EE495M - RFID Professor Krogmeier

PURDUE
UNIVERSITY

RFID Circuit Design

Final Report
Kurt Wampach – wampachk@purdue.edu
Michael Ng – ngw@purdue.edu
Joe Dou – douj@purdue.edu
Julian Arceta – arceta@purdue.edu
TA: Maribel Figuera – figuera@ecn.purdue.edu

Due Date: December 12, 2003

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE #

1. Executive Summary 3
2. Delivered Project Summary 4
3. Reflections 5
4. Project Tasks 7
5. Schedule 16
6. Summary of Semester Outcomes 17
7. Transition Plan 17
8. Conclusions and Recommendations 18
9. References 19
10. Contact Information 20

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1. Executive Summary
The main objective of this design team is to design and build a Radio Frequency
Identification tag which has several capabilities. These capabilities include a temperature
sensor, where the tag sends an n-bit signal to the receiver and the receiver displays the
appropriate temperature on an LED display that corresponds to the temperature of the tag.
One other capability is that the tag will send an n-bit code to the receiver indicating the
identification code of the tag and the receiver then interprets this signal and displays the
appropriate code on an LED display. However, the main goal is to research what the
design team did from last semester, and make it capable of handling more than a single
bit and also implementing the temperature sensor feature. These tasks will include
researching RFID technology, which will be discussed later, as well as modifying the
current design to meet the current requirements.
The procedure taken during this project was fairly straightforward; research last years
RFID design, and modify it to meet the specifications listed above. In addition to the
specifications listed above, the team has also managed to find a design of a sine wave
generator using two transistors, which will be discussed later in the report. However, the
design of the Temperature Sensor was not implemented in the final product, but has been
designed and for simplicity, has not been added to the final product, but will be discussed
later on in this report.
The final product, which will briefly be described in the next section, includes a Tag
which is capable of sending eight different RFID’s and also has a counter which counts
every eight clock cycles and then reloads the data into the shift register once it resets.
This enables the reader to read if the tag has changed identity while remaining in range.
The final product also includes a reader, which is made up of an Oscillator that modulates
the incoming data, a rectifier which provides a threshold for the comparator, and then a
logic section which displays the current ID on the tag on a seven segment LED.
It is safe to conclude that this project was a fairly successful one, with some issues that
remain to solve. These issues include adding the Temperature Sensor, developing power
for the reader and tag, as well as making the tag and reader smaller in size.

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2. Delivered Project Summary
The final product consists of a relatively small RFID Communications Network, with the
overall block diagram shown below.

Data ID &
Oscillator Tag Analog
Antenna Switch for
Antenna

Reader
Antenna

Logic &
Data
Recognition
Rectifier Comparator & Data
Display

Figure 1: Basic Block Diagram

As one can see, the RFID tag contains two sub circuits; a reader/receiver circuit and a
tag/transmitter circuit. Initially the code that is desired to be sent across the reader is
input into the DIP Switch on the tag, this data is then manipulated to control an analog
switch in such a manor that the capacitor/inductive tank is switching on and off at a rate
which corresponds to the data. When the tag is in the near field of the reader, it receives
the signal and the Oscillator modulates the data, where the rectifier can change the
incoming signal into a DC level which the comparator then determines if that DC level is
above a certain threshold, and if it is, the output of the comparator is a one and if not, it is
a zero. This data is then input into a serial in/parallel out shift register and then more
logic determines the data code of the incoming signal and outputs it onto a seven segment
LED.

