Summaiy

Shopplng ln Lhe presenL day usually lnvolves walLlng ln llne Lo geL your lLems scanned for
checkouL 1hls can resulL ln a greaL deal of wasLed Llme for cusLomers lurLhermore Lhe
Lechnology currenLly used ln checkouLs 8 barcodes ls from anoLher era developed ln Lhe
1970s before Lhe age of Lhe affordable compuLlng power ln Lhe presenL world wlLh
compuLers powerlng everyday lLems from chlldrens Loys Lo wrlsLwaLches we felL llke we can
lmprove on Lhe humble shopplng experlence
WlLh Lhe lncreaslng prevalence and affordablllLy of radlo frequency ldenLlflcaLlon (8llu) Lags ln
everyday auLhenLlcaLlon sysLems 8llu holds greaL promlse ln Lhe reLall world for boLh
cusLomers and sLores ln lnvenLory conLrol convenlence and cosL savlngs Cur pro[ecL uLlllzed
Lhese 8llu Lags Lo auLomaLe Lhe checkouL process by bulldlng a sysLem LhaL could read Lhe 8llu
slgnals of all Lhe ob[ecLs LhaL were placed ln proxlmlLy Lo an anLenna plaLform 1hls ellmlnaLed
Lhe need for barcode scannlng of each lndlvldual lLem maklng checkouL a slgnlflcanLly fasLer
experlence lurLhermore as each lLem has a unlque Lag even coples of Lhe same producL
conLrasLed Lo Lhe currenL uC model much beLLer lnvenLory conLrol recall ablllLy and
monlLorlng of consumer behavlor Lrends are posslble wlLh prlvacy concerns consldered of
course










Z`iouuc`oZ

!lgars moLher has been a cashler aL Lhelr local WalmarL for over 13 years Cne day she was so
Llred from work and dlscussed wlLh !lgar Lhe posslblllLy of Lechnology compleLely Laklng over
Lhe [ob of a cashler As we had been explorlng pro[ecL ldeas for Lhls course aL Lhe Llme we
lmmedlaLely began Lo conslder Lhe pracLlcallLy of such a proposlLlon and wheLher we could
lndeed lmplemenL a proLoLype of such a sysLem for our flnal pro[ecL
We lmmedlaLely consldered 8llu Lags already used heavlly aL Cornell for dorm access noL Lo
menLlon ln lndusLry for employee auLhenLlcaLlon and credlL card sysLems for wlreless paymenL
lor Lhose appllcaLlons however only one Lag aL a Llme was read and mulLlple Lags wlLhln Lhe
sensor read area would render Lhe sysLem useless a key requlremenL of our checkouL sysLem
We dlscovered LhaL a malnsLream Lag proLocol had been developed aL 1336 MPz wlLh anLl
colllslon supporL enabllng slmulLaneous errorfree readlng of all Lags wlLhln Lhe read fleld
LasL buL noL leasL we had Lo conslder wheLher such a sysLem would be cosLprohlblLlve When
dolng parLs research we dlscovered comprehenslve reader chlps avallable aL less Lhan $100
each LhaL could be lnLegraLed lnLo exlsLlng selfcheckouL sysLems We came across news arLlcles
LhaL showed research leadlng Lo Lags LhaL could cosL less Lhan 3 cenLs each wlLh cosL
decreaslng over Llme










oikZY PiZc\W

1he parLlcular 8llu Lags we wlll use ln our pro[ecL are passlve 8llu Lags 1hls means LhaL lL relles
on power LransmlLLed by Lhe reader ln order Lo operaLe ln operaLlon passlve 8llu Lags use Lhe
reflecLed carrler frequency (n%%) whlch ls modulaLed wlLh a funcLlon (%%) ln order Lo
LransmlL lnformaLlon
le

ln Lhls modulaLlon funcLlon Lhe daLa has been hardcoded ln Lhe Lag and can be LransmlLLed Lo
Lhe 8llu reader ln a blnary fashlon
1wo ma[or meLhodologles of modulaLlon ln our 8llu Lags lnclude Amp||tudeSh|ft
key|ng and IrequencySh|ft key|ng ln AmpllLudeShlfL keylng Lwo dlscreLe ampllLude levels
are applled Lo Lhe slnusoldal carrler frequency Lo represenL 1's and 0's 1hls ls lllusLraLed below



