A Seminar Report

On
“A contrast approach for the usage of RFID
technology in ubiquitous environments”

By

Ramakrishna Paruchuri
Date of submission: 20th July 2005.
 Abstract
This report is based on the two reference papers that were published earlier. The
first reference paper[1] is “ Customer Self-Service in the hybrid library” published by
International Network of Public Libraries Bertelsmann Foundation, Gütersloh, Germany
in 2002.In the first reference paper the authors basically explored the art of the self-
service in the international libraries. How ever I only refer to the part of this paper,
especially advantages with the usage of the RFID technology in the hybrid libraries
compared to the other technologies. The second reference paper [2] is “Issues with RFID
Usage in Ubiquitous Computing Applications”, which is part of the Pervasive 2004
conference proceedings. In this paper various sources of errors in the passive RFID
systems and the solutions to overcome these failures are discussed. To illustrate the
failures with RFID systems the authors augmented RFID tags in the playing cards and
measured the performance of the RFID system during different stages of the game. I call
this report as “a contrast approach for the usage of the RFID technology in the ubiquitous
environments” as it refers to the success and the failures with the RFID technology in the
ubiquitous environment. At the end of this report the two approaches used in both papers
are compared to draw the conclusions.
Introduction
In the recent years technology has been greatly integrated in the environments to
provide useful services to the humans in their everyday lives. For this purpose different
technologies like Barcode and RFID are introduced earlier. However the importance of
the RFID technology has been increasing due to the fact that it has lot of advantages over
the other technologies. Lot of experiments has been conducted earlier to show the
benefits of the RFID technology in ubiquitous environments. Examples of these
experiments include Magic Medicine Cabinet by Wan [3], the augmentation of desktop
items by Want et al. [4] and smart shelves by Decker et al. [5].In all the above stated
experiments passive RFID tags are used due to the fact that they are more cost effective.
To illustrate the advantages and the benefits that are associated with passive RFID
technology I have used the statistical data that is given in the first reference paper
“Customer Self-Service in the hybrid library”. However in case of the multi tag detection
there are lot failures that are associated with the passive RFID tags. To illustrate these
problems I referred to the second paper “Issues with RFID Usage in Ubiquitous
Computing Applications”. This report is arranged as follows: the first section gives an
introduction to the RFID system and its components, in the second section different
advantages with the RFID technology are discussed in reference to the first article, in the
third section the failures with RFID technology are discussed in reference to the second
article and in conclusion the I compared the approaches used in both the reference papers.

1. RFID System components:

As shown in the figure 1 RFID system consist of three main parts.

Fig 1: RFID system components.

 - The RFID tag or the Transponder which is located on the object to be identified
and it acts as the data carrier of the RFID system.
- The RFID reader OR Transceiver, which reads and writes the data from the tag
depending on the usage. And
- The middle wear or data processing sub system which stores and uses the data
that is obtained from the RFID reader.

RFID tag: There are different types of RFID tags that are available in the market
depending on their usage and functionality. However as shown in the figure 2 each RFID
tag consists of the following basic components:

Fig: 2 components of RFID tag.

There are two types of RFID tags.

They are: - Active RFID tags – Passive RFID tags.

The basic difference between these tags lies in the way they function. In
the active tags the power is generated internally by the battery and in the passive tags the
power is generated by the reader. The following tables describe the differences in both
technical and functional aspects of these tags.
 Aspect Active RFID Passive RFID

Tag power source Internal to tag Energy transferred from

reader via RF

Tag battery Yes No

Availability of the tag Only within the field of the

power continuous reader

Required signal
strength from the Low high
reader to tag
Available signal
strength from Tag to high Low
Reader

Fig 3: Technical differences in active and passive RFID tags.

Aspect Active RFID Passive RFID

Communication Long range Short range less than 3m

Range 100m or more

- Collects 1000 of - Collects 100 of

tags over 7 acres tags over 3
of region from a meters from a
single reader. single reader.
Multi tag collection - Collects 20 tags - Collects 20 tags
moving at more moving 3 mph.
than 100 mph.

Ability to continuously Ability to transfer the

Sensor capabilities monitor and record sensor sensor values only when the
input like data and time. tag is powered.

Large read and write Small read and write storage

Data storage storage e.g. 128bytes
e.g:128KB

Fig 4: Functional differences in active and passive RFID tags.

