RFID and communication technologies for an intelligent bus monitoring and management system MAHAMMAD ABDUL HANNAN1, AISHAH

MUSTAPHA1, ABDULLA AL MAMUN*1, AINI HUSSAIN, HASSAN BASRI2

1

Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi Selangor, Malaysia hannan@eng.ukm.my; aishahkaneshiro@yahoo.com; md.abdulla@siswa.ukm.edu.my; aini@eng.ukm.my
2

Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi Selangor, Malaysia drhb@eng.ukm.my

*Correspnding Author: md.abdulla@siswa.ukm.edu.my; Tel.: +6-03-89217014, Fax: +6-03-89216146

Abstract This paper highlights the implementation of an intelligent bus monitoring system based on current challenges and problems. In this system, radio frequency identification (RFID) and integrated sensing technologies such as global positioning system (GPS), general packet radio service (GPRS) and geographic information system (GIS) are used to monitor the movement of a bus. A new theoretical framework and ruled based decision algorithms are developed for the system. An experimental setup is developed for the prototype implementation. The results show that the choice of integrated technologies used in the system is suitable to monitor and manage a vehicle transportation system.

Keywords: vehicle monitoring and management system, sensing network, RFID, GPS, GPRS, GIS

Nomenclature (x, y) (xi, yi) Ai C cx D dTA dx,0 E EIRP fx Greader Gtag K min Mj n P Pav Pdr Ptag px coordinates of the reader in the bus point at the tag segment accessibility index of the extraction method at the ith node amount of ciphertext number of tag detection within a period of time decryption algorithm fixed value of 554m distance between tag and reader x encryption algorithm effective isotropic radiated power frequency provided by reader x reader gain tag antenna gain space key minimum distance between bus station tag and bus reader objective factors number of nodes in the map amount of plaintext RF power available EF power reradiated at the tags antenna power required at tag antenna output period of time for tag detection

R TA-distance TA-value Tij vx

read/write range time advance distance value of GPRS coverage by satellite time travel at the ith and jth nodes wavelength of frequency provided by reader x free-space wavelength

1.

Introduction

RFID is a wireless identification technology that has been used in many fields, including solid waste bin monitoring [1, 2], human, animal, goods, and object tracking [3-7], and in street trees management [8]. Past researchers have proven that the implementation of RFID in any identification and monitoring system can improve the overall performance of the system at affordable prices [9]. For that reason, RFID is chosen as one of the technologies implemented in the bus monitoring system. Along with RFID, other sensing technologies such as a GPS, GPRS, and GIS can be used in a monitoring system. GPS, GPRS, and GIS have been integrated together in various studies, and the good results demonstrate that the technologies are compatible [10-12]. From the reviews, RFID, GPS, GPRS, and GIS are chosen to be integrated and tested in the realization of a bus monitoring and management system. An intelligent system is a system that is able to act according to its situation without having to be instructed by humans. In general, an intelligent system consists of a data processor, which can be an expert rule-based system or a machine learning system, such as an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), which is usually used as a data trainer [13]. A machine learning system fed into an intelligent system enables the overall system to classify current events on its own. In addition to feeding a learning machine into a system, an intelligent

