Chapter 1

1.1

Introduction

What is RFID?

RFID is an acronym for radio frequency identification, which is a wireless communication technology that is used to uniquely identify tagged objects or people. It has many applications. Some present-day examples include: Supply chain crate and pallet tracking applications Access control systems, such as keyless entry and employee identification devices Point-of-sale Automatic toll collection systems, such as those increasingly found at the entrances to bridges, tunnels, and turnpikes Animal tracking devices, which have long been used in livestock management systems and are increasingly being used on pets Vehicle tracking and immobilizers Wrist and ankle bands for infant ID and security It is a system in which short range radio frequency communication takes place between a movable device and a host computer to exchange data. The moveable piece of equipment is called a transponder and it holds data within its non-volatile memory. The device that retrieves this data through an electromagnetically coupled wounded wire (antenna) from a transponder is called a transceiver. Once the transceiver gets hold of data it passes on the data to a PIC Microcontroller. The controller makes sense of the data and saves it into a database table. A simplified diagram of RFID system is shown in Figure 1.1.

1.2

Components of RFID Security System

As explained in section 1.1, a RFID security system consists of following major components: 1. Transponder 2. Transceiver a. Antenna 3. PIC Microcontroller a. SMS Generation 1.2.1 Transponder

The basic function of the transponder is to transmit a stored data to the transceiver. At its most basic, a tag consists of an electronics chip and an antenna. This data storage is either permanent or rewritable. In a passive transponder in which there is no onboard power source on the transponder, the transceiver provides the power to it. When the transponder circuit is powered up the transmission of data is activated that continues to transmit asynchronously until it is powered down. The transponder identification code may be read automatically without line of sight, through non-conducting material such as cardboard or paper, at a rate of several hundred reads per second and from a distance of several meters. Some tags also contain batteries, and this is what differentiates active tags from passive tags. 1.2.1.1 Active Transponder RFID tags are said to be active if they contain an on-board power source, such as a battery. When the tag needs to transmit data to the interrogator, it uses this source to derive the power for the transmission, much the way a cell phone uses a battery. Because of this, active tags can communicate with less powerful interrogators and can transmit information over much longer ranges, up to hundreds of feet. Furthermore, these types of tags typically have larger memories, up to 128 Kbytes. However, they are much larger and more complex than their passive counterparts too, making them more expensive to produce. The batteries in active tags can last from two to seven years.

1.2.1.2 Passive Transponder Passive RFID tags have no on-board power source. Instead, they derive power to transmit data from the signal sent by the transceiver, though much less than if a battery-were on-board. As a result of this, passive tags are typically smaller and less expensive to produce than active tags. However, the effective range of passive tags is much shorter than that of active tags, sometimes less than two feet. Furthermore, they require more powerful interrogators and have less memory capacity, on the order of a few kilobytes. Some passive tags do have batteries on-board but do not use these batteries to assist in radio signal transmission. These types of passive tags are called battery-assisted tags and they use the battery only to power on-board electronics. 1.2.2 Transceivers

An RFID transceiver is a key component of RFID system and acts as a bridge between the RFID tag and the controller. RFID transceivers are essentially small computers. They are also composed of roughly three parts: an antenna, an RF electronics module, which is responsible for communicating with the RFID tag, and a controller electronics module, which is responsible for communicating with the controller. The transceiver performs multiple functions. The first function is that of activating the transponder circuit. This is because RFID system is based on transfer of energy between two close-coupled resonant circuits. The 555 timer onboard the transceiver generates a digital signal at the required frequency, the current passes into the transceiver antenna, which resonates at the system frequency and creates a RF signal. If a transponder is present within the RF field area, the transponder will energize and as a result it will transmit data back to the reader. It is the responsibility of the transceiver circuit to decode the incoming signal and finally send the decoded identification number to a PIC microcontroller. The transceiver, as mentioned above has been divided into three parts. First is the antenna which modulates a digital signal and receives the incoming signal. The second part is the electronic modules which demodulates the incoming signal, filters it and amplifies it to transmit it to the microcontroller. The third and final part is the microcontroller. It receives the incoming Manchester data stream and decodes it while transmitting it to the database. The first and the second part can be understood as the analog part of the RFID

system and the third part can be understood as the digital part of the RFID system. 1.2.2.1 Frequency of Operation A key consideration for RFID is the frequency of operation. Just as television can be broadcast in VHF or a UHF band, so too can RFID systems use different bands for communication as shown in Figure 1.2.

