RFID Based Mobiles: Next Generation Applications
Meenakshi Sharma
Asst. Prof, E.C.E Dept
Inderprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad
Mkshi_sharma@rediffmail.com
Abstract—The boom of RFID usage -especially in logistics-
has taken down the prices of RFID components and therefore
opened also possibilities for other business fields to benefit the
advantages of RFID. The technology for radio frequency
identification (RFID) enables data to be transmitted by a tiny
portable device, called a tag, which is read by an RFID reader
and processed according to the needs of a particular
application. It is only recently that the technology has begun to
take off in the mass market. RFID applications in mobile
phone business have not yet been deployed in other that small
scale, but the discussion around this topic has been really
started. Analysts predict that RFID will revolutionize areas of
industry, such as supply chain management and the retail
business, for example by reducing costs with better stock
management. As the components for RFID-systems - tags and
readers - have become smaller and cheaper, the technology has
begun to take-off, in a variety of different areas This paper
focuses on the applications of RFID technology in mobile
telecommunication services.
Many experts see RFID as an enabler for ubiquitous
computing - the integration of computation into the
environment: any device, anytime, anywhere. Reservation
could be as simple as holding your phone close (less than 20
centimeters) to a poster or advertising billboard. RFID enabled
mobile phones could be a first step in this direction. The
combination of mobile phones and RFID technologies promises
great potential in the market for mobile telecommunication
services, which is discussed in this paper.
Keywords- RFID, Tags, Mobile Payment, NFC, automated
massaging, information retrieval.
I. INTRODUCTION
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a method
of identifying unique items using radio waves. [1],[2].
Typical RFID systems are made up of 2 major
components: readers and tags. The reader, sometimes
called the interrogator, sends and receives RF data to
and from the tag via antennas. A reader may have
multiple antennas that are responsible for sending and
receiving the radio waves. The tag, or transponder, is
made up of the microchip that stores the data, an
antenna, and a carrier to which the chip and antenna are
mounted.
Adil Siddiqui
B.Tech, 3rd yr
Inderprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad
Ph: 91-9555737215
Adilz127@gmaill.com
Fig 1: RFID System
The technology behind RFID uses inductive
coupling [3] to transfer data. Induction occurs when a
wire (or any other conductor of electricity) passes
through a magnetic field, generating an electric current
in the wire. It's similar to the principal of
electromagnetism -- that passing an electric current
through a coil of wire will generate a magnetic field --
only in reverse. An RFID chip has a coil of wire built
into it. When an RFID equipped cell phone gets to
within a few centimeters of an RFID-equipped
payment station, which is generating a magnetic field
and also has a coil of wire inside, an electric current
jumps between the two coils of wire, signaling data-
carrying, short-range radio waves to pass between the
two devices.
II. RFID BASED MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SERVICES
RFID technology is not yet really deployed in
mobile phone industry. There are few examples of
RFID technology adaptation in mobile phones. Nokia
has produced first mobile phone that has RFID reader
build in the phone [4]. Nokia 5140 phone has RFID
reader possibility through removable RFID covers.
Nokia has also published RFID kit that enable user to
design simple applications for RFID usage [4].RFID
_____________________________________
has many potential applications that could be integrated
978-1-4244-5265-1/10/$26.00
to the mobile phones. The applications©2010
may IEEE
sound
good, but before those will be used commonly there
will be a long journey.

Figure 3: Nokia 5140 with RFID covers. [4]
III. RFID EQUIPPED MOBILES, WORKING OUT THE
TECHNOLOGY
The RFID reader is installed in a mobile device such as a
cell phone [5]. This is a fundamentally new approach
compared to most existing RFID applications. There, the
readers are considered to be stationary while the tags are
considered to be mobile. This would now change. The
implementation of RFID in mobile telecommunications
services would lead to a scenario where the tags are
stationary and readers (that are integrated in the cell-phone)
become mobile. There would also be applications where the
mobile phone can be both, tag and reader at the same time.
Integrating RFID capabilities into mobile devices extends
the use of RFID technology beyond the supply chain
management etc. into areas like customer service, marketing
or brand management. RFID based mobile
telecommunications will play an important role in bridging
offline objects with information accessible on data-networks.
Services that use the information stored on RFID tags and
communicate with peer objects will help to create an
environment of “smart objects”. Mobile phones are an
excellent platform for user communication with such smart
objects.
The use of RFID technologies in mobile communication
undoubtedly has a promising future. As already mentioned
Nokia has developed the first RFID-enabled cell phone in
cooperation with Verisign.[4]
This accessory allows the user to easily launch services
and conveniently access phone functions simply by touching
the phone to an RFID tag. The phone accesses the RFID tag
data when an RFID reader emits a short-range radio signal
that powers a microchip on the tag, allowing the ID
information and other stored data to be read.
