power their signal but may have a battery to maintain memory in the tag or power its electronics. When a passive tag comes within range of the reader, the antenna of the reader powers the passive tag temporarily which causes it to reflect the RF signal, modulating it to transmit information from itself to the reader. Their range is much more limited than an active tag.
Semi-Active
A semi-active tag has the characteristics of both the active and passive tags. It uses its own battery power for some functions but, like the passive tag, uses the radio waves of the reader as an energy source for its own transmission.
Active
Active tags contain a battery powered radio transceiver. Having a radio transceiver greatly increases the range of the active tag to at least 300 feet (Chiesa, 2002).
3.2. Reader and Antenna
A reader includes an antenna and is the device that is used to read or send data to the tag. RFID technology has numerous ranges and frequencies. The common RFID frequencies used today are:
low frequency (LF) high frequency (HF)
ultra high frequency (UHF) microwave
• High frequency tags have common uses in library books, pallet tracking, bookstore tracking, access control for buildings, airline baggage tracking, as well as for apparel and even the tracking of pharmaceuticals.
• Ultra high frequency tags are used commercially. Most companies will used the UHF tags to track their trucks, certain pallets, trailers, and other large items.
• Microwave tags are used in long range access control for vehicles, an example being General Motors' OnStar system.
Most commonly used frequencies by RFID readers are high frequency (HF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF). Currently HF RFID systems adhere to the ISO standard while UHF RFID systems have yet to become standardized globally.
RFID systems start at the 100khz frequency band and go to a high of 5.8ghz. The higher the frequency the longer range the device can read the tag. With higher frequencies comes faster reading times. RFID readers employ tag reading algorithms that are capable of identifying hundreds of tags per second. Once identified, a reader may read data from or write to tag memory, depending on the permissions granted by the tag (Ahson and Ilyas, 2008)..
Table 1: Comparison of HF and UHF frequencies in RFID technology
HF UHF
Frequency 13.56 MHZ 860 – 950 Mhz
(Divided among Continents)
Memory 64-256 bits 64-2048 bits
Read range 10 - 20 cm 3 – 6 m
Read Rate 50 tags/sec 400 tags/sec
An example of high frequency RFID in action is toll collection from cars that can drive at close to highway speeds through toll booths to pay their tolls. As the frequency increases so does the price (Chiesa, 2002).
The second-generation UHF standard has been getting a lot of attention because UHF is considered most suitable for warehouse environments, where many adopters of RFID in the supply chain have been focusing their efforts.
Thus, researchers came up with a technological breakthrough when they presented the EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 (EPC G2) standard. It is the first royalty-free, global standard that will allow companies to harness the power of radio frequency identification (RFID) to provide greater product visibility in their supply chains worldwide. The first EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 RFID tags were manufactured in 2005.
3.3. Software
Once elemental data from the RFID has been received and validated, additional information can be added including time, temperature, location, and similar indicators. This extension of data surrounding RFID messages is being called “sensor-based computing” by practitioners at Oracle (Seeley, 2004).
Now there exists numerous complex software and software models, tailored according to the various industries that RFID may be put in use to. As RFID becomes pervasive and is integrated with other sensor information, opportunities may arise to use this richer
information to create innovative new business models. Vendors such as SAP, Oracle, Sun, Peoplesoft, IBM, and Microsoft are currently deploying various middleware approaches toward the integration of RFID with their existing product offerings.
For example, SAP is reported to have developed a middleware layer, named the Auto-ID Infrastructure, that routes data from readers to applications (including multiple
communication and sensing devices such as RFID readers and printers, Bluetooth devices, embedded systems, and bar-code devices) and triggers appropriate events using a rules engine (RFID Journal, 2004). This approach is likely to emphasize reformatting incoming data for use with legacy systems of various types.
According to the software providing company AbsoluteSky (2007), while automatically tracking the inventory, the tracker software performs a range of functions including: on-hand status and search, automated receiving, inventory status changes, as well as zone
differentiation and shrink reduction. The RFID Journal categorizes middleware technologies into three levels:
• software applications which solve connectivity problems and monitoring in specific vertical industries,
• application managers that connect disparate applications within an enterprise, and • device brokers that connect applications to devices like shop-floor machines and
RFID readers (Rockwell, 2004).
3.4. Data Warehouse/Management
The RFID data warehouse must maintain a significant amount of data for decision making. Historical and current data is required from supply chain partners and from various functional areas within the firm in order to support decision making in regard to planning, sourcing, production, and product delivery. Supply chains are dynamic in nature. In a supply chain environment it may be desirable to learn from an archived history of temporal data that often contains some information that is less than optimal.