In RFID there are both low frequency and high radio frequency bands in use, as shown in the following list: Low Frequency RFID Bands Low frequency (LF): 125134 KHz High frequency (HF): 13.56 MHZ High Frequency RFID Bands Ultra-high frequency (UHF): 860960 MHZ Microwave: 2.5 GHz and above In the lower frequency bands, the read ranges of passive tags are no more than a couple feet, due primarily to poor antenna gain. At higher frequencies, the read range typically increases, especially where active tags are used. However, because the high frequency bands pose some health concerns to humans, most regulating bodies, such as the FCC, have posed power limits on UHF and microwave systems and this has reduced the read range of these high frequency systems to 10 to 30 feet on average in the case of passive tags. Table 1.1 elaborates the frequency of operation.

1.2.2.2 Antennas An antenna enables a device to convert current and voltage to a electromagnetic wave. Both the transceiver and the transponder are required to have an antenna of some form to enable communication. The operational frequency of the RFID system will determine the type of antenna, whether it be an electromagnetic resonant antenna or an electric dipole. Typically, the transmission frequency determines type of antenna. Closed-coupled antennas in RFID systems perform dual function. They transmit power as well as data. The RF signal that is generated by a transceiver is partly used by a transponder for energizing itself and at the same time it is used as carrier signal so that data is modulated over it. 1.2.2.3 Amplitude Shift Keyed Modulation Amplitude-shift keying is a form of modulation that represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave. Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data. ASK uses a finite number of amplitudes, each assigned a unique pattern of binary digits. Usually, each amplitude encodes an equal number of bits. Each pattern of bits forms the symbol that is represented by the particular amplitude. The demodulator, which is designed specifically for the symbol-set used by the modulator, determines the amplitude of the received signal and maps it back to the symbol it represents, thus recovering the original data.

1.2.3

PIC Microcontroller

Here, the microcontroller receives a Manchester encoded data stream. The job of the microcontroller is to receive the incoming Manchester data stream, decode it into decimal or ASCII code. Search the database for the identification of the transponder and generate an SMS if the card number does not correspond to the database. In this section, when the PIC Microcontroller has received the incoming data stream, it is saved in a user created array. The array is transferred to another micro controller where it converts the 128 bit array to 64 bit array. When converting to 64 bit array the controller makes sure that the starting 9 bits are of the value 1. As discussed in the sections below, the next 8 bits are the customer ID bits followed by 32 data bits. In the code, column bits, row bits have been ignored. 1.2.3.1 SMS Generation SMS generation is the final stage of the RFID security system. The controller consists of a database of 10 users in 5 different security check points. Each security check point allows the identification of different sets of users. If the transponder tag, which was detected, is not in the database, it generates an SMS to a desired number, informing the owner that an unauthorized person is passing through. Details of its serial communication are explained in the code.

1.3

RFID Applications

There are almost as many RFID applications as there are business types. They can be defined in many categories. Some of them are: Automotive - Auto-makers have added security and convenience into an automobile by using RFID technology for anti-theft immobilizers and passive-entry systems. Animal Tracking - Ranchers and livestock producers use RFID technology to meet export regulations and optimize livestock value. Wild animals are tracked in ecological studies, and many pets who are tagged are returned to their owners. Asset Tracking - Hospitals and pharmacies meet tough product accountability legislation with RFID; libraries limit theft and keep books in circulation more efficiently; and sports and entertainment

entrepreneurs find that "smart tickets" are their ticket to a better bottom line and happier customers. Contactless Payments - Blue-chip companies such as American Express, ExxonMobil, and MasterCard use innovative form factors enabled by RFID technology to strengthen brand loyalty and boost revenue per customer. Supply Chain - WalMart, Target, BestBuy, and other retailers have discovered that RFID technology can keep inventories at the optimal level, reduce out-of-stock losses, limit shoplifting, and speed customers through check-out lines.