IV. NEXT GENERATION APPLICATIONS OF RFID
A new generation of active tags called "Dice" was
presented by YRP Ubiquitous Networking Labs in April
2005[6]. They are about 15mm x 15mm x 15mm and
according to the manufacturer, the battery will last for 2
years and 3 months if the tag communicates every 5
minutes!!!!! Efforts are on to reduce the cost of such a device
to less than 3 cents. With this soon going to become a reality
an RFID equipped cell phone could provide a free preview
of a movie when the user reads an RFID tag that is attached
to the movie poster. This is a promising area of RFID
application, but before it can be reality two things are needed.
First of all the relatively big amount of mobile phones has to
be equipped with RFID readers and secondly the big amount
of products would need to attached with right kind of RFID
tags. Without these two things are there is no possibility to
reach the critical mass and without the critical mass there are
no major business opportunities.
Once the RFID tags become cheap, we can literally
attach them to as many items as possible. As a result, just by
bringing mobile devices near to a RFID tagged object, we
can quickly and easily download information held by that
object and view it via mobile phone’s display screen. For
example one can:
 download information about a particular location
by scanning RFID tagged sign posts, and
landmarks
 download bus routes by scanning RFID tagged
Buses
 download prices of RFID tagged merchandise sold
at stores, published in catalogs for comparing
shops
 download movies, music, trailers, show timings,
and theater locations by scanning RFID tagged
movie posters, music CDs, etc.
 download current menu being served at a
particular restaurant by scanning its RFID tag,
published in a restaurants catalog
make a quick call or send an instant message by
scanning RFID tagged photographs, business cards,
address books, etc.
V. SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT FUTURISTIC
APPLICATIONS ARE DISCUSSED HEREIN
A. Mobile Payment
Mobile phone – equipped with RFID reader or tag – can
be also used for device for paying goods or services.
Customer could pay his travel trip, food or product with
simply reading the RFID tag and getting confirmation of
purchase trough e.g. SMS. Mobile RFID payment
application has been launched in Japan by Japanese operator
DoCoMo [7]. User can use his or her mobile phone as
electronic wallet and pay his or her products and services
with it. There are 39 companies -including McDonalds and
Japan railroads- offering their products or services trough
this application.
RFID payment and product identification may be the
most promising areas of RFID applications in personal
mobile phones, but for business usage there are existing
already beneficial RFID solutions. In all businesses where
the personnel of a company have to travel around the field,
through beforehand known points, it is possible to use the
RFID technology as method for reporting and operating tool.
All service personnel could use their own mobile phones to
report their service time and other data directly to the servers
by just simply reading RFID tag from the repaired item. E.g.
elevator, base station or coffee machine service personnel
would have direct reporting tool integrated to their mobile
phones. Think about the situation where coffee automata
service person receives a service request with SMS to his or
her personal mobile phone. After fulfilling the task he or she
would just read the RFID tag – containing information what
has been done and when- from the coffee machine and the
data would be transferred directly e.g. to the invoicing data
bases.
Nokia presents some use cases in their web pages, which
has been developed around RFID [4]. These applications are
based on the idea that user touches the RFID tag with mobile
phone, containing RFID reader, and the phone will connect
to needed place to execute needed operation. Nokia promotes
these applications as “Touch and Browse”, “Touch and
Record” and “Touch and Call” [4]. These applications do
many things from browsing the internet to connecting to
closest restaurant, but there is one common thing in them.
These applications all use some other service to deliver value
to the customer. The applications use e.g. GSM, MMS or
internet browsing services.
The access control could be also partly integrated to
mobile phone [5]. People would not need to carry different
kind of keys with them if the RFID tags would be integrated
to their mobile phones. This would benefit specially persons
who are moving in many different premises, e.g. security
guards and maintenance personnel.
Suppose while walking down the street, you see a poster
for a movie you want to see. By pointing your phone at the
poster, you will be connected to a website, buy the ticket and
be charged through the credit card information stored in your
smart phone!!!!!! This example shows the use of RFID in
mobile telecommunication networks.
B. Information retrieval[1]
Here, the mobile phone is equipped with an RFID-reader
and aids to retrieval additional information on tagged items.
The information would be stored in a database, which is
accessed via the mobile network. Consumers could use this
feature for example in supermarkets to obtain additional
information on products, e.g. if they contain allergens etc.
Comparing prices with on-line services such as Froogle111
right in the shopping mall would also be easy with an RFID-
equipped mobile phone.
The RFID phone might be used by a engineer in the field
checking a meter on a gas pipeline or other industrial
equipment. The engineer would scan the tag attached to a
meter to identify which meter was being read. The phone-
reader would record the time of the read, and then the
engineer could key in the meter reading into the phone using
the buttons on the phone. The data could be stored in the
phone and downloaded to a PC via an infrared connection.
The application scenario would also be interesting for
target-groups like service technicians (to obtain additional
information on items to be serviced) or machine operators (to
obtain new work instructions for a particular machine).
Information retrieval via RFID enabled mobile phones
could also be used for advertisements.
Posters or paper-copies of advertisements could carry a
small RFID-tag. Anybody interested in more information on
the advertised product or event would just have to hold his
mobile phone close to the tag. The information would then
again be retrieved from a database.
The delivered information could also be multimedia-
content: Thus the combination of RFID and mobile
telecommunications provides an interesting new approach to
brand management and special promotions that could be
attractive to companies and (tech-savvy) customers alike.