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3. Reflections
Kurt Wampach – The experience I had with EE495M was a little different from what I
had done before in Senior Design. This class was a lot more independent and self
motivating, which I like. I have also never really been a team leader or anything like that
before, but I enjoyed the responsibility for myself as well as trying to keep everyone else
on task, even though it was most of our last semesters. I have enjoyed working with all
of my team mates on this project and would work with any of them again on any other
design. I have also enjoyed interfacing with Professor Krogmeier. He has been very
understanding that most of us are done and already have a job, while keeping in mind that
we have tasks to complete. I have enjoyed learning more about RF and how it works
because my job title after college is an RF Engineer. I have had much experience with
RF and I believe that has helped me understand many concepts throughout this semester,
but there is always more to learn and I believe I have learned much from this class. I
hope that my work has opened the door for students in the semesters to come.
Wai Fung Michael Ng – I had the privilege to work with a team of talented individuals,
all of them had made significant contribution from implementation to design of the whole
system. While working as a group, we understood that there are limits to each individual.
These limits include time, background, resourcefulness and many other factors. Me and
Kurt as the team leaders have taken these into account and made progress.
As far as I can see, RFID is a team that is primarily based on the hardware and circuit
operation, resources that the mobility lab had not been able to provide. Fortunately, I had
been able to take the privilege of working on this circuit in the 402 lab, under the
guidance of Professor Krogmeier and our TA Maribel Figuera, they have lead and
inspired us in many ways which made this project progress. I would also like to give my
best regards to Mr. Robinson and the 402 TA John Andrew, for their kind assistance to us
in designing and debugging the circuit.
Although it was such a pity that we couldn't get a good coupling from the circuit we
designed subject to time restriction, we have learned a lot about the foundation of RFID
and we have summarized our outcomes hoping that the team in the coming semester will
be able to understand better about how the whole system works, without spending too

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much time in researching for material, which is pretty much what us and the team from
last semester did. Understanding that this project is not just a 1 semester project, but a
project that will probably last for a few years, the knowledge acquired by the previous
team have to be passed onto the next team to make this RFID project advance and move
forward.
From here, I would like to suggest that the team in next semester concentrate on the
inductive coupling of the system, and documenting the effect of inductive coupling, form
a firm foundation on how circuit coupling works for the RFID team. My finding out of
the experiments is that the theoretical values are usually far from the practical value
which works. Further, a planned progress for subsequent semester would make this whole
multi-bit RFID design more realizable.
Finally, I would like to give my best wishes to Professor Krogmeier, Maribel and my
fellow team mates. As an international exchange student, I have learned so much from
this project and I know I will be able to utilize the technical and knowledge I have
acquired from this project back to Australia.
Joe Dou - This class has been one of the more interesting classes I have taken in Purdue
because the class taught a wide range of material, from GSM, embedded language to
printing and radio frequency. The class gave a lot of flexibility to the students while
focusing on a specific topic. In the topic of RFID, I was able to apply many of the
technical skills that I learned in EE, like using different chip components, such as flip-
flops, shift registers, and binary counters. While applying the previous knowledge, I was
able to learn new material as well such as the basic concept of RFID, and how the
resonance of the circuit was able to transmit signals. However, I believe this class could
be more organized in a way where the different lecture should relate to the different
topics of the class, for example, a lecture on each of the topics of the class.
Julian Arceta - My experiences taking EE495m have been very beneficial. I didn't
understand the importance of radio frequency identification applications until I took this
class. Keeping track of meetings and lab work in my notebook helped me with my
organizational skills. Working with a team of EE402 senior design students helped me
learn a lot about circuits and picking out circuit components based on design constraints.

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Overall, I enjoyed this course and working with my teammates, Professor Krogmeier, and
Maribel.

4. Project Tasks
Introduction:
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a growing technology in the world today.
Many systems have already been introduced and many systems are being designed and
will hopefully be implemented some day. One current system includes the Tollway
Collection Method in Illinois and in other states. Each subscriber has a transmitter/RFID
unit in the car and when passing under a toll booth with the receiver, the toll collections
office automatically subtracts the amount from the subscribers balance. This is just one
of many implemented thus far. The goal of this project is to make something similar to
that of the I-PASS, however, with a much smaller range. The overall goal is to produce a
working tag that is capable of transmitting more than one bit of information and to also
design an oscillator instead of using a function generator to modulate the signal on the
receive side. One thing that will have to be kept in mind is the range of the antennas as
well as the need for a power supply.
There are several different aspects of this design that will have to be looked at in depth.
These include antenna design for optimum signal strength, designing the proper logic to
determine which RFID code is being sent across the system, as well as designing an
oscillator at the appropriate frequency. Other smaller tasks include researching the RFID
topic and understanding the various components involved in the RFID circuit.
The rest of this report will cover a basic introduction on RFID systems, a description of
the tasks involved with this project, a project timeline, and finally a closing.
Description of Project Tasks:
The goal of this project was to design and build a multiple bit RFID Tag and Receiver
Circuit. There are several subtasks which must be completed for this to be a success.
These subtasks include reviewing what last semesters team accomplished and what they
failed to analyze, designing the antennas for optimum signal receiving, design a tag
circuit which will send three bits of data across the tag, designing a receiver circuit
comparable to the previous one, but designing it to recognize three bits and to continually

