Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Wireless systems course report

Student: Gundars Kalns Supervisor: Reza Moosavi

Linkpings University 2013

Contents

1. Introduction 2. RFID types 2.1 Tags 2.2 Operating frequencies 3. General Working principles 4. Data encoding 4.1 NRZ encoding 4.2 PIE encoding 4.3 Manchester encoding 4.4 Miller encoding 4.5 FM0 encoding 4.6 PPM encoding 4.7 MFM encoding 5. Modulation techniques 5.1 PR-ASK modulation 5.2 PJM modulation 5.3 GMSK modulation 6. RFID standards 6.1 ISO/IEC 18000-2 6.2 ISO/IEC 18000-3 6.3 ISO/IEC 18000-4 6.4 ISO/IEC 18000-6 6.5 ISO/IEC 18000-7 References

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1. Introduction

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a wireless system that uses radiofrequency electromagnetic fields to transfer information, and information in this case is identification number. In the simplest sense, it is like a digital barcode reader as it helps to identify particular products. But in this case Barcodes are transponders (tags) which have identification code that is read by RFID readers when tag is in the range of reader. Ranges differ by technology and used device. And comparing with barcode reading technology, tag does not need to be within the line of sight because it uses magnetic fields. However RFID technology has more advantages over barcodes for example tags have read and also write capabilities and with the ability to store, change and transmit much more data. RFID also is more complex as generally it means that it provides identification using radio frequency so there are hundreds of possible uses. And for different applications there need to be different approaches for example RFID technology used for door opening cannot be used for aircraft identification. That is why RFID technology includes different versions which use different kind of tags, readers, frequencies, standards, etc. Historically predecessor of this technology was developed in year 1948 when the idea of identifying friendly aircrafts was introduced. However just in year 1978 passive radio transponder with memory was introduced. That was the first true ancestor of RFID [1]. RFID is used for different appliances such as tracking, identifying, sorting, locating, even for paying and toll collection. There are lots of possible appliances. In the future, it is even expected that there will be a system for shopping in supermarkets to attach a tag to every product and after crossing the purchasing zone all products will be counted in system without barcode reading to each product separately [1]. However as RFID technology goes towards more and more serious appliances, security needs to be considered and security and privacy threats should be avoided. These risks include possibilities to access data in tag without the owners allowance. If someone could access