system can also consist of a simple formula that produces a series of inputs and outputs, which can be interpreted by a finite-state machine [14]. Bus monitoring and management system intelligence studies fall under the category of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which includes a public transportation control framework [15, 16], road traffic management [17], and the application of traffic control [13]. There have been a number of previous studies addressing intelligent transportation and vehicle monitoring systems [18-20]. Intelligent transportation enables various technologies to be applied in transportation systems and is defined as the use of information and communication technologies to collect, process, and transmit traffic data to transport users and operators [21, 22]. Vehicle monitoring systems, however, only take vehicles into account; for example, auto-positioning systems can be applied to vehicle monitoring, vehicle control, and vehicle management. As mentioned previously, there have been a number of studies focused on transportation and vehicle monitoring systems. However, only a few studies have incorporated RFID technology and have integrated communication technologies in vehicle management system (VMS) [23, 24]. Wang et al. [25] integrates RFID with GIS and GPS with Visual Basic.Net and Visual Earth as the software platform to build a real-time VMS. A mobile RFID system had also been realized to ensure the safety of vehicles, in which RFID technology is embedded with Web-GIS [26]. RFID is also used to track vehicles in parking lots [27]. The incorporation of RFID in vehicles enables the vehicles to be tracked without using GPS. Although the tracking is not continuous, unlike GPS, the location of the vehicle can be easily determined at checkpoints where the RFID communication devices connect with each other. RFID in VMS is also beneficial in preventing car theft. GPS is one of the core technologies implemented in this research to enable effective wireless communication system. GPS has been used widely for tracking and monitoring

purpose and it functions on the wave radiation on satellites. Even though GPS is used vastly for navigation, it is still lacking and prone to errors. Chiang et al. [28] stated that there are two important error sources for GPS, which are phase multipath and direction-dependent variations in the antenna phase center. The signal multipath problem and error factor in GPS were corrected and analyzed in [29, 30]. GPS functions were further enhanced by the closed form of algorithms using neural network [31-33]. Although corrections and modifications had been made, GPS still faces challenges that need to be solved. This paper developed an intelligent campus bus identification, monitoring and management system using RFID and sensing technologies. A theoretical framework and interface algorithm utilizing RFID and communication technologies, i.e., GPRS, GPS and GIS, has been developed for a prototype. The interface algorithm in the control center is able to analyze the location of the bus, information about the driver and the status of the bus, and whether it follows the schedule. Thus, the proposed system should be able to enhance the efficiency of the campus bus system.

2.

Current challenges and problems

The biggest challenges and the problems that were faced for the prototype of the monitoring system using RFID and sensing technologies are as follows: Line of sight between RFID reader and tag is limited and can only act in one direction. The communication between the devices can only take place when facing each other. This limitation requires the bus to be in a certain location to activate the system and is causing difficulties to the drivers. In addition, if the bus station is located on the side of the road that does not face the reader; the reader is not able to trigger the tag due to unidirectional communication.

In general, the locations of the bus stations are not uniform. Some are located on the left side of the road while the others are on the right side. Due to this situation, during a bus circulation, some of the bus stations are tagged on the first half of the journey and the remaining bus stations are tagged on the return trip. This causes the tagged stations record at the monitoring center to be in disorder, i.e. not in the sequence of the actual location of bus stations. The conventional size of reader and integrated sensing technologies structures i.e. black box that is needed to be installed in the bus takes up a lot of space. GPS antennas are required to accept radiation from multiple directions simultaneously. The designated structure of GPS antenna raises the challenges and problems in the technology due to the phase multipath and the direction dependent variations in the antenna phase center. The error gets more critical when the GPS modules are installed close to each other and cause misalignments. Multipath occurs when signal from the satellite bounces off obstructions that get in its way before it reaches the GPS receiver, such as buildings and mountains. These errors in GPS result in data loss, thus causing the system to be less accurate. The distance between GPRS transceiver and receiver has to be considered. If those two devices are not in the required proximity, the transceiver is not able to send any data to the receiver at the control center. In addition, GPRS performance depends on its coverage in an area. If the signal coverage is strong, then data stream between the transceiver and the receiver is smooth and no data lagging is bound to occur. If otherwise, the visual interface at the monitoring center is not as smooth. For GIS, the biggest problem faced is the cost. The GIS purchasing cost from large GIS developer such as ArcGIS is very high. However, GIS can be built from the scratch by drawing the fixed area map using a suitable programming language.

3.