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cycle as the tag is in range, designing a temperature sensor for the tag, as well as
designing an sine wave generator to modulate the incoming data. Although certain tasks
were divided up between the team, everyone had input and insight to each subsystem of
the tag.
Review of Last Semesters Design:
Last semesters team designed a single bit transponder tag and receiver with success. The
goal of this semester was to take what they had done, and modify it so that it can handle
three data bits and can be further expanded to include a temperature sensor that was
designed in the semesters to come.
Antenna Design:
The design and research of the antennas was handled mostly by Kurt and Michael. This
included researching for formulas which calculate the inductance of a coil given the
radius of the antenna, the radius of the wire used, and the number of turns. This equation
is as follows:
R
L = N 2 ⋅ R ⋅ µo ⋅ ln  (H)
r
The values that were used in this design are the same for the reader antenna and the tag
antenna. The number of turns (N) is four, the radius (R) is four centimeters, the radius (r)
is .405 millimeters, and the value µo is 4πx10-7. Plugging these numbers into the above
equation yields a value of 14.79 µH. After this was done it was necessary to find the
value of the capacitor which will create a 13.56 MHz resonating circuit. To do this, the
equation used is:
1
C= (F)
(2π ) ⋅ f o ⋅ L
2 2

Plugging the respective values into this equation yields a value of 9.31 pF for each
capacitor in the circuit. After these values were calculated, the range of the antennas was
to be tested. Testing of the antennas showed that the range of the antennas was
approximately six inches. This is a little smaller than what last semester’s group
designed, but is mostly due to the smaller size of the antennas designed this year. The
proper resonant frequency must be chosen so that the tag can be suitable for rectification

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on the reader side of the system. Because of time constraints, the antennas designed by
this semester’s group were not used, but the ones designed from last year were used.
Tag Circuit Design:
The tag circuit was designed by Joe, Julian, and Kurt, who all helped trouble shoot as
well as build the circuit. The goal of this circuit was to create something like last
semesters design where there is a switch that just opens and closes the resonating LC tank
according to a given input data code. The data code is input through a DIP Switch as
well as the two high recognition bits and the three low bits to pad the data code with so
that two ones never occur within the data. These eight bits are then put into a parallel
in/serial out shift register which then controls the switching of the analog switch that
controls how frequently the tag is opening and closing. The output of this shift register
also gets counted, which enables for it to continuously cycle while the tag is still in range.
The counter counts the eight bits, and then sends a pulse to the load input of the shift
register, telling the shift register to load the bits from the dip switch again. This is used
incase the tag identity changes, so that the tag will not have to be taken out of range and
brought back in again. This circuit was tested using a simple test setup. Instead of the
coil and capacitor connected to the analog switch, one end of the switch was tied to
power and the other end was tied to an LED which then went to ground. Once the device
was powered with a clock signal slow enough that changes could be seen, it was clearly
evident that is was in fact working properly. One problem included that the very first bit
out of the shift register was only half as long as it should have been and this could
drastically change the effect on the reader side. The circuit diagram for this can also be
viewed at the end of Section 4.
Receiver Circuit Design:
The design of the receiver circuit was mostly accomplished by Michael, however,
everyone had contributions when it deemed necessary. The basic theory was very similar
to that of last years, in that a rectifier would be used to detect if the tag was in range of
the reader, and a comparator would be used to detect at what level the signal coming in
was at. If the comparator input was high, then the output of the comparator was and if
the input was low, then the output of the comparator was low. This enabled to use digital
logic on the back end to decipher which data ID was being sent across the tag. The basic

