Networked RFID : Systems, Software and Services

The birth of RFID technology is credited to the 1948 research paper by H. Stockman on “Communication by Means of Re?ected Power” [109]. After describing the main principle of communication by re?ection and reporting his experiments, he concluded that “Evidently, considerable research and development work has to be done before the remaining basic problems in re?ected-power com- nication are solved, and before the ?eld of useful applications is - plored. ” It turns out that in fact this work required almost 60 years of science and engineering before it was mature enough to ?nd its way into large-scale - plications. This is surprising, as at ?rst glance RFID is a simple technology that is straightforward to implement. And yet, its dull appearance hides great complexity: RFID involves several engineering disciplines, including systems, networking and software development, antenna design, radio propagation, - tegratedcircuittechniquesincreasinglyfocusedonprintedelectronics,receiver design, encryption and security protocols, and materials technology, to m- tion but a few. In this book, I attempt to present the main ingredients for building c- plete network RFID systems, written for a knowledgable computing audience. I hope this book will help practitioners and researchers alike in establishing a robust framework for thinking about rfid. I also hope that the book will help anyone involved with rfid technology to make informed decisions that are appropriate for their particular problem at hand.

RFID technology has been available for decades, but it is only recently that its application has become a core topic for computing. This book introduces the technologies and techniques of large-scale RFID-enabled mobile computing systems, set in the context of specific case studies.

The book begins with a quick introduction to RFID basics and then discusses the various elements of the topic, using applications such as e-passports, ticketing and supply-chain management throughout. The text explores RFID technology fundamentals, including operating principles, core system components and performance trade-offs involved in the selection of specific RFID platforms. The emphasis is on a practical approach, developing an arsenal of techniques and designs that can be mixed and matched to fit the needs of new systems and applications.

Features

• Offers a practical approach, with specific RFID applications providing context for discussion

• Highlights the basics of RFID, including wireless energy transfer and communication by reflection.

• Presents the main ingredients for building complete network RFID systems

• Discusses the different types of readers and tags in detail – making particular reference to common technologies used in real systems

• Explores how the different identifier systems encode unique serial codes for tagged entities, and how codes are assigned to particular organizations

• Describes the structure and functionality of modern RFID systems and middleware

• Considers different types of network services required for RFID support

• Debates the hot topics of privacy and security

• Looks at the future of RFID technology

• Allows readers to experiment via a supplementary website with operational instances of RFID network services: http://www.roussos.eu/rfid

Written for IT professionals as well as students, thiscomprehensive and reader-friendly text discusses the current state-of-the-art in RFID platforms and architecture. It will be invaluable for anyone experienced in software development and involved with RFID technology, and will facilitate informed decision-making.