1.4

Advantages of RFID (Over other Identification Technology)

Following different type of equipment will elaborate as in why RFID technology is better. Infrared Identification: Infrared identification technology is very similar to RFID technology, the main difference being the frequency of operation. In the electromagnetic spectrum, the infrared frequencies are far higher than even the highest microwave frequencies used in RFID. At infrared frequencies path losses are very high and infrared signals are not able to penetrate solid objects very well, such as boxes, to read tags. As a result, infrared identification is used more often in imaging applications, such as night vision and motion detection. Bar Codes: A bar code is a series of vertical, alternating black and white stripes of varying widths that form a machine-readable code. Bar coding is an optical electronic technology, in which laser light is reflected off a bar code symbol and read by a scanner. The distance between the barcode and the barcode reader is of few millimeters. Due to that fact it cannot be used to identify something which is few feets away. Memory Size/Data Storage: Bar codes can only hold a limited amount of data. The smallest tags, in terms of data storage, are UPC E symbols, which hold only eight numeric characters; just a few bytes.

RFID tags are capable of holding far more information. Though RFID tags can be made with smaller memories to hold only a few bytes, the current state of technology puts the upper limit at 128 K bytes, orders of magnitude larger than most bar code symbols. Non-Line-of-Sight: Another advantage of RFID technology over bar codes is that RFID systems do not require a line-of-sight between a tag and interrogator to work properly. Because radio waves are able to propagate through many solid materials, RFID tags buried deep within the contents of a pallet are really no less visible to interrogators than exposed tags with a direct line of sight. In addition, tags embedded inside objects, and not just applied to packaging, can also be read with no problems. Bar codes, on the other hand require a direct line of sight with the scanner in order to work properly. This means that bar codes must be placed on the outside of packaging and objects must be removed from pallets in order to be read. In supply chain management applications, in which large quantities of materials are on the move all the time, this gives RFID a great advantage over bar codes. Read Range: The read range of bar codes can be quite long. Bar code scanners can be made to scan tags up to several yards away, though only under certain conditions and not without a direct line of sight. Typically read ranges are just a few inches. The read ranges of RFID tags vary widely, depending on frequency of operation, antenna size and whether the tag is active or passive. Typically though, read ranges of RFID tags run from a few inches to a couple of yards. Access Security: Bar code data is not very secure. Because bar codes require a line-of-sight and are therefore placed very visibly on the outside of packaging, anyone with a standard bar code scanner or even a camera can intercept and record the data. RFID systems offer a much higher level of security. As mentioned previously, RFID systems present the user with the ability to prevent third-party interception, to restrict unauthorized access to the system, and to encrypt sensitive data. Difficult to Replicate: Because RFID tags and electronics are so much more complex than bar codes and bar code electronics, RFID systems are much more difficult to build

or replicate. This makes it difficult for would-be cheats to access or alter tag data. Environmental Susceptibility/Durability: RFID technology is better able to cope with harsh and dirty environments, such as those found in warehouses and supply chain facilities, than bar codes. Bar codes cannot be read if they become covered in dirt, dust, or grease or are torn or dented. Intense light can also interfere with bar code scanners and render them unable to read bar code tags. RFID technology is relatively immune to these problems. Price: The largest barrier to RFID growth is tag cost. Whereas bar codes typically cost under Rs.5, the current cost of a passive RFID tag with a read range of a few centimeters is much higher. Reports vary widely, but most put the cost somewhere in the tens of cents range. Production costs for RFID tags can be broken down as follows. Table 1.2 summarizes the difference between RFID and other applications. Table 1.3 elaborates some applications of RFID.

Table 1.3

1.5

Manchester Data Encoding

Manchester encoding is a form of binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) that has gained wide acceptance as the modulation scheme for low-cost radio-frequency (RF) transmission of digital data. Manchester is a simple method for encoding digital serial data of arbitrary bit patterns without having any long strings of continuous zeros or ones, and having the encoding clock rate embedded within the transmitted data. These two characteristics enable low-cost data-recovery circuits to be constructed that can decode transmitted data with variable signal strengths from transmitters with imprecise, low-cost, data-rate clocks. The encoding of digital data in Manchester format defines the binary states of "1" and "0" to be transitions rather than static values. There are two possible definitions (as shown in Figures 1.3 and 1.4) that have alternate assignments of the logic levels to the two possible transitions of rising and falling edges.
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The definition of a bit in Manchester-encoded data can become confusing, because each binary data bit encoded results in two apparent "bits" in the encoded data stream. Keeping in mind that an encoded data bit is defined as a transition, it is easy to see that there are no bits in Manchester data streams. The Manchester-encoded data stream does require two levels for each transition, because by definition the information is encoded as a low-level to high-level transition or high-level to low-level transition. Thus, it takes twice as many logic-level states to encode data in Manchester. Figure 1.3