Though there is cost associated with storing this data, there is potential value as a raw
material for knowledge creation, decision support, and data mining. The nature of this data is can be identified at finer levels of individuality; there are many more business events for an item. Not just 20 items leaving a warehouse and 10 arriving at another location, but which items arrived, by what route, and how long they were stored (Eckfeldt, 2005).
Although the motivation for using RFID in large part revolves around streamlining operations, Shapiro estimates that 80% of the data in a transactional database that supports supply chain management is irrelevant to decision making, and that data aggregations and other analyses are needed to transform the other 20% into useful information (Shapiro, 2001).
From a technology infrastructure perspective, issues will involve selecting and implementing the right set of decision support systems and knowledge support tools as well as organizing the data to maximize the trade-off between capturing all possible data and retaining a size that is manageable for ad hoc as well as programmed queries (Eckfeldt, 2005).
The value of the data warehouse and the collection of RFID process will primarily be in the discovery of new relationships and opportunities for process redesign. Specifically within the supply chain context, this information can aid in logistics network design, supply chain planning, and vehicle routing and scheduling (Simchi-Levi, 2000).
3.5. Recent Positive Developments in Global Adoption
RFID has been established as a very reliable technology for use in various fields like tagging animals, goods, etc. Recently there have been positive developments in the global adoption. We are taking the following four fields to be the indicators of the positive developments in RFID technology adoption by the global community:
1. Materials transmission ability 2. Generation 2 tags
3. Readers 4. Tag Costs
5. Intel and Microsoft Involvement 6. Standards
The above fields are chosen since they bear a direct correlation with trends in global adoption. Any increase or decrease in one of them will lead to a corresponding increase or decrease in the global adoption of RFID technology.
3.5.1. Materials Effects on Transmission
RFID tags have had trouble reading through and around products that contain metal or liquid, this has caused problems for companies wanting to implement RFID into their systems. In recent years companies have been working hard at developing solutions to this. In 2005, AICA Kogyo Company and Toppan Forms Co., Ltd. of Japan developed RFID labels that could be directly pasted on metal surfaces like a sticker.
In June of 2006 ADASA, Inc., a leading technology company from the U.S. specializing in the development of advanced mobile RFID systems, announced the availability of its "Foam Attached Tag" for businesses interested in attaching Gen 2 RFID tags to metal parts and liquid containers in their supply chains. The Foam Attached Tag or "FAT" tag gave a convenient and reliable solution for any business wanting to use RFID technology on metals and liquid containers (ADASA Offers Metal Mount RFID Tags, 2006).
In 2008, the leading RFID products producer in China, Daily RFID announced it had developed the HF Metal Tag-08 RFID tag for use in metallic environments. This passive RFID tag is designed in a very small size, having only a diameter of 13mm round and suitable for on-metal tagging, with a reading range of up to 3cm.The price is
approximately 1.0 USD (PRLog, 2008).
In October of 2008 GAO Tek Inc. started offering a series of on-metal Gen 2 RFID Tags. The on-metal RFID tags were developed to withstand harsh. These passive RFID tags set the bar in providing dependable transmission of data in demanding industry conditions such as
changing temperatures and mechanical stress. They have been successfully used in asset tracking applications such as railway and warehousing solutions, and it has successfully passed the rigorous testing requirements for Aerospace standard AS5678 specification (GAO Tek Introduces New On-Metal Gen 2 RFID Tags, 2008).
In 2008, GAO RFID Asset Tracking announced its UHF Gen 2 RFID Tag (GAO116501), for containers, pallets, stillages and other types of tracking. This contactless read and write tag is suited for applications in harsh environments and where long read range is required. The UHF 902MHz Gen 2 RFID Tag is compliant with ISO 18000-6C and offers a maximum read quantity of 500tags/s. Its rugged design makes the tag waterproof and dustproof and is resistant to immersion in salt water, alcohol, oil, 10% HCl and ammonia for as long as 100 hours (Pressreleasepoint).
.
3.5.2. Gen 2 RFID Tags
For RFID technology to be adopted globally, it is crucial that the components are designed to cater a wide variety of needs ranging from low cost robust to high cost very sensitive tags. One such substantial development in this field has been the Gen 2 RFID tags, which is outlined below.
The invention that has aggressively promoted the use of RFID technology in recent times is the Gen 2 RFID tag. That is why we need to include a brief overview of it in the paper. EPC Gen 2 tag can be used in all global UHF frequencies.