RFID Reader: The components of RFID reader are radio frequency module (transmitter
and receiver), a control unit and the coupling element which interrogates RFID tag
through induction. In most cases the reader sends the signals to the tag using RF signals.
The tags that are present in the read zone of the reader will respond to reader’s signals.
The size of the read zone depends on the signal power and the frequency. In general the
greater the signal power and the frequency the greater the read zone.

Middle wear or application system: The middle wear of the RFID system consists of all
the databases and the host computers that will help to process the obtained data. Usually
these application systems are directly attached to the RFID readers.

2. Benefits with RFID technology:

In this section I would like to discuss the benefits of the RFID technology in
connection with the following article.

Article name: “customer self service in the hybrid library”.

Authors: Glen E. Holt,Jens Ingemann Larsen,Ton van Vlimmeren.
Publishers: International Network of Public Libraries Bertelsmann Foundation,
Gütersloh, Germany in 2002.

In this article the authors basically explored the art of self service in different
hybrid libraries around the world. Hybrid libraries are the libraries using the digital
information to make the services of the library more effective. They basically contain
information about the databases, networks and the search engines. In this article the
authors starts with different issues that are involved in the implementation of the self
service in the hybrid libraries, especially issues involved with cost and management.
After that they explored the effect of different technologies for the implementation of the
self service in the hybrid libraries. Finally they suggest a framework for the easy
implementation of self service in hybrid libraries. However I will only refer to the
advantages with RFID technology in comparison to the other technologies in the hybrid
libraries. The authors have selected a group of libraries around the world to see the effect
of technology in the implementation of self service.

In the earlier days the borrowing (check out) and returning (check in) process of
the library are done with the help of the staff members. After the invention of the
computers and the internet, libraries are becoming more and more technically
sophisticated. The implementation of the check in and check out procedures are changing
rapidly from time to time with the invention of the new technology. The basic idea for the
introduction of the new technology is to make customers and the staff members
comfortable with the services involved in the library without compromising the issues
involved in the security. Barcode technology was introduced earlier for this purpose. But
barcode has its own disadvantages which I will point out in the following paragraphs.
The latest technology that is used in the libraries is RFID technology. Right now the
implementation of this technology is very effective. In all the above implementations the
issues related to the customer time and the staff time in both check in and check out
process are very important. In the following paragraph I will explain the procedure
involved in one of the hybrid library to implement e RFID technology.

One of the examples of the hybrid library that uses RFID technology is Marine
Parade Library in Singapore. The check in and check out procedures that are
implemented with the help of RFID technology is more effective than other technologies.

Fig 5: check out process in Marine Parade Library in Singapore.

As shown in the figure 5 in the borrowing place they have five separate self
service units. Video displays on top of the five separate borrowing stations will instruct
the users in detail procedure of how to borrow a book. The users are asked to keep all the
books on the note pad that is there in front of the borrowing unit. Each book is read by
the RFID reader at a time, reading multiple books are also possible however they are not
yet implemented. Once the book is placed on the board, a back up drop menu will appear
on the screen of the computer, this screen contains all the details about the book and the
user can add the information of when he is going to return this book. When the books are
returned the books are placed in the just returned shelf, which contains 27 categories as
shown in the figure 6. The sorting and arrangement of all the books are done by the staff
members. The implementation of the robots for the sorting of the books is implemented,
but they are not so effective in comparison to the staff members. The fines for the late
returned or for the damaged books are calculated by the computers and the users are
asked to pay the money by the cash cards.
 Fig 6: different categories in the just returned books.

The effect of the RFID technology in the check out process has more effect than
check in process. As most of the check in process involves the presence of the staff
members. Before the implementation of the RFID technology customers used to wait
around 60 to 90 minutes for borrowing books. With the RFID technology this reduced to
5 minutes. Following table gives an overview of the staff time involved in check out
process in various libraries which uses different technologies.

St. Louis Utrecht Herning Centr. Lib Singapore:Marine

Centr. Lib Centr. Lib (Jutland Denmark) Parade
(USA) (Netherlands)
Self no no yes yes
checkout
Technology none none Barcode RFID
% self 0 0 73 98.6
checkout
N Staff in 3.9 3.7 <1 0.1
checkout
Loans 420,000 875,000 915,000 1,400,000

Opening 47 46 55 65
hours

Fig 7: comparison of staff times in check out process.