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idea of the logic was that the output of the comparator would be a square wave depending
on the input signal, but should match the input signal. This was then input into a serial
in/parallel out shift register with the first two bits signifying the beginning of the data and
after that would be one bit of data followed by a zero so that no matter what the data code
was, two ones could not occur. The recognition bits are ANDed and input into an SR
Latch where the output would drive the seven segment LED Driver. Then the LED
driver would output the number corresponding to the binary input on the tag side. A
counter is also used to count eight bits and then reload the value into the shift register so
that the circuit can continually cycle once the tag is in range. A 555 timer is used as the
clock for the counter and the shift register. The circuit diagram of the entire reader side
can be view at the end of Section 4. The current status of this is that initially there were
some complications in the logic, but those have been sorted out and the device is working
perfectly.
Temperature Sensor Design:
The Temperature Sensor has been designed and documented; however, there will need to
be more logic included on both sides of the system to incorporate this in the future. It
could be as simple as adding another shift register cascaded on both sides to account for
the additional information. The temperature sensor is an eight bit sensor, which has a
possible 256 values of temperature. The output of this is a DC voltage which is the input
into an 8-bit ADC, with a serial output waveform. This can then be put into a shift
register serial input or something another to be cascaded with the data bits on the tag.
However, more design will have to be thought of on the reader side to account for the
extra 8-bits. This will be left up to groups to come.
Sine Wave Generator Design:
The sine wave generator design was not as successful as the other areas of this project.
The person in charge of this was Kurt and he found two different references that gave
designs for Sine Wave Generators. The first one that was tried was a Generator utilizing
two bipolar transistors based upon the basic theory of what an oscillator is. An oscillator
is basically a feedback network which is unstable. The two transistors would be
necessary to create the instability, however when this circuit was built and tested, it did
not work. The circuit utilized a crystal resonator in fundamental mode, and the use of

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this component was very unfamiliar to Kurt. He even tried to use his knowledge of
simulation packages, such as Agilent ADS to simulate this circuit, but could not get any
thing that resembled a sine wave. By the time the crystal resonator arrived, it was too
late to try another design that was found, however, that design will be included at the end
of Section 4. For the time being, a function generator will need to be used to modulate
the incoming data.
System Integration:
The initial test on each sub-circuit worked perfectly and it was then time for another test
before the antennas were added to the circuits. The output of the shift register on the tag
side was hard wired to the input of the shift register on the reader side. And again, the
logic and decoding worked perfectly, after some minor altercations. However, when the
antennas were integrated into both circuits, the outcome was not as pleasing. Below you
will see a picture of the incoming modulated data, and the problem was that the voltage
level that it was at was not high enough for the comparator to recognize. Also, on the tag
side, the output of the switch was only giving about 100 mV difference between high and
low, which is not nearly enough. These are issues that next semesters team can look at.

Figure 1: Incoming Modulated Data

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Circuit Diagrams:

Figure 2: Tag Circuit Diagram

Figure 3: Reader Circuit Diagram

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Figure 4: Temperature Sensor Circuit Diagram

Figure 5: Original Oscillator Design

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 Figure 6: Possible Oscillator Design
Future Tasks:
When talking about future tasks of an RFID project, the possibilities are endless, but for
the simplicity of this course, only a few of those possibilities will be included in this
report. As said above, the implementation of a working sine wave generator would be a
great addition to this system. This would enable the designers the luxury of not having to
haul around a large function generator, but would be able to have a separate circuit board
containing the oscillator. The first design above in figure 5 is a non-working design
unless there was something that was not done by this semester’s team. The second
design in figure 6 has not been tested and would be a good experiment. Both generators
were found on www.designnotes.com.
The next possible future task would be to implement the temperature sensor circuit on the
tag side as well as incorporate enough logic on the reader side to account for the extra
bits that the A/D Converter Outputs. This can also be researched further by teams to
come, but the design above in figure 4 is a pretty basic design, but could definitely be
incorporated into future designs.

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The last possible future task which would take more thorough research, but could be
proven to make the tag much smaller, would be to make the tag completely passive. The
purpose of this is obviously to make the tag smaller and would make it of more practical
use, as the tag that currently exists is a bit on the large side. As said earlier, this would
take much more research, but could be proven to be very useful.