RFID and communication technologies functional flow

The data circulation of the RFID and integrated communication technologies in the constructed system are shown in Figure 1. The system is automatically turned on once the bus is ignited. If internet is available in that ignition area, the location of the bus obtained from the GPS is automatically retrieved and saved in the database at the web server. The GPS continues to provide the coordinate of the bus once it starts moving. When the bus nears a tagged bus station, RFID devices interact with each other [34]. The reader then reads and retrieves the information saved inside the tag once it recognizes the tag. If the communication is successful, the information of the bus and the respective bus station is saved in the database; with the condition that internet is available. At the same time, GPS functions by providing the changing locations of the bus [35]. The data retrieved are then sent to the web server via GPRS, and this action initializes the data utilization [36]. These data are stored in the database and can be retrieved by the web server whenever requested. Filtered, clean information is sent to the application, which is the GIS, installed in the host computer at the monitoring center. GIS is readily accessible to the authorities, making this system user friendly [37-39].The sharing of data starts when the RFID devices interact with each other. At the same time, the GPS module is activated and provides the location of the bus. Both RFID and GPS data are sent to the database through the web server over the GPRS network. If the network fails to connect, the transmitter continues the attempt to connect until the receiver is able to read the signal. Once the connection is established, GPS and RFID data are then stored in the database, including the location of the bus and the time of arrival. The stored data are retrieved by the user interface, which is GIS at the monitoring center, and updated periodically at a required time interval. The loop is repeated until the system is shut down, that is when the bus is no longer ignited.

4.

Methods and system

Figure 2 is the system architecture for the bus identification and monitoring system. A black box containing RFID reader, GPS, and GPRS transmitter is equipped in the moving bus. As the bus approaches a bus station with an RFID tag, the distance between the reader and the tag decreases and causes them to interact with each other. This communication produces data and the data obtained is sent to the monitoring center via GPRS. The method used to implement the proposed system is divided into two subsections: theoretical framework and interface algorithm. The prototype was developed using RFID, GPS, GPRS, and GIS to form an intelligent bus monitoring system.

4.1. Theoretical framework The interface between the RFID and sensing technologies processes the data and updates RFID bus information, GPS and GIS in the system and a database using the GPRS network, as shown in Figure 3. For the proposed system, the theories for RFID and sensing technologies are integrated on a bus platform to monitor and manage bus transportation. The proposed framework is based on RFID such as tag and reader and communication technologies like GPS, GPRSand GIS interface. The RFID reader has to obtain the data from the tag. To achieve this, the RFID reader radiates RF signal, i.e., operating energy or effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), to the RFID tag. When the tag lies within the reader's range, an alternating RF voltage is induced on the readers antenna. The voltage is then rectified to a DCvoltage for tag operation [40]. The read/write range between the reader and tag is determined upon receiving the right amount of power by the tag as follows:

EIRPreader Gtag 4 Ptag

(1)

Other equations expressing the power available to the tag and power detected by the reader are as follows:

Pdr

P bs .Greader .

2 1 . .G tag . 4 R2 4

(2)

The RFID tag sends sufficient power to gain the reader sensitivity to determine allowable BER. The received power by the reader determines and identifies the range between the reader and the tag. Data encryption is needed in the RFID system to protect RFID tag data as a safety measure. If the data stored in the tag is not encrypted, any reader can able to read the information or the tag may not allow the rightful reader to view the information [41]. As if only correct reader can retrieve the data contained in the tag. The data encryption mechanism is shown as follows:

S {P, C, K , E, D}.

(3)

After the data encryption has been performed, the distance between the tag and the reader can be verified and calculated using parameters explained in [42]. The distance between the tag and the reader can be estimated as follows:

d x ,0

( f x vx px ) . ( 2 cx )

(4)

Upon close proximity between the tag and the reader, reader read and send the message to the system. In addition to RFID, GPS technology is also able to help the distance estimation between the RFID reader and RFID tag. GPS collects the data from the satellite and transfers to the server of the system along with RFID data. Thus, the minimum distance between the bus location and position can be determined by the a GPS module [43]. The

minimum distance between the reader in moving bus and the tag at the station is determined as follows:

min ( ( x xi )2

(y

yi ) 2

(5)