If we compare different aspects that are involved in the checkout process of the
books. It is vary clear that the RFID technology has a great effect on the efficiency of the
number of staff members involved in borrowing books, number of books borrowed by the
self service compared to the barcode technology.. The reasons for the efficiency are the
advantages involved in the usage of RFID technology.

Following are some of the advantages in the usage of RFID technology:

Unlike Barcode RFID tags can be read,

- Through desktop and book covers i.e. no line of sight is required.
- In any orientation to the reader.
- While moving.
- Multiple readings at a time from a distance are possible.

The ability to read and write information to the tag is a crucial aspect of the RFID
tag. This particular facility enhances the security information of the item in the library.
However there some of the disadvantages that are involved in the RFID technology.

Disadvantages:
- Cost: Passive RFID tag costs 1Euro.
Barcode with Magnetic strip costs 0.05 Euro.
- What if the user cuts the Antenna of the RFID tag in the Library? Then the
reader can not recognize the book leading to the theft which is unnoticed.

3. Failures with RFID technology:

In this section I would like to discuss the failures with RFID
technology in connection to the following article:

Article name: Issues with RFID usage in ubiquitous computing applications.

Authors: Christian Floerkemeier and Matthias Lampe.
Presented as a part of: Proceedings of Pervasive 2004, LNCS 3001, Springer, 2004,
Pp.188 -193.
This particular paper starts with the citation to the earlier experiments that are
successful with RFID technology. After that it gives a short introduction to different
components that are involved in the RFID system. The core part of this paper is to
illustrate the failures with RFID technology with a sample application in the multi tag
detection case. To illustrate failures that are involved in the RFID technology they
embedded RFID tags in the playing cards and try to read the cards in different scenarios.

Experimental set up: The experimental set up consists of D Philips I-code RFID
system. Following are the main features of Philips I-code System.
 It operates at 13.56MHz.
 It is based on the ISO 15693 standard.
 It uses Framed Aloha Protocol.
 RFID tags get the energy from the reader by inductive coupling.
 Fig 8: Four different arrangements of 10 playing cards equipped with
RFID tags.

As shown in figure 8 there are ten cards that are equipped with RFID tags.
The reader’s antenna is present on the back of the cards. To illustrate the causes of false
negative reads different arrangements in the normal card game are observed. The dark
field in the diagram indicates the successful detection of tag and the white field indicates
the failed detection of the tag. From the figure it is clear that in each of the above
arrangements RFID Reader can not detect all the 10 tags that are present with in a single
frame. In all the above cases the tags are present in the reading range of the reader and
are not detected by the reader, these reads are named false negative reads. The reasons for
these false negative reads are tag collision on the air interface, tag detuning and the
presence of metal and water in the tags vicinity. In the following paragraphs individual
causes for the false negative reads and the ways to overcome these problems are
discussed.

Tag collision: As mentioned earlier the system used in this experiment uses anti-
collision algorithm based on framed aloha .In this protocol frames transmitting their ID’s
in the same time slot are not detected due the collision. Exception to this case is the
capture effect, where readers detect data sent by one of tags correctly. Authors of this
reference paper used the expression that is developed by Wieselthier [6] to detect the
probability of estimated number of tags that can be detected without capture effect.
Number of time slots available and the number of tags present in the reading zone are two
major factors that effects the tag collisions. The probability of collision decreases with
the number of available time slots and increases with the number tags present in the
reading zone. Figure 9 shows the experimental results in different arrangements of the
card game with different time slots compared to the prediction.
 Fig 9: Average number of tags detected in different arrangements
compared to the prediction.

The relatively good performance in first two arrangements (cards in heap, cards spread
out) is believed to be due to the capture effect. However the difference compared to the
prediction is not so much. So the relatively good match between the observed and the
predicted indicates that all the negative reads are due to the collisions on the air interface.

Solution: To overcome the problems with tag collisions RFID systems with high band
width (Ultra High Frequency with 915 MHz) are used. In this case the number of time
slots available for the tags are increased which increases the efficiency of reading.
However right now there are no international standards that are available for higher
bandwidth.

Tag detuning: The tags that are present in the reading range of the reader get the
energy from the reader through inductive coupling. To increase the reading range of the
Reader a capacitor is connected in parallel to the tag coil. At resonance the frequency of
the tag is tuned to the reader’s frequency which increases the reading range of the reader.
However in case of cards present in the stack, the resonance is affected by the mutual
conductances of the tags that are in the closer proximity which leads to the tag detuning.
This detuning reduces the reading range of the reader.

