Instructor: Prof. Dr.

Atalay BARKANA

ANADOLU UNIVERSITY

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS

ENGINEERING

EEM401
Professional Aspects of Electrical Engineering

01.12.2009

Homework4: RF-ID

16169230356 Osman GÜLERCAN

I-Introduction:

“Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object (typically referred to as an

RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of
identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters
away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.

RFID has many applications, for example, it is used in enterprise supply chain management to
improve the efficiency of inventory tracking and management.”1

“One of the key differences between RFID and bar-code technology is RFID eliminates the
need for line-of-sight reading that bar coding depends on. Also, RFID scanning can be done at
greater distances than bar code scanning. High frequency RFID systems (850 MHz to 950
MHz and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz) offer transmission ranges of more than 90 feet, although
wavelengths in the 2.4 GHz range are absorbed by water (the human body) and therefore has
limitations.”2

II-Main Text:

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been around for more than 50 years,
improving business productivity and enhancing the safety and security of millions of people. 
Door and building access control, theft prevention, toll-road payment systems, and inventory
management are just a few of the applications in use today.

“The technology uses a very simple idea that has many complications involved in its
execution. A reader/interrogator/scanner transmits an RF wave to a tag. The tag "hears" the
RF wave, and responds with some data. Tags come in many flavors: passive, battery assisted,
active, backscatter, different frequencies, tag talks first, reader talks first, various anti-
collision techniques or not, printed antennas, wire wound antennas, hard case, label, etc. So
many variations that it can be very confusing, but there is good news. Your application will

1
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/Radio-frequency_identification
2
Webopedia Computer Dictionary, http://www.webopedia.com/rfid
define many of these for you, and working with your supplier/integrator you will rapidly
choose the solution that is best for you.”3
“RFID’s components include a transponder which contains information and a reader which
recognizes the transponder and can access the information it contains.
An RFID transponder or tag can be passive or active, a critical distinction to be made in any
discussions of RFID and privacy:

A passive RFID tag can only transmit when it comes within range (typically inches but can be
up to 10 feet or more in warehouse applications) of an RFID reader.  Passive RFID tags do
not have their own power source but require energy from the reader to power up.  Passive ID
tags do not “broadcast” information. Most passive RFID tags contain only a unique
identification number. 
An active RFID tag contains a battery and can send data without being powered by the
reader. 
RFID can also operate at different frequencies:
 125/134 kHz. which is adequate for read-only usages such as access control
 13.56 MHz. which is used for read/write applications, like mass transit value debit or
cashless vending
 2.5 GHz. which is appropriate for paying tolls or locating pallets in a warehouse.”4

“The RFID device serves the same purpose as a bar code or a magnetic strip on the back of a
credit card or ATM card; it provides a unique identifier for that object. And, just as a bar code
or magnetic strip must be scanned to get the information, the RFID device must be scanned to
retrieve the identifying information.

A significant advantage of RFID devices over the others mentioned above is that the RFID
device does not need to be positioned precisely relative to the scanner. We're all familiar with
the difficulty that store checkout clerks sometimes have in making sure that a barcode can be
read. And obviously, credit cards and ATM cards must be swiped through a special reader.”5

3
High Tech Aid, http://www.hightechaid.com
4
RFID and Privacy, http://rfidprivacy.mit.edu/access/what.html
5
Technovelgy, http://www.technovelgy.com/
Basic RFID Components:

“Transponder (Tag) — This is the electronic identification (EID) tag itself, often serving as
the female button attachment for a traditional visual identification tag. Transponders for radio-
frequency identification (RFID) in the beef industry are passive responders. This means they
possess no power source of their own. Instead, it's the charge provided by the transceiver
(reader) that enables the transponder to emit a signal back to the transceiver.

The transponder contains an integrated electronic circuit (the chip) and a capacitor, which
captures and uses energy from the transceiver in order to send a signal back. Electronic
circuits in the transponder can be programmed as Read Only (R/O), meaning that information
contained in the chip — in this case, a unique 12-digit number — can only be read. Chips can
also be programmed as Read/Write, which enables information to be added, warehoused and
transferred to them.