The EPC global Gen 2 protocol overcomes the many limitations of EPC global's legacy Class 0 and Class 1 solutions. Seeing the rate at which its popularity and usage is increasing, it can
be said that it is destined to quickly become the leading RFID specification for the UHF band centered around 900 MHz.
It provides a comprehensive framework with enhanced features and an enormously improved performance over its predecessors such as:
• Operation in high-density reader environments, • Compliance with global regulations,
• Superior tag readability,
• Fast read rates, field re-write ability, and • Enhanced security and privacy
The above mentioned are the advantages of the Gen 2 RFID tags over its ancestors. The technology has even numerically advantages over its counterparts, both in terms of statistics and innovation. Gen 2 RFID:
• Has the theoretical potential to read over 1000 tags per second during top speed • Are writeable at a minimum rate of about 5per sec. to allow RFID tag integration and programming on most high-speed assembly and packaging lines.
• Combination of “Q” protocol & symmetry are expected to deliver regenerated read robustness in numerous applications
• Multiple manufacturers of tags and readers • Interoperable system components
• Writable, Verifiable, “Killable” tags
• Possess a 32-bit password to be used for activating kill commands to infinitely shutdown tags, similarly for accessing and relocking a tag’s memory
• Read rates ten times faster than Class 0 and Class 1 and a 50-fold improvement in fighting the spectrum interference that can plague RFID readers in various environments. (RFIDProductNews, 2005)
3.5.3. RFID Readers
With few exceptions, RFID readers were comprised of multiple electronic components from many different manufacturers. These components are purchased by the reader manufacturer, then assembled into a cohesive whole to create the final reader product.
Intel introduced its first RFID reader chip, the R1000, in 2007. The chip consolidates several RFID reading and data processing functions that had historically been performed by multiple processors connected together on a circuit board. What Intel has done in the R1000 is design a single chip that provides most of the same functionality, but is cheaper and smaller. "If you crack open any of the leading readers," Intel's Krause explains, "you see a very complex and expensive design. The R1000 integrates about 90 percent of all those discrete components onto a single chip" (RFIDUpdate, 2007).
Drew Nathanson, director of RFID research at Venture Development Corporations stated that “today's UHF readers are relatively large, the size of a tablet PC or corporate wired phone and cost as much as $2,000 due in part to a bill of materials of as much as $200 for transceiver modules made from more than a hundred discretes. Using the new Intel chip, readers could cost as little as $500.”
1. It reduces the components, complexity, and cost necessary to produce a Gen 2 UHF RFID reader. Intel estimated the chip could lead to reader costs falling by half. A bold prediction to be sure, but less so when one considers Intel's role in the history of PC development.
2. The second reason the R1000 is significant is that Intel's investment to develop and produce the RFID chip suggests the company has confidence in the strength and growth of RFID technology (RFIDUpdate, 2007).
GAO RFID has recently produced a Gen 2 RFID reader which is a small, easy to use, low cost EPC compliant reader for the operating in the 860 to 960MHz frequency band that is suitable for easily customized for use in asset tracking, healthcare, supply chain & logistics, event management, access control, livestock tracking, inventory control & management, field service maintenance and document authentication. The RFID reader features an enhanced interference rejection, a small footprint and high read rate (ArticlesBase, 2009).
On May 22 of 2009 DAILY RFID launched a low cost RFID card reader operating in 125KHz or 13.56MHz frequency. The RFID card reader is a cost effective choice to read passive RFID tags. The RFID reader, designed as a plug-and-play device, is approximately the size of a business card, and features has low power consumption. It is ideal for close quarter checking, basing on a read range from up to 100mm. The reader is ideal for various applications such as industrial tracking, access control, time and attendance, and supply chain management. (PR-Inside, 2009)
3.5.4. Tag Costs
Cost is undoubtedly the prime factor for any technology to succeed in the market. No matter how many innovations may have been produced for a particular technology it can be rendered useless and shelved if it is not within the cost barrier for the masses. Initially RFID was costly and hence only few large firms came forward to embrace its potential. But over time as the cost has declined, the global adoption has increased.
In 1999 tags costs were set between approximately 30 cents and $1.00 US. By the start of 2006 the price for tags had dropped to between 10 and 30 cents. Then in May of 2006 it was announced that SmartCode, an Israeli RFID systems provider, would offer its customers Gen 2 Electronic Product Code (EPC) RFID inlays for 5 cents each in volumes of 100 million or more (Roberti, 2006). A price that many thought would be the real beginning of RFID worldwide.