Figure 1.4

1.5.1

Manchester Data Decoding

In this section a brief overview of the DataStream format will be discussed. How the code the code is separated into different groups and how it is converted into decimal. As discussed above, data is encoded in logic levels of
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1 and 0. In this section, we will call 1 as SH and 0 as SL. Following is how the code will be understood: SH + SL = 1 SL + SH = 0 Transmission starts with a preamble 9 header bits, and all of these are 1. The sequence of nine 1 bits, plus the stop bit allows the message synchronization. These first 9 bits are called the preamble or header bits. After header bits, eight bits B00B03, B10B13, of customer ID plus two line even parity bits P0 and P1 are transmitted. Then the rest of code data bits plus proper line parity bits are transmitted. In general 10 groups of four data bits alternated with 8 parity bits sequence, IC transmits last portion of data. Four column even parity bits (C0C3) and 1 stop bit programmed to 0 finishes the transmission. This can easily be explained by the help of Table 1.4. Table 1.5 shows how the bits are further converted to HEX or Decimal value.

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Table 1.4 1 1 1 1 8-bit Customer ID bits

32 Data Bits

4 column parity bits

1 B00 B10 B20 B30 B40 B50 B60 B70 B80 B90 C0

1 B01 B11 B21 B31 B41 B51 B61 B71 B81 B91 C1

1 B02 B12 B22 B32 B42 B52 B62 B72 B82 B92 C2

1 B03 B13 B23 B33 B43 B53 B63 B73 B83 B93 C3

1 P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 Stop #

Table 1.5 Bit No. B20-B23 B30-B33 B40-B43 B50-B53 B60-B63 B70-B73 B80-B83 B90-B93 Complete Data

Bit value (bin) 0000 0000 1000 1101 0110 0011 1000 1110 008D638E (hex)

Bit value (hex) 0 0 8 D 6 3 8 E 0009266062 (dec)

1.6

Classification of RFID systems

The RFID Class Structure (Figure 1.5) provides a framework to classify tags according to their primary functional characteristics. The RFID Class Structure classifies tags as belonging to one of five classes: Class 1 (Read-only Passive Tags), Class 2 (Passive Tags with additional functionality),
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 Class 3 (Semi- Passive Tags), Class 4 (Active Tags), Class 5 (Transceivers). Figure 1.5

1.6.1

Class 1: Read Only Passive Tags

Class 1 transponders represent basic capability. They are read only passive identity transponders. The passive transponders derive the power needed for operation from the transceivers RF signal. They communicate back with the transceiver using load modulation or backscatter modulation. Class 1 protocol uses in-band signaling. These transponders are generally viewed as write once and read many where the writing can be done either by the manufacturer or by the user. Transceiver to transponder communication is accomplished using amplitude shift keying, ASK modulation. Binary data from transceiver to transponder is encoded as PW modulation of the low level pulse. The transponder to transceiver communication use passive backscatter that follows a scheme where two transitions are observed for a binary zero and one transition for binary one.

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Passive-backscatter Tags with the following minimum features: An electronic product code (EPC) identifier, A Tag identifier (Tag ID), A function that renders a tag permanently non-responsive Optional decommissioning or re-commissioning of the Tag, Optional password-protected access control, and Optional user memory. 1.6.2 Class 2: Passive Tags with Added Logic

Passive Tags with the following anticipated features above and beyond those of Class 1 Tags: An extended Tag ID, Extended user memory, Authenticated access control, and Additional features (TBD) as will be defined in the Class-2 specification. 1.6.3 Class 3: Semi-passive Tags

Passive Tags with the following anticipated features above and beyond those of Class 2 Tags: A power source that may supply power to the Tag and/or to its sensors, Sensors with optional data logging. Class 3 Tags still communicate passively, meaning that they (i) require an Interrogator to initiate communications, and (ii) send information to an Interrogator using either backscatter or load-modulation techniques. 1.6.4 Class 4: Active Tags

Active Tags with the following anticipated features: An electronic product code (EPC) identifier,
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 An extended Tag ID, Authenticated access control, A power source, Communications via an autonomous transmitter, Optional User memory, Optional sensors with or without data logging. Class 4 Tags have access to a transmitter and can typically initiate communications with an Interrogator or with another Tag. Protocols may limit this ability by requiring an Interrogator to initiate or enable Tag communications. Because active tags have access to a transmitter, of necessity they have access to a power source. Class 4 Tags shall not interfere with the communications protocols used by Class-1/2/3 Tags. 1.6.5 Class 5 Transceiver