ln lrequencyShlfL keylng Lwo dlfferenL frequencles are used Lo lndlcaLe blnary values 1hls ls
done by swlLchlng beLween Lwo dlfferenL osclllaLors LhaL are connecLed Lo Lhe ouLpuL 1hls ls
lllusLraLed below



ln order Lo allow reads ln elecLromagneLlcally nolsy envlronmenLs readers are Luned Lo only
read one parLlcular frequency
ln Lhe cases where Lhere ls more Lhan one Lag ln Lhe vlclnlLy of Lhe reader Lag colllslon may
occur when boLh Lags reflecL Lhelr slgnals back Lo Lhe reader aL Lhe same Llme 1hls can confuse
Lhe reader 1hus varlous meLhodologles for anLlcolllslon can be used 1hese meLhodologles
vary by Lag Lype
g|ca| Structure

8llu CheckouL Loglcal CrganlzaLlon SLrucLure
Cur 8llu checkouL wlll be organlzed around several cenLral componenLs 1he proLoLype board
conLalnlng a mlcroconLroller recelves user lnpuL from Lhe pushbuLLons and ouLpuLLed user
feedback vla Lhe LCu 1hls ln Lurn wlll communlcaLe wlLh Lhe 8llu Module whlch wlll LransmlL
power onLo 8llu chlps ln Lhe vlclnlLy and recelve a slgnal back vla Lhe anLenna MulLlple Lags
wlLhln Lhe 8llu fleld would noL resulL ln a problem as each Lag was Lold Lo sLay quleL afLer lL
had been successfully read More deLalls are descrlbed laLer ln Lhls reporL
ardware]Sftware 1radeffs
We had a hard Llme chooslng whaL frequency Lo buy our 8llu reader aL Whlle 1336 MPz was a
sLandard for our lnLended appllcaLlon Lhe cosLs of Lhe chlps were Loo hlgh for our budgeL We
orlglnally declded Lo compromlse Lhls and go wlLh a cheaper 123 kPz reader wlLh much more
expenslve Lags and poor anLlcolllslon supporL ln order Lo move forward on our pro[ecL
AnoLher quesLlon we faced durlng our plannlng and deslgn sLage was wheLher Lo buy a reader
wlLh a predeslgned proLocol LhaL could easlly lnLeracL wlLh Lhe mlcroconLroller aL a much
greaLer cosL Lo our budgeL or wheLher Lo bulld Lhe reader ourselves AfLer consulLlng wlLh Lhe
professor we reasoned LhaL Lhere was no way we could lmplemenL Lhe reader wlLh anLl
colllslon supporL/algorlLhms ln addlLlon Lo our checkouL sysLem wlLhln Lhe shorL Llme frame of
Lhe pro[ecL We are glad we Look LhaL advlce so LhaL we were able Lo creaLe a reallsLlc
proLoLype of our lnlLlal vlslon
Standards
Cur pro[ecL wlll use Lags uLlllzlng Lhe lSC13693 and lSC14443 sLandards lS013693 was
developed ln 1998 Lo serve as proxlmlLy cards afLer whlch lL has wldely been adopLed as Lhe
sLandard for Lhe 1336 MPz 8llu frequency enabllng Lhe gradual global adopLlon of 8llu
lSC/lLC 14443 was developed ln 1999 and has become Lhe sLandard for conLacLless paymenL
sysLems lor our appllcaLlon lSC13693 seems llke Lhe mosL llkely adopLlon candldaLe glven Lhe
wlde varleLy of manufacLurers lncludlng Lhe popular 1exas lnsLrumenLs 1aglL Pl serles Lags
More deLalls are dlscussed ln Lhe Lag sLrucLure secLlon




















aiuwaiW BW_YZ

ardware Cverv|ew


MasLer Pardware ClrculL SchemaLlc
1he hardware for our 8llu checkouL sysLem has Lo be organlzed around Lhe Module and Lhe
roLoboard wlLh Lhe ALmel Mega 644 1he mlcroconLroller board acLs as Lhe command cenLer
for our sysLem lnsLrucLlng Lhe 8llu Module Lo Lurn on and remaln ready for operaLlon Laklng
ln user lnpuL vla pushbuLLons and ouLpuLLlng user feedback vla Lhe LCu 1he schemaLlc above
besL summarlzes our seLup 1he followlng secLlons go Lhrough each of Lhese componenLs sLep
by sLep