Upon obtaining RFID and GPS data, GPRS transmits the data wirelessly to the web server[44]. The distance between GPRS transmitter and the receiver is obtained as follows:

TA distance

( TA value

1 ) 2

dTA,

(6)

where the range of TA value is from 50-53 dBW. Thus, the maximum TA distance obtained is 29.6 km, and GPRS provides the best service in this distance. The collected data from RFID and GPS are saved in the database and retrieved upon prompted by the user. GIS is used in this study because of its layers and imagery perspective of transportation for extraction of the accessibility index. The actual transportation layer is generated into a digital map as follows [45]:

Ai

n j 1Ti j M j n j 1M j

(7)

4.2. Decision algorithms In this study, there are three main decision algorithms that need to be considered to complete the communication between the technologies. The first decision algorithm is the reading range of the RFID technology devices. UHF RFID technology used in this study enables up to six meter reading range between the reader and the tag, thus, the following rules need to be satisfied: a) If dx,o 6m, then the reader obtains the information from the tag.

b) If dx,o> 6m, then the reader does not obtain the information from the tag. When the RFID tag is in the vicinity of the reader, the tag does not immediately give permission to the reader to read it. This is because RFID tags used have been encrypted for safety purposes. Encrypted tags only allow related readers to access the information saved inside it. If unrelated readers try to read information inside the tags, the tags block their attempts by not allowing access. The decision algorithm for the tag data encryption, S, is as follows: c) If all the mechanism in S is fulfilled, then data in the tag is encrypted and the tag only allows authenticated RFID readers to obtain the information from it. d) If all the mechanism in S is not fulfilled, then data in the tag is not encrypted and the tag allows even unauthenticated RFID readers to obtain the information from it. Once the communication between RFID reader and tag takes place, the data retrieved by the RFID reader and GPS are sent to the control center via GPRS. GPRS devices include a data transmitter and data receiver. The communication can only take place provided that both devices are in the required TA distance which was determined to be 29.6 km as the maximum distance between GPRS transmitter and receiver. The decision algorithms are as below: e) If TA distance 29.6 km, then the data is sent to the control center. f) If TA distance> 29.6 km, then the data is not sent to the control center. Decisions of a), c) and e) are the rules that ensure the system work well. On the other hand, decisions b), d) and f) are the rules that cause the system to fail its purpose. When any one of the success rules is not obeyed, the system will not work and need to be troubleshoot.

5.

Experimental setup

Based on the monitoring function and operating principle, the system structure consists of four parts such as bus stations with attached RFID tags; black box i.e. a bus equipped with an

RFID reader, GPS module, and GPRS transmitter; communication network and a monitoring platform interfaced with a GPRS receiver and GIS tools. The experimental setup for each of the parts is explained in detail in the following.

5.1

Bus stations attached with RFID tags

Figure 4 shows the setup of an RFID tag in a bus station. The tag is slotted into the tag bracket and installed in bus stations. The following must be considered when attaching the tag brackets such as i) the angle of the tag bracket must be set in a suitable location so that the reader can easily read the tag when the bus passes through the station ii) the tag must be placed near the roadside at a measured distance so that the reader is able to sense the tag immediately in the required proximity.

5.2

Black box

A black box consisting of an RFID reader, GPS and GPRS transceiver for the CELCOM broadband, the internet provider, is mounted in the bus as shown in Figure 5. All these sensing technologies are connected to the central processor unit (CPU) for data processing. The processed data are then sent to the monitoring center wirelessly with the GPRS.

5.3

Communication network

The internet is the communication medium used to transfer data from the RFID and GPS to the control center. In a communication network, the data from a terminal have to be sent to the other terminal. To transfer the data, a data service must exist. GPRS is chosen as the data service because it is stable and easy to access.

5.4

Monitoring platform

Figure 6 shows the monitoring and management platform of the system. The data sent via the GPRS modem is received by the GPRS receiver attached to the CPU at the control terminal. All received data are processed and displayed in the monitor interfaced with GIS in the form of map.