Class 5 transponders are devices that can power other transponders as well as communicate with class 4 transponders. An example is a RFID transceiver that is capable of powering up the other Class 1 transponders. Table 1.6

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Chapter 2
2.1

Results and discussion

Hardware Description

In this section we will be discussing the hardware that has been used and the software code that has been embedded in the Microcontroller. As discussed in the previous chapter the RFID system has been divided into three different sections: 1. Transponder 2. Transceiver 3. PIC Microcontroller 2.1.1 Transponders

The circuit shown in Figure 2.1 is an assumed diagram of a transponder. The circuit consists of an inductor, two capacitors, a transistor, four diodes forming a wheat-stone bridge and a chip containing the transponder data. Here L (antenna) and C allow us to tune the resonant circuit at 125 kHz. The inductor also acts as the antenna which absorbs the electromagnetic energy from the transceiver. When the transistor turns ON, it effectively lowers the inductance of the loop antenna. When it is on the OFF condition, the transponder sees an inductance and capacitance in parallel tuned to 125 kHz. When the Data Out is applied to the transistor input, the resonant circuit is tuned and detuned continuously at a rate equal to the frequency of the controlling signal. This control signal is detected in the transceiver circuit as the amplitude-modulated form of the carrier. The communication between the transceiver and transponder is similar to a weakly coupled transformer. The AC voltage that is generated in the resonant circuit is rectified in further stages to provide a DC voltage to the rest of the transponder.

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Figure 2.1

2.1.2

Transceiver

The hardware used in the project for a transceiver transmits a carrier signal, receives the data back from the transponder. Only one antenna is used in the transceiver for transmitting and receiving since the frequency of operation is same for both cases. Once the data is received it is filtered and passed through an amplifier to sharpen the edges and provide an amplified Manchester DataStream. The circuit of the transceiver can be explained by dividing it into 5 smaller circuits. The first part of the circuit as shown in Figure 2.2, consists of an oscillator O1, an inductor L1 and a capacitor C1. It is a LC resonant circuit for transmitting a carrier digital carrier signal and receiving the transponder data.

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Figure 2.2

The second part of the circuit as shown in Figure 2.3, consists of a diode D1, resistor R1 and R2, capacitor C1. It is a peak detector for data demodulation of amplitude-shift-keyed signal. Figure 2.3

The third part of the circuit as shown in Figure 2.4, consists of two resistors R3 and R4, and two capacitors C3 and C4. The net circuit forms a low pass and a high filter and suppresses the harmonics and DC offset level in data signal.

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Figure 2.4

The fourth and the last part of the circuit as shown in Figure 2.5, consists of two resistors R7 and R8, and an operational amplifier. The resulting circuit acts as a non-inverting differential gain amplifier. Its function is to create a sharpened digital signal of the transponder data. Figure 2.5

The complete circuit diagram excluding the antenna is as shown in Figure 3.2. Each part is explained in the following section. 2.1.2.1 Antenna As mentioned previously, the inductor L1 and the capacitor C1 forms a LC resonant circuit. It has two major functions, first to create a digital carrier signal from a 555 timer. The 555 timer generates a 5V TTL compatible square wave whose time period is 8us. The output waveform and circuit diagram of the 555 timer is as shown in the Figure 2.6 and Figure 2.7 respectively.

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Figure 2.6

Figure 2.7

Here And

R1 = 3.3k ohms R2 = 56k ohms C1 = 100 pF

The duty cycle of this pulse is 51.4% for the given values. For experimental purpose we used a function generator. Since five antennas are to be powered up with a similar frequency an oscillator was needed to be used instead of using five function generators. The LC circuit is forced into oscillation by the oscillator. It oscillates at its natural frequency of 125 kHz. Due to the forced oscillation it generates a pure sinusoidal as a carrier signal. The frequency of the resonance is calculated by the formulae:

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The inductor acts as an antenna and it radiates a electromagnetic field. The size of the antenna is set to 2 inch x 5 inch and it is wound with approximately 45 turns of AWG#26 enameled wire. When the LC resonant circuit oscillates at 125 kHz, an electromagnetic field is radiated along the plane. The strength of this electromagnetic field depends on various factors. These are driving current, the number of turns in the loop antenna, the geometry of the loop and the distance of transponder from center of the loop. The energy inside this field induces a voltage across the antenna terminals of transponder. This electromagnetic energy inductively couples a transponder with the transceiver circuit. The transponder has to be inside reactive field of the loop antenna in order to power up its electronic circuit. The second function of this circuit is to receive data from transponder circuit. The data is modulated on the carrier signal as amplitude-shift-keyed data. It is also Manchester encoded for minimizing the chances of communication errors. This part only receives the data. The demodulation is done in the rest of the circuit. 2.1.2.2 Peak Detector As previously mentioned, this part of the hardware consists of a peak detector. This section is the starting point of our demodulation circuit. It consists of a diode D1, a capacitor C2 and resistors R1 and R2. The diode D1 initially rectifies the incoming signal to remove the negative half cycle. Next is an RC low pass filter as shown in Figure 2.3. The capacitor's impedance decreases with increasing frequency. This low impedance in parallel with the load resistance tends to short out high-frequency signals, dropping most of the voltage across series resistor and leaving behind envelope of the signal. All low-pass filters are rated at a certain cutoff frequency. It is the frequency at which capacitive reactance in ohms equals resistance in ohms. In a simple capacitive low-pass filter (one resistor, one capacitor), the cutoff frequency is given as:

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The upper bounds of the low-pass filter is set much less than the carrier frequency and much larger than the bandwidth of the incoming modulated signal. The effect of resistance R2 in the low pass filter is that it reduces the gain in pass band and increase the cutoff frequency. Figure 2.8 shows the frequency response of the low pass filter. The pass band or the cut-off frequency is set to 10 kHz corresponding to the RC circuit used. Figure 2.8

2.1.2.3 Band Pass Filter After the waveform has passed through the previous low pass filter, the output waveform has a DC voltage offset in it. Moreover, at the same time it has a high frequency ripple component in it. To remove this problem part 3 of the circuit is introduced. This section is divided in to two different parts. First is a low pass filter and the second is a high pass filter. The purpose of the low pass filter is to remove the high frequency ripple from the output waveform from Part 2. The pass band of this filter is according to the hardware is set to ~2.5 kHz. However, this filter is cascaded with the previous low pass filter. Thus, this filter forms a
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second order low pass filter. The frequency response of the second order low pass filter is shown in Figure 2.9. As seen from the figure, the cut-off frequency is decreased and the roll-off or the attenuation further decreased to -40db/decade.

Figure 2.9 The new pass band is calculated by the formulae:

It is equal to ~5 kHz. Due to this the high frequency ripple is completely removed from the signal but the DC offset level is present in it. The second part of this section consists of a high pass filter as previously mentioned. The job of the high pass filter is to remove the DC offset level of the signal and any low frequency component in the signal. The frequency response of a high pass filter is shown in Figure 2.10. According to the capacitor C4 and resistor R4, the stop band of this filter is set to ~570Hz.

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Figure 2.10

Since a low pass filter is cascaded with the high pass filter, the collective effect forms a band pass filter. The frequency response of a band pass filter is shown in Figure 2.11. However, according to the hardware and previous first order low pass filter, the low frequency roll off is 20 dB/decade and high frequency roll of is 40 db/decade. The collective diagram of the frequency response is shown in Figure 2.12.

25

Figure 2.11

Figure 2.12 2.1.2.4 Operational Amplifier Due to the addition of the high pass filter the DC offset voltage is completely removed. However, the output waveform after the high pass filter has
26

significantly decreased the amplitude and the transition speed of the TTL level. As it is understood that at least 3.2V is required for the controller operate on. This is where the last part of our hardware comes into action. As previously mentioned, this part of the hardware consists of an operational amplifier and two resistors R7 and R8. The amplifier is implemented using noninverting negative feedback op-amp circuit. The job of these components is to amplify and sharpen the transition edges. The closed loop gain of this amplifier is derived and calculated by the formulae:

Where, i1 is the current flowing through the feedback. From our high pass filter our new bandwidth ~4.5 kHz. The values for R7 and R8 are chosen according to the following equation:

Where, f2(CL) is the new bandwidth i.e. ~4.5 kHz. Through this equation the closed loop gain is calculated and thus standard resistances are chosen with respect to the equation of the close loop gain. This gain is sufficient to improve the shape of the signal so that it can be interfaced with the microcontroller.