Antenna Des|gn and 1un|ng


Selfueslgned CusLom8ullL 8llu AnLenna SchemaLlc for CheckouL SysLem
1he anLenna wlll be deslgned uslng 1 cm wlde copper foll Lape wlLh conducLlve adheslve 1he
Lop end of Lhe anLenna wlll be connecLed Lo Lhe exLernal anLenna pln on Lhe 8llu connecLor
and Lhe boLLom end Lo Lhe ground pln on Lhe same connecLor compleLlng Lhe clrculL Cur
deslgn would noL requlre an exLernal power ampllfler as Lhe lengLh was relaLlvely shorL
speclflcally less Lhan 10 lnches as suggesLed by Lhe gulde Copper foll Lape can used raLher Lhan
conducLlve copper wlre due Lo Lhe drasLlcally lower lmpedance Lhe greaLer surface area of Lhe
Lape would allow We Lhlnk Lhls anLenna wlll be able Lo cover a much larger surface area over
Lhe sLock anLenna wlLh a reasonable range of approxlmaLely 3 lnches above Lhe surface area
ln an lndusLrlal appllcaLlon a power ampllfler would be necessary Lo ensure proper
performance Lo read an enLlre shopplng baskeL

1ag Structure and Ant|c|||s|n
1he followlng Lag Lypes wlll be supporLed by our reader ln summary each Lag Lype has a 64blL
facLoryprogrammed permanenL lu 1hls ls Lhe 64blLs we used for our lookup Lable Lach of
Lhese Lags also has a userprogrammable daLa fleld Lo sLore varlous lnformaLlon (le lnvenLory
daLa explraLlon eLc) whlch we chose noL Lo lmplemenL for our proLoLype 1he daLa Lypes wlLh
Lhelr programmable space and block slze are as follows
1he 1agl1 Pl1 lSC13693 allows for 236 byLes of programmable daLa aL 4 byLes per block ln
addlLlon Lo a 64blL facLory programmed lu
1he lCode SLl lSC13693 allows for 112 byLes of programmable daLa aL 4 byLes per block ln
addlLlon Lo Lhe sLandard 64blL facLory programmed lu
1he myu S8l33vxx serles lSC13693 allows for 232 byLes of programmable daLa aL 8 byLes per
block ln addlLlon Lo Lhe sLandard 64blL facLory programmed lu
1he L8l312 lSC13693 allows for 64 byLes of programmable daLa aL 4 byLes per block on Lop of
Lhe 64blL facLory programmed lu
1he 1exas lnsLrumenLs 1aglL Pl serles allows for 32 byLes of programmable daLa aL 4 byLes per
block comblned wlLh Lhe usual 64blL lu
1he lCode1 from hlllps allows for 64 byLes of programmable daLa aL 4 byLes per block along
wlLh Lhe 64blL lu
1he lco1ag allows for 232 byLes of programmable daLa aL 8 byLes per block along wlLh Lhe 64
blL lu
1he lSC14443 serles allows for anLlcolllslon and ls Lhe world sLandard for wlreless paymenLs
All of Lhe Lags llsLed above are proposed Lo be compaLlble wlLh Lhe reader excepL LhaL Lhe
lco1ag ls noL compaLlble wlLh Lhe anLlcolllslon feaLure
,|crcntr||er Cperat|n
1he mlcroconLroller ls Lhe hearL of Lhe conLrol of our clrculL orLs are responslble Lo recelve
and LransmlL slgnals Lo Lhe 8llu module uslng uA81 Speclfled porLs wlll recelve lnpuLs from Lhe
Lhree pushbuLLons presenL ln our clrculL AnoLher porL wlll used Lo conLrol Lhe LCu as ln
prevlous labs
D Imp|ementat|n
lor user feedback we wlll use a 16x4 LCu dlsplay We declded Lo use Lhls parLlcular dlsplay
because lL was falrly lnexpenslve and wlll able Lo glve a larger amounL of lnformaLlon Lo Lhe
user due Lo lLs larger slze (ln comparlson Lo Lhe 16x2 dlsplays used ln lab) AnoLher ma[or
conslderaLlon was Lhe facL LhaL Lhe daLasheeL lndlcaLed LhaL lL used Lhe same LCu lnLerface as
Lhe 16x2 dlsplay 1hls would allow us Lo use Lhe lcd_llbc and lcd_llbh flles LhaL we have
prevlously coded (albelL wlLh mlnor changes) 1hls wlll enable us Lo qulckly lnLegraLe lL lnLo our
pro[ecL
8uttn Imp|ementat|n