6. Experimenta results The results include the data processing execution and the data presentation via GUI. The data processing starts from the method of the data transmission from one communication device to the other and ends the data handling with the help of user interface. The status of the data processing can be seen in the GUI shown in Figure 7. The information that can be obtained includes the URL of the server, the bus ID, the RFID data sent time, the last tagged station ID, and replies from the server and GPS. All the sensing settings are also visible in this GUI. The URL for this system is http://127.0.0.1/busreg.php, where all the data are saved. The URL address is set up by registering the domain online, and once it has been registered and ready, all the data communication in the system has to go through the channel to be able to get connected. For RFID data, the fields in the GUI that is related to RFID are the Tag Time and LastStationID fields, where the time the RFID tag at a particular bus station is tagged by the reader is filled in the former and the ID of the previous tagged bus station is filled in the latter. The ID of the bus station also indicates the location of it. As for the GPS data, the fields marked GPS and GPS Reply are the fields that update the communication between the GPS devices. The current location of the monitored bus can be seen in the GPS field in the $GPGGA format which is to .kml format to be able to read the location of the bus. In the GPS reply field, GPS data of bus moving information indication and data exchange are provided. The Send Time, BusID fields, including communication settings such as the communication port, the data bit baud, the data bits, the data parity, the data stop bit, and the

data flow control are displayed in the GUI. In the Server Reply field, the reply from the server to the data sent can be observed. The processed data is saved in the database before the data can be shown to the enduser. Figure 8 shows the database of the monitoring system, which contains the information transferred from RFID and GPS. The information in the database includes the bus ID, time and date of tagging, last station tagged and the bus location of the GPS data. The drivers information including the name, his workers ID and some necessary notes can also be viewed by clicking on the bus ID button and is presented in Figure 9. All the information sent out is saved in the database and then sent out whenever the control center is prompted for it. At the end-users side, the GIS is interfaced as shown in Figure 10. The information retrieved from the GIS includes the following i) the continuous position of the bus, obtained from the GPS technology ii) time to reach the bus station, which is determined from the communication between RFID devices iii) Information about the bus stations and iv) information about the bus. A record of the bus routes and the time the bus passes each tagged station can also be determined from the GIS. Every time a bus passes a bus station and the RFID tag is tagged by the reader, the bus station icon in the GIS blinks and the tag time is recorded. The actual tag read time is compared to the scheduled time and represented in the GUI as shown in Figure 11. Whether the bus is early, on time, or late can be observed and distinguished by color. Red indicates that the bus is behind schedule, pink indicates that the bus is too early, and green indicates that the bus is on time. The authorities manage the whole system by analyzing the records and giving out feedback to the driver, which leads to a more reliable bus system. Thus, the records or the

information make the system more intelligent and have the ability to automatically warn the driver if he is behind schedule.

7. Conclusion and discussion Optimizing the basic features of proposed intelligent bus monitoring and management system, driver and vehicle informations, position and their mapping for the improvement of the system performance has been done. Table 1 summarized the comparison results between the existing vehicle monitoring and management systems and the proposed system, respectively implementing by integrated communication technologies. The intelligence implemented in the bus monitoring system is achieved by compiling and feeding all the proposed theories and algorithms for RFID and other sensing technologies into the system. The ability of the system to act on its own can reduce the manpower required at the monitoring center. Bus drivers will also be more punctual to the bus schedules that have been established, resulting in a more efficient bus circulation system. The experimental results show that the system is intelligent enough to provide important information to the authorities for monitoring and management of the bus system. Moreover, the contributions of this study are summarized as follows: the developed bus system is able to be monitored and recorded the bus movement that helps out the authorities, bus circulation is more efficient since the drivers know that they are being monitored. RFID technologies together with GIS, GPS, and GPRS are suitable to be implemented in the bus monitoring system. The proposed system showed that the theoretical framework and decision algorithm improves performance significantly as compared to the existing systems in terms of data transmission and quality service of data information. In the proposed system, control center receives and interprets data, and allows the end user to view the data in a comprehensible form. The management of data is assisted by the software consists of subsystems such as