Transceiver (Readers) — Also known as the reader or the interrogator, transceivers send the
electronic signal to the transponder that provides the power for the transponder to send the
signal back to the transceiver with the information contained in the transponder's electronic
circuit. Transceivers can be powered by batteries or plugged into a traditional power supply.

The transceiver is either tethered (physically attached to the data accumulator such as laptop
or scale head) or it transmits data to the accumulator wirelessly. Transceiver units are usually
comprised of a transmitter/receiver, antennae, control unit, power unit, coupling element and
an electronic interface enabling it to communicate with the data accumulator.

Transceiver antennae can be incorporated into hand-held units (as in the case of reader wands
used at chute-side, or within stationery units such as panel readers that are placed permanently
to read tags as cattle flow by a certain physical location.

Data Accumulator — This is any device, such as a laptop computer, an electronic scale head
or a hand-held computer, that is capable of communicating with a transceiver and accepting
the information from it.

Software (Application) — Considered by many to be the heart and soul of a comprehensive

RFID system. The transference of data between transponder and transceiver, and between
transceiver and data accumulation, is electronic (mechanical, if you will). It's the software that
allows you to actually tie electronic identity to production and management information,
massage the data and share the information with others.

Data Warehouse/Management — This is where you store all the data you receive it and
manage it. It can be part of a central database or a decentralized one.”6

Security Concerns:

“A primary RFID security concern is the illicit tracking of RFID tags. Tags which are world-
readable pose a risk to both personal location privacy and corporate/military security. Such
concerns have been raised with respect to the United States Department of Defense's recent
adoption of RFID tags for supply chain management. More generally, privacy organizations
have expressed concerns in the context of ongoing efforts to embed electronic product code
(EPC) RFID tags in consumer products.

EPCglobal Network, by design, is also susceptible to DoS attacks. Using similar mechanism
with DNS in resolving EPC data requests, the ONS Root servers become vulnerable to DoS
attacks. Any organization planning to embark on EPCglobal Network may cringe upon
discovering that the EPCglobal Network infrastructure inherits security weaknesses similar to
DNS.

A second class of defense uses cryptography to prevent tag cloning. Some tags use a form of
"rolling code" scheme, wherein the tag identifier information changes after each scan, thus
reducing the usefulness of observed responses. More sophisticated devices engage in
Challenge-response authentications where the tag interacts with the reader. In these protocols,
secret tag information is never sent over the insecure communication channel between tag and
reader. Rather, the reader issues a challenge to the tag, which responds with a result computed
using a cryptographic circuit keyed with some secret value. Such protocols may be based on
symmetric or public key cryptography. Cryptographically-enabled tags typically have
dramatically higher cost and power requirements than simpler equivalents, and as a result,
deployment of these tags is much more limited. This cost/power limitation has led some
manufacturers to implement cryptographic tags using substantially weakened, or proprietary
encryption schemes, which do not necessarily resist sophisticated attack. For example, the
Exxon-Mobil Speedpass uses a cryptographically-enabled tag manufactured by Texas
6
Beef Magazine, http://beefmagazine.com/basic_rfid_components
Instruments, called the Digital Signature Transponder (DST), which incorporates a weak,
proprietary encryption scheme to perform a challenge-response protocol for lower cost.

Still other cryptographic protocols attempt to achieve privacy against unauthorized readers,
though these protocols are largely in the research stage. One major challenge in securing
RFID tags is a shortage of computational resources within the tag. Standard cryptographic
techniques require more resources than are available in most low cost RFID devices. RSA
Security has patented a prototype device that locally jams RFID signals by interrupting a
standard collision avoidance protocol, allowing the user to prevent identification if desired.
Various policy measures have also been proposed, such as marking RFID-tagged objects with
an industry standard label. RFID security is a very active research field for a few years, with
more than 400 scientific papers published since 2002. An extensive list of references in this
field can be found at the RFID Security and Privacy Lounge .”7

III-Conclusion:

7
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/Radio-frequency_identification
IV-References:

1. Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/
2. Webopedia Computer Dictionary
http://www.webopedia.com/
3. High Tech Aid
http://www.hightechaid.com
4. MIT Public Information Center, RFID and Privacy
http://rfidprivacy.mit.edu/
5. Technovelgy
http://www.technovelgy.com/
6. Beef Magazine
http://beefmagazine.com/