Solution: To overcome the problems involved with tag detuning, use of small tags placed
randomly on the cards are effective.

Other sources of errors: Metals present in the reading range of the reder distort the
magnetic flux. Metals create some eddy currents from which a special magnetic field is
created. This magnetic field created by the metal currents acts as a shield to the magnetic
flux emitted by the reader. Presence of water is also other source of error. Water has the
property of absorbing radio waves, since the human body contains salt water; it acts as
shield to the radio waves. The relatively low read rate of the cards present in the player’s
hand believed to be a result of tag detuning, presence of hand and the increase in the
distance between the reader and the tags.

Solution: since the presence of metal and water are the permanent problems, only way to
over come these problems is to avoid them in the reading range of the reader. Some times
tags are grouped together to overcome these problems. In this case certain groups of tags
are always moved together, so any tag that is not detected in the reading range is inferred
by the detected tag in the same group. Some times the usage of the redundant tags on the
same object is also useful to increase the efficiency in the reading. However the radical
approach to rectify all these problems is to make the user aware of all the sources of
errors and teach the means to rectify them.

Comparison to the approaches used in both

reference papers
The approach used in the first paper, “customer self service in hybrid library” is
more a marketing approach. The paper starts with the introduction to hybrid library,
explores different issues involved in self service of the hybrid library, then describes how
the technology affects the self service in hybrid library and finally ends with a frame
work which suggests rules to implement self service in hybrid libraries effectively.
However the following aspects are not clear in the first paper:

They are:

- It does not explain the effect of the technology in the check in process of the
customers in the hybrid library.
- It does not explore effect the of RFID system in case of multi book reading.
- The sorting of the books by the robots are mentioned; however this does not
look promising at present.
- It does not explain the difficulty involved in educating the users in different
countries in these libraries.
- It explains why RFID technology is more effective than the other
technologies, but it does explain the difficulty involved to implement the
RFID technology in different countries.
- Finally I am not sure about the efficiency of the frame work that is suggested
by the authors will work in the future.
 The approach used in the second paper “issues with RFID usage in ubiquitous
environment” is more a scientific approach. This paper starts with the citation to the
experiments that are successful with RFID technology, then introduces components of the
RFID system, explains the reasons involved in the false negative reads with the practical
example and finally it suggests the ways to overcome or to minimize these false negative
reads. The reasons why I liked this paper more the other paper are the following:

- The paper gives more insight in the development of the technology that
involves RFID systems.
- The experimental details give more insight to the reasons for the failures of
the RFID technology.
- It clearly tells the technical developers and designers of the RFID technology
to be aware of these existing problems and to manufacture better systems in
future.

Technology is ever changing in this world. Right now RFID technology

is highly used in ubiquitous environments. However as the time passes it is really hard to
say whether this technology is still effective in ubiquitous environments or not. I am sure
that in future more and more experiments will be conducted to explore the failures
involved with this technology. It is just a caution to both technical developers and the
designers of the RFID system to rectify and produce better systems in the future.
According to me the challenge lies in the manufacture of the RFID systems that are
adoptable to the future changing technology.
 References
[1] Glen.E.Holt, Jens Ingemann Larsen, Ton van Vlimmeren
“Customer Self-Service in the public library”, International Network of
Public Libraries Bertelsmann Foundation, Gütersloh, Germany, 2002.
[2] Floerkemeier, Lampe. “Issues with RFID Usage in Ubiquitous
Computing Applications”. Proceedings of Pervasive 2004, LNCS 3001,
Springer, 2004, pp. 188-193.
[3] D.Wan. Magic medicine cabinet: A situated portal for consumer
healthcare. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Handheld
and Ubiquitous Computing, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1999.
[4] R. Want, K.O. Fishkin, A. Gujar, and B.L. Harrison. Bridging physical
and virtual worlds with electronic tags. In Proc. of ACM SIGCHI, pages
370–377, May 1999.
[5] Christian Decker, Uwe Kubach, and Michael Beigl. Revealing the retail
black box by interaction sensing. In Proceedings of the ICDCS 2003,
Providence, Rhode Island, 2003.
[6] Jeffrey E. Wieselthier, Anthony Ephremides, and Larry A. Michaels.
An exact analysis and performance evaluation of framed aloha with
Capture.IEEE Transactions on Communications, COM-37(2):
125–137, 1989.