network communications, data detection and data statements installed in the center itself. However, most of the existing systems, there are not such detail subsystems [21, 23, 25, 26, 34]. The hardware implementation and cost of the developed system are moderate compare to the existing system. This is due to self-built GIS used in the system rather than the wellknown high cost user interface commercial GIS [10-12]. The reliability of the developed system has comparatively high and also has wide applications due to the RFID and integrated communication technologies, respectively. The GUI of the developed system shows the status of the data processing and crams all the required data obtained from RFID, GIS and GPS. Although the communication technologies implemented in the system are presented in the GUI, the main focus of this GUI is to read and interpret the obtained data easily to the viewers.

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List of Figures

Figure 1. Functional flowchart of the integrated system. Figure 2. Architecture of bus identification and monitoring system. Figure 3. The processes of updating the GIS and bus database. Figure 4. RFID tag setup in bus stations. Figure 5. Black box installed in the bus with the communication technologies. Figure 6. Monitoring center as the control platform. Figure 7. The GUI showing the data processing status. Figure 8. The database for the bus monitoring system. Figure 9. Drivers detailed information. Figure 10. GIS at the monitoring center. Figure 11. The actual tag time compared to the scheduled time.

Table 1. Comparison of features, methods and suystems between the proposed and existing vehcile monitoring and mangament system.

Figures

Start Ignite bus

GPRS

Internet availability? Yes

No

GPS

Location Bus nears bus station Yes Restart system

RFID

Reader reads tag? Yes

No

GPRS

Internet availability? Yes

No Data storage

RFID

Bus and station information

Control center request data

Data presentation in map form Bus turned off End

GIS

Figure 1. Functional flowchart of the integrated system.

Black box RFID Tag Bus station with Tag GPRS Receiver RFID Reader GPS GPRS Bus with Black box Communication server

GIS Database Monitoring center

Client

Figure 2. Architecture of bus identification and monitoring system.

RFID Tag

No
RFID Reader

Yes
GPS & GPRS Transmit

Network

No

Yes
GPRS Receiver

Storage of the required information (time, location)

Update the GIS map

Update RFID Database

Figure 3. The processes of updating the GIS and bus database.

Tag with the bus station information

Tag is slotted into the tag bracket

Tag bracket is positioned at selected bus station

Figure 4. RFID tag setup in bus stations.

Black box

CPU RFID reader

GPS

GPRS transceiv

Figure 5. Black box installed in the bus with the communication technologies.

GPRS Receiver

GIS

Figure 6. Monitoring center as the control platform.

Figure 7. The GUI showing the data processing status.

BUS MONITORING

Figure 8. The database for the bus monitoring system.

Figure 9. Drivers detailed information.

Figure 10. GIS at the monitoring center.

Figure 11. The actual tag time compared to the scheduled time.

Table 1. Comparison of features, methods and systems between the proposed and existing vehicle monitoring and management system.
Methods and Systems Features RFID [23] GPS and GPRS [21], [34] Moderate; delay due to satellites blocking Only coordinates RFID, GIS and GPS [25], [26] Moderate GPS, GPRS and GIS [10], [11], [12] Faster RFID, GPS, GPRS and GIS (Proposed system) Faster

Data Transmission Data Information

Slow within range Only RFID

RFID data and coordinates

Position, picture and vehicle information

Position, picture, driver & vehicle information, mapping, GUI, monitoring and management Moderate Moderate High Wide

Control Centre Hardware Cost Harware implementation Reliability Application Graphical User Interface

N/A Low Simple Less Specific N/A

N/A moderate Simple Less Specific N/A

N/A High Complex Moderate Limited N/A

High Complex Moderate Limited

*N/A not available; available