1he buLLons Lo be used for Lhe user lnLerface
upon dlscardlng our ldea for uslng Lhe Louch screen for user lnLeracLlon wlLh our sysLem we
declded Lo use a Lhree buLLon conflguraLlon ln Lhls conflguraLlon we wlll connecL each of Lhe
plns on Lhe buLLons Lo a 10k reslsLor LhaL wlll be connecLed Lo vcc 1hese buLLons are acLlve
low and LhaL conslderaLlon wlll be Laken lnLo accounL when wrlLlng Lhe code
1he Lhree buLLons are deslgnaLed as u uCWn and Ck 1he u and uCWn buLLons are used Lo
selecL beLween dlfferenL opLlons ln Lhe user lnLerface 1he Ck buLLon conflrms opLlons as well
as advances Lhe checkouL sLages
A form of debounclng wlll be needed Lo ensure LhaL Lhe user could noL unlnLenLlonally scroll
Lhrough Lhe dlfferenL sLages of Lhe sLaLe machlne whlch could resulL ln undeslred purchases
1he only buLLon LhaL wlll requlre Lhls however ls Lhe Ck buLLon as lL ls Lhe only buLLon LhaL
conflrms lnformaLlon and advances Lhe screens 1herefore we wlll only allow Lhe Ck buLLon Lo
be recognlzed once lL wlll be released lf a user holds Lhe Ck buLLon down Lhe checkouL sLages
wlll noL advance unLll he or she releases Lhe buLLon















Sof`waiW BW_YZ

9rgram Cverv|ew
Cur program for Lhe 8llu CheckouL sysLem wlll conLaln Lhree ma[or secLlons ln Lhe beglnnlng
of our program we declare mulLlple arrays LhaL correspond Lo known 8llu Lags and Lhelr
assoclaLed lnformaLlon ln our maln meLhod we lmplemenL a sLaLe machlne LhaL deflned an
lnLulLlve user lnLerface for a checkouL lane llnally we also deflne many meLhods LhaL were
used Lo search or parLlcular 8llus or recognlze cerLaln 8llu as a parLlcular producL
kIID 1ag Arrays and Assc|ated Infrmat|n
A llsL of Lhe 8llu Lag arrays and lLs assoclaLed lnformaLlon ls declared aL Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe
program 1he assoclaLed lnformaLlon ls ln Lhe same order as Lhe 8llu Lag codes 1hls would
allow Lhe laLer flnd funcLlons deLermlne lf a parLlcular 8llu Lag was valld and whaL lnformaLlon
ls assoclaLed wlLh lL (le prlce producL name) luLure work ln Lhls would lnclude an easler
meLhodology Lo lnpuL Lhe 8llu lnformaLlon perhaps by uLlllzlng a uS8 connecLlon and a
compuLer program
kIID I|nd Iunct|ns
1he 8llu flnd funcLlons uLlllze a llnear search ln deLermlnlng lf a parLlcular 8llu ls ln Lhe array
lrom Lhese funcLlons we can deLermlne Lhe lndex of Lhe scanned 8llu ln Lhe array and be able
Lo exLracL lnformaLlon such as prlce and name Lo dlsplay