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5. Schedule
Task Description Task Start Task End
Week Week
Establish Duties of Group Members and Group Week 2 Week 3
Meeting Times
Establish Goals Set by Lead Professor and Week 3 Week 4
Team Members
Week 4: Initial Team Proposal Due in Lecture Week 4 Week 4
Begin Research on Current Tag and Ways to Week 4 Week 6
Make Better
Week 5: Individual Design Notebook Reviews Week 5 Week 5
Finish up Research and Begin Design Phase Week 5 Week 6
Actual Design Phase; Component Selection, Week 5 Week 11
Device Parameters, etc.
Week 8: Individual and Peer Reviews Week 8 Week 8
Subsystem Testing (Range of Coils, Accuracy Week 8 Week 11
of Circuitry, etc)
Week 10: Design Notebook Reviews Week 10 Week 10
Week 10: Team Progress Report and Midterm Week 10 Week 10
Presentation
Wrap up Design/Test Phase, Begin Building Week 11 Week 13
Circuit Tag/Reader
Test Final Built Product, Make Necessary Week 12 Week 14
Changes if needed
Week 14: Final Product Should be Complete Week 14 Week 14
Week 14: Review of Senior Design Outcome Week 14 Week 14
Matrix
Week 15: End of Semester Report and Week 15 Week 15
Presentation
Week 15: Individual and Peer Reviews Week 15 Week 15

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6. Summary of Semester Outcomes
When one reviews the semester goals of this design group, many would argue that they
were not met; however, it is believed that great progress was made on this project,
especially from last semesters group. A 3-bit tag was created with success and a reader
circuit was also successfully designed and built. The problems that occurred were when
the antennas used from last year, which worked properly, were added to this semester’s
circuit. As one can see above, the incoming data was of the correct form, but the levels at
which it occurred were not as expected. Also, the implementation of the oscillator was
not as successful as would have liked to have been, however, the design that was
provided, which assumed to be a working design, did not work. The group was unsure
how to get the oscillator to work, but have provided another source design that could
possibly work in the future. To successfully complete this task, one must have a basic
knowledge for what an oscillator is and how it is created, i.e., from an unstable feedback
network. This can be accomplished by using transistors or other methods of creating
instability. It is the team’s belief that this design was a rather successful design as the
team designed a completely different tag with different functions, which is definitely
something to be proud of.

7. Transition Plan
For this project to be successfully continued in the semesters to come without loss of
momentum, the members will not only have to have a basic understanding of how RF
technology works, but must also have a knowledge for digital logic and what chips are
necessary to complete the task at hand. Incoming students should thoroughly read this
document as well as look up several other sources of information which explain RFID
Technology. This rather new and interesting technology is a great learning experience
for students and should a student consider this team, should be ready for intensive
research and a desire to learn something new.

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8. Conclusions and Recommendations
It is safe to say that this team has learned a lot from this class and hope to bring
information learned in this class to real world applications in the job market. Not only
has the team learned how to design an RFID tag, but more importantly, have learned to
work as a team to achieve the goals necessary. This is the most important skill that one
can possess when entering the world of Engineering. Technical skills are always very
useful, but if an individual can interact with others easily, that person’s career will go
much more smoothly. Another quality that the team has learned is to work individually
to achieve a goal. Much of the research that was done by the team was done individually.
This skill is especially important when a team needs to find new information about newer
technologies and technologies that are new to the team. All in all, this semester has been
a great learning experience for the entire team and each member will take what they have
learned with them for the years to come.
There are several things that could be done to improve this course. The first would be to
have specific lectures that corresponding to each different group within EE495M. There
might also want to be less emphasis on the homework’s within the class, especially when
the RFID team mostly involves working hardware and there were two homework’s on
programming, that make up fifteen percent of the students grade. This seems unfair to
the people in the team where the homework assignment does not pertain to their
particular project. The grade should reflect the work each individual student
accomplished as well as how the team accomplished goals that have been set. Other than
that, this course has been a great learning experience for everyone and would hope to
believe that future students enjoy it as much as our team has.

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9. References
1. Eagles Nest, The (2002, September 27th). RFID: The Early Years 1980-1990
[WWWdocument]. URL http://members.surfbest.net/eaglesnest/rfidhist.htm.

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10. Contact Information
Website: http://shay.ecn.purdue.edu/~rfid
James Krogmeier
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: jvk@ecn.purdue.edu

Maribel Figuera
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: figuera@purdue.edu

Kurt Wampach
Student – Team Leader
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: wampachk@purdue.edu

Wai Fung Michael Ng

Exchange Student – Team Leader
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: ngw@purdue.edu

Joe Dou
Student
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: douj@purdue.edu

Julian Arceta
Student
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Email: arceta@purdue.edu

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