Countries like Japan are undertaking a larger number of
projects on enhancing food-safety with mobile technologies.
Many of these projects use RFID technologies. One
particular project is the development of “Integrated Food
Traceability Systems” [8] that utilize Ubiquitous ID
Technology. A field trial took place in February and March
2005 at the Mitsukoshi Department store in Nihonbashi,
Tokyo (Japan)120 and the Keikyu Store, Noukendai Branch,
Yokohama (Japan). Customers could get information on the
product history of certain pieces of tagged fruit and meat.
C. Data transmission
Another application possibility is the transmission of data
from a tagged item to a central database over the mobile
network. This could be used e.g. for security guards to prove
that they visited certain sites. The location and a valid
timestamp would be transferred to a database as a proof that
work has been done accurately. The same concept of data
transmission could also be used for reading e.g. electricity
meters. Service staff would read a tag attached to a meter and
then automatically transfer the meter readings via the phone.
Later, the transmitted information will be used for the
pricing.
D. Automated messaging
Automated messages could be generated whenever a
mobile phone comes near a tag. This could be used e.g. in a
system to set up an attendance control system. A single
mobile phone could be used to report presence in the office,
a construction site, a field office etc.
Another application would be automated progress reports
back to office, e.g. for service technicians. They could easily
report on their work done by an automated message when
they move their phone close to a tag on the serviced machine.
E. Voice services
Voice services are also an attractive field for using RFID
technologies in mobile phones. One possible application in
this scenario are visual phone directories. This could e.g. be
used at the reception desk of companies with a display of
pictures of all the persons working in the company. A mobile
phone in proximity to a tag attached to the photo would then
initiate a call to the respective person. This would help to
simplify making phone calls for persons with physical
limitations, for children, or the elderly.
F. Diagnostic Sensors
Figure 4: RFID can be used in diagnostic sensing
Gentag [9] the leader in wireless sensor technology, is
developing a line of medical RFID patches to enable
physicians and patients to monitor their health wirelessly.
They anticipate that this new technology will simultaneously
decrease the cost of health care while drastically increasing
patient safety.
By combining RFID cell phones and RFID sensors with
cellular networks or the Internet, the consumer will be
empowered to read any RFID sensor tag anywhere for
almost any application.
A particular focus area for Gentag using RFID cell
phones are diagnostic applications. RFID sensors can be
integrated into low cost disposable diagnostic devices such
as "smart" disposable wireless skin patches or personal drug
delivery systems and read directly with a cell phone under
existing Gentag/Altivera patents.[9]
The first market application for the smart skin patch is a
patient ID and fever onset bandage, integrating Gentag's
proprietary sensor circuit in a disposable skin patch.
Applications include using cell phones for monitoring the
fever onset in a child, patient monitoring in hospitals, or
remotely monitoring the well-being of elderly relatives or
friends via cell phones or the Internet.
VI. CONCLUSION
The combination of mobile phones and RFID
technologies promises great potential in the market for
mobile telecommunication services.
RFID and cellular technologies is a promising
combination that can increase productivity and give a
competitive advantage to those that endorse it first. However,
there are still some economic and standardization issues that
need to be addressed before the technology sees wide
acceptance. Mobile enterprise applications are going to be
the first beachhead of RFID enabled cell phones followed by
consumer applications in the long term.
Word from research firms is that by 2009 half of all cell
phones will be able to read RFID tags.
So now your cell phone would act as your movie tickets,
car keys, credit cards and probably a host of other options.
Next time you would feel like watching a movie you could
just pick up your phone and buy one and when you reach the
hall you will be granted access when the reader confirms the
details of the tickets on the tag inside the phone.
RFID has huge potential in enabling growth of mobile
services, but other real killer applications will have to wait
for longer time. The break through of RFID enabled mobile
services will require vide co-operation from mobile phone
manufacturers, operators and mobile service provides. It is
unlikely that mobile phone users would be willing to pay
extra for RFID readers in their mobile phones, before there
are real cases where they can us it.
This means that manufacturers, operators and service
providers will have to finance this break through. I consider
this to be the biggest obstacle between mobile RFID success
and failure.
REFERENCES
[1] RFID – Opportunities for mobile telecommunications services
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/techwatch/
[2] RFID: A Brief Technology
Analysis.www.rfidconsultation.eu/docs/ficheiros/
[3] How RFID works http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/rfid.htm
[4] Nokia home page,http://www.nokia.co.in//
[5] Integration of RFID and Cellular Technologies
http://winmec.ucla.edu/
[6] Sensor Dice in a Conscious World
http://opportunityprospector.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_archive.html
[7] McDonalds, DoCoMo deal allows mobile payment for Happy Meals,
http://www.selfserviceworld.com/article.php?id=19933
[8] Ubiquitous ID Centre , Development and Verification for Integrated
Food Traceability Systems
http://www.uidcenter.org/english/bn2005.html
[9] Diagnostic Sensors Read By RFID-Enabled Cell Phones
http://www.rfidlowdown.com/tags_and_readers/index.html