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According to the figure, the amplifier has two input ports which act as differential inputs. The first input which is directly connected to the positive terminal of the amplifier consists of the signal from the high pass filter. The second input port is at a fixed DC bias level of ~1.6 V. This is achieved with a potential divider circuit made up of R5 and R6. A clamper using the capacitor C5 has been used which is clamped to the AC ground. The job of this capacitor is to absorb any AC component in the signal and effectively creates an AC ground level at this node. The output waveform of the amplifier is almost similar to the transponder data waveform. This waveform is now ready for interfacing with the microcontroller for data processing process. An additional amplifier stage can be added immediately after the first amplifier to further improve the rise and fall times of the waveform. Similarly, a comparator can also be used for the same purpose. 2.1.3 Microcontroller

Once the out has been achieved from the op-amp in the previous section, the resultant data waveform is interfaced with the microcontroller. Here the Manchester encode data is decoded. Then it is sent to another microcontroller where a database has been created which determines whether the transponder data is valid or not. Microcontroller is the backbone of this project. To understand the code and how it is working, Manchester encoding and decoding should be understood. This coding technique has already been discussed in Chapter 1 of this report.

2.2

Software Description

In this section we will be discussing the coded segment of the project. How it is implemented. What methods and techniques were used and how it can be further improved. A complete block diagram of the project is shown in Figure 3.1 (Chapter 3). As seen in the block diagram the code section is divided into 2 different parts. The first part is on the PIC microcontroller 16F877A. Here the output of the operational amplifier, in the previous section, will be stored and decoded. The output consists of 128 bits of Manchester encoded data. The size of data of 128 bits will be reduced to 15 bits defining individuality of the transponder. The controller will decode these 15 bits into a 2-3 digit number and then will transmit that code to the 2nd controller. We will call this section as Security Checkpoint.
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The second part is also on the PIC microcontroller 16F877A. Here an integer from the previous controller will be loaded. The received data will be compared with the data already existing in the controller. Here the code will test the authentication of the transponder card. If the code from the desired antenna matches the code to the database, the LCD attached will display the ID number and the name of the customer it belongs to. Else it will generate an SMS through a serial communication wire connected to the mobile. We will call this section of the code as Database and SMS Generation.

2.2.1

Security Checkpoint

Before going to the code in the appendix section, a few things need to be understood. Since we are working on TTL level a sample DataStream will be used for better understanding and will be carried onto the other sections of the code. As previously discussed in the transponder section, in RFID system the data that is being transmitted by the transponder is asynchronous. It means that it continuously transmits data when it enters the electromagnetic field of the transceiver. Once the data is transmitted it is the job of the transceiver to demodulate the DataStream, amplify it for controller interfacing and store the data. These three processes form a Security Checkpoint. We have already discussed the first two parts of the system; here we will be discussing the data storage part. As shown in Figure 2.13, the controller used here is PIC 16F877A. This microcontroller consists of the following: Peripheral Features 1. Timer0: 8-bit timer/counter 2. Timer1: 16-bit timer/counter 3. Timer2: 8-bit timer/counter 4. Operating speed: DC 20 MHz clock input 5. Up to 8K x 14 words of Flash Program Memory 6. Up to 368 x 8 bytes of Data Memory (RAM), 7. Up to 256 x 8 bytes of EEPROM Data Memory 8. Universal Synchronous Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (USART/SCI) 9. Parallel Slave Port (PSP) 8 bits wide with external RD, WR and CS controls Analog Features: 1. 10-bit, up to 8-channel Analog-to-Digital Converter (A/D)
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 Special Microcontroller Features 1. Self-reprogrammable under software control 2. In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) via two pins 3. Single-supply 5V In-Circuit Serial Programming 4. Watchdog Timer (WDT) with its own on-chip RC oscillator for reliable operation 5. Programmable code protection 6. Power saving Sleep mode 7. Selectable oscillator options 8. In-Circuit Debug (ICD) via two pins a. Enables you to view variable values, Special Function Register and EEPORM while the program is running.

Five I/0 ports on PIC16F877A. 1. Port A 2. Port B 3. Port C 4. Port D 5. Port E

The language used for the development of the code is BASIC. The software used through which the code was debugged and complied is PROTION IDE. The code, as mentioned previously, is divided into three parts. First section is the interrupt detection. Second is the data storage section and the third section is the decoding and the transmission of data to PIC 16F877A. Details are given within the code section.

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