Since then other companies have followed suit around the world. Chinese RFID tag and reader company Invengo, announced entry in the US market with a new EPC compliant inlay at a price of just 5.8 cents each on smaller purchase volumes of only five million or more. The inlay is available for 6.0 cents on orders of just one million (Bacheldor, 2009).
As more and more companies come towards the 5 cent tag price this will go a long way to larger orders and greater production, over time this will lead to an even cheaper tag. When the time comes that tags are 1 cent or less we will begin to see mass item tracking. Rafi Nave, vice president and CTO of Tower Semiconductor, an Israeli chip foundry that specializes in making radio chips says he sees that time coming in the next few years but says for now they are just to expensive to be putting on cereal boxes (Kanellos, 2007).
3.5.5. Intel and Microsoft Involvement
One of the most important factors of success is the involvement of big business. Recently Intel and Microsoft have started to invest substantially in RFID. Microsoft, which is playing in the middleware space with its BizTalk R2, is working with partners to deliver applications designed to address specific business problems (Roberti, 2007). Its approach is to provide a foundational layer upon which partners can build applications. Some partners might be focused on retail software and develop applications to reduce out-of-stocks, for instance, while others might be strong in manufacturing and develop systems for tracking work-in-process. In 2008, Microsoft invested NT$ 5.5 hundred million (17 million US$) into their Taiwan RFID Excellence Center.
The Microsoft BizTalk server when compared with competing RFID software solutions, "is cheaper by a factor of ten," John Fontanella of AMR Research said. "It's around five grand, compared to 50 to 100 grand. This puts RFID into reach of every organization." Cost is of course a factor in every purchasing decision, but even more so when it comes to RFID adoption. "We've seen how sensitive the RFID market is to price," Fontanella noted. (RFID Update, 2007)
Another very important move in the RFID reader market has been that of Intel, with its Gen 2 RFID reader chips R1000, in March of 2007. The cost and size reduction of the R1000 could have dramatic consequences for RFID readers, according to Kerry Krause, Intel’s Marketing Director. For example, the standard fixed Gen 2 readers commonly deployed in distribution centers and retail back rooms currently sell for roughly $1,000, depending on volume. Krause expects that the savings provided by the R1000 could cut that cost in half. "I expect to see that those high performance Gen 2 UHF readers will be $500 or below by the end of the year" (RFID Update, 2007).
Revenues from RFID transponders, readers, software and services will reach $5.6 billion in 2009, according to the latest market data ("RFID Annual Market Overview") from ABI Research and have been growing each year, showing that for some industries RFID is slowly expanding.
3.5.6. Standards
A technology such as RFID is meant to be used globally. Further RFID equipment needs to be compatible with some global standards so that they can be interoperable among
themselves and among any region of the world.
RFID technology has had a hard time in getting any global standard and consequently it was popular in some pockets of the world while all together non-existent in others. International companies ended up making their own standards to overcome regional limitations. It has only been in very recent times that fruitful efforts have been made at a national level and by the companies to produce unified standards. Perhaps the most promising development for RFID deployment is adoption of a standard RFID technology.
In July 2006, the International Standards Organization approved EPCglobal"s second generation, Class 1 protocol standard for RFID devices operating in the UHF band (Quirk, 2007). When Gen 2 was ratified by EPCglobal in 2004, it impressed experts in the field, who enthusiastically touted it as the first truly worldwide standard for RFID. The ISO ratification confirms that view.
Gen 2 has the capacity to store large amounts of information on a tag and permits
customization of content. This enables supply chain trading partners to encode and read UHF tags in a similar manner. Gen 2 also allows supply chain entities to share an interoperable reading and software infrastructure.
Gen 2 conforms to the UHF radio regulations of the FCC and European and Asian
telecommunications regulatory bodies. Consequently, Gen 2 tags and equipment can be used nearly universally, which allows manufacturers, distributors and vendors from all over the world to seamlessly coordinate their supply chains via RFID. Gen 2’s positive impact on the deployment of RFID is illustrated by the recent decisions by Wal-Mart and the Defense Department to require their suppliers to use it exclusively.
Gen 2 RFID readers and tags enable global corporations to use a common RFID reader hardware platform and software in the North American, European, and Asia-Pacific regions. Similarly, UPM Raflatac, a Finnish-based tag manufacturer, is supplying a similar tag to the Advanced Logistics Asia project. As part of this project, Metro plans on using a common platform to track all of its Chinese-manufactured supplies from China to its German warehouses.