S`a`W NachZW


8llu CheckouL SofLware SLaLe Machlne CperaLlon

Cur sLaLe machlne ls deslgned Lo be sLralghLforward and slmple allowlng for Lhe demonsLraLlon
of our proLoLype wlLhouL much overhead or frllls upon lnlLlallzaLlon Lhe readeron slgnal wlll
be LransmlLLed Lo Lhe 8llu Module unLll lL ls conflrmed LhaL Lhe reader ls operaLlonal and ready
for Lhe sysLem lollowlng Lhls Lhe cusLomer wlll be permlLLed Lo scan Lhelr cusLomer
ldenLlflcaLlon / shopper loyalLy card Cnce Lhe shopper ls ldenLlfled all lLems placed wlLhln Lhe
read range wlll be scanned As each lLem ls scanned Lhelr 8llu Lags wlll be senL Lhe SLay
CuleL command as descrlbed earller Lo ensure LhaL all oLher Lags wlLhln Lhe fleld are read
properly When Lhe user ls done placlng Lhelr lLems on Lhe anLenna plaLform and all lLems are
recorded Lo Lhelr saLlsfacLlon Lhe conflrm buLLon wlll be pressed 1hls wlll brlng up a
conflrmaLlon dlalog asklng Lhe consumer wheLher Lo proceed Lo paymenL or cancel Lhe
LransacLlon lf Lhe LransacLlon ls cancelled Lhe sysLem wlll be relnlLlallzed Lo ask Lhe nexL
consumer Lo presenL Lhelr cusLomer lu card lf Lhe LransacLlon ls conflrmed a Lhank you
message ls dlsplayed as we wlll noL be lmplemenLlng a paymenL sysLem followed by a
relnlLlallzaLlon once Lhe conflrm buLLon ls pressed once more 1hls wlll creaLe an effecLlve user
lnLerface for Lhe presenLaLlon of our mulLlpleread 8llu checkouL sysLem


















m\ac`

1o Lhe besL of our knowledge and barrlng excepLlonal clrcumsLances 8llus do noL presenL any
slgnlflcanL healLh rlsks 1he radlaLlon from Lhe 8llu LransmlLLer ls negllglble Lo cause any harm
Lo human belngs over Lhe shorL exposure Llmes ln Lhe 8llu checkouL sysLem
Powever 8llus have been Lhe LargeL of slgnlflcanL conLroversy regardlng prlvacy lssues rlvacy
advocaLes have been concerned abouL Lhe ablllLy of 8llu Lags Lo be read wlLhouL Lhe consenL of
Lhe consumer as well as Lhe posslblllLy of uslng Lhe unlque 8llu Lag Lo flnd ouL Lhe purchaser of
a parLlcular lLem MosL of Lhese concerns are due Lo Lhe facL LhaL Lhese Lags conLlnue Lo be
funcLlonal even afLer purchased Powever we do noL vlew Lhls as a slgnlflcanL problem as our
pro[ecL wlll noL be used Lo Lrack cusLomers purchaslng hablLs for long perlods of Llme
lurLhermore Lhe 8l reader we wlll use wlll be of llmlLed range So a cusLomer cannoL use Lhls
Lo deLecL anoLher cusLomers purchase wlLhouL geLLlng wlLhln close range (aL whlch a vlsual
lnspecLlon could yleld Lhe same lnformaLlon)
llnally Lhe lmpacL of Lhe adapLaLlon of Lhls Lechnology ln Lhe reLall world on currenL employees
and Lhelr famllles musL be carefully examlned Whlle cosLs may be decreased over Llme wlLh
Lhls Lechnology Lhe quesLlon of aL whaL human cosL musL come up lurLhermore cusLomers
ofLen prefer Lo have faceLoface conLacL wlLh humans whlch Lhey can relaLe Lo converse wlLh
eLc whlch may be losL wlLh Lhe lnfllLraLlon of Lhls Lechnology lnLo Lhe reLall world