China's approval of two UHF bands in 2007, says Craig K. Harmon, president and CEO of standards development organization Q.E.D. Systems, can be viewed as good news for U.S. and European companies. China's 920 to 925 MHz band overlaps the 902 to 928 MHz band used in the United States, so U.S. RFID tags will be readable by interrogators approved for use in China. Although China's 840.25 to 844.75 MHz band is lower than Europe's UHF RFID band, European RFID tags should still be readable in China as well.
A huge impetus is expected to come from the introduction of Gen 2 RFID reader chips by Intel, R1000. These will ultimately result in the improved compatibility of core reader functionality across vendors. As RFID reader companies base their products on the R1000, the core reader technology and functionality will be the same, not unlike how Dell, HP, IBM, and Sony computers use the same Pentium based chip technology. This sort of competitive landscape provides a level playing field for RFID reader vendors to focus on added value, rather than low-level reader processor design for competitive differentiation (RFIDUpdate 2007).
The Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2, Microsoft Corp.’s core service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) technology is now available. This product includes advancements for radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic data interchange (EDI), and extended interoperability such as Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Guidance and Line of Business Adapters. Together, these capabilities make it easier for companies to connect systems within their own organizations and across those of trading partners (Microsoft Presspass, 2009).
The product has been a long time coming, and some in the industry believe it could have a materially positive effect on RFID adoption as it makes sophisticated RFID data capture and management capabilities affordable and accessible to smaller enterprises. Microsoft itself is pushing that angle. "By entering the market with its own BizTalk RFID software, Microsoft could help kick off a wave of adoption, by helping to standardize technology and reduce costs for RFID on the Windows platform," said B. Robert Helm, director of research at
Also a great positive step forward in the area of patent sharing was the RFID Consortium formed in 2006, a group of RFID industry companies holding patents for technologies essential to EPCglobal and ISO/IEC standards for UHF RFID. It is a joint licensing program that allows manufacturers easy access to the patents necessary to comply to industry standards. This easy access works to both keep costs down and speed up the pace of RFID adoption. Among the members of the group are 3M, Zebra Technologies, Motorola, and ThingMagic
3.5.7. Data Sharing
Since the RFID tags need to function globally anywhere, so should be the data stored by them. The data carried by an RFID tag may be need to be read by a reader manufactured by a
company different than the tag’s manufacturer. So companies need to share the formatting of data done by them in order to make the RFID devices truly operable anywhere in the world.
Initially, companies were skeptical of sharing any data storage methodology used by them due to copyright issues and distrust among themselves. But with the growth of open standards in the software community, RFID companies have started to share their methods of storing data.
The EPCglobal Network comprises Internet-based technologies that provide for business integration and collaboration by enabling the storage and retrieval of electronic real-time Electronic product codes (RFID data) in safe and secure, databases on the Internet. The electronic product code (EPC) unambiguously identifies objects in the supply chain and includes data on the source of the information, the company, and the stock-keeping unit (SKU) number.
The standards body EPCglobal, supported and applied by U.S. and European companies, is advocating data sharing through the registry of companies that it maintains. In April of 2007 EPCglobal announced the ratification of Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS), a secure, real-time standard for data sharing among trusted organizations. The ratification marks a key milestone in the effort to enable RFID based supply chain visibility across trading partners, industries, and even nations. The ratification was the result of years of effort by more than 150 companies and organizations participating in the EPCIS working group.
European and U.S. companies, including IBM, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and Tesco, agreed on code standardization and supported a modified EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 standard (Gen 2 [ISO 18000-6]), which was approved by ISO, the international standards body, in July 2006 (RFID Journal, 2007)
Technical organizations such as EPCglobal, are developing standards for the Electronic Product Code, including its Guidelines on EPC for Consumer Products. This is one of the biggest steps, both in terms of magnitude and consequences, taken in history of RFID technology to promote data sharing globally.
In April 2007, EPCglobal ratified the Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) standard, a specification for the network interface between the reader and its controlling software or hardware. Having already standardized the tag and reader radio frequency (RF) air interface protocol with the UHF Gen 2 standard, this specification was the practical, logical next step in facilitating the adoption of EPC and RFID technology. (LLRP.org, 2009)
For example, a developer that is building a dock door RFID reading application today might have to program separate code to interface with each RFID reader vendor, one piece of code for Impinj's readers, one for Alien's readers, one for Motorola, etc. With LLRP, by contrast, the developer can program a single piece of software that can then work with any reader that supports the interface. The result is better interoperability (RFIDUpdate 2007).
The standards development process is ongoing. GRIFS, the EU funded project promoting closer co-operation between RFID standards organizations, announced in May of 2009, the launch of the first comprehensive online database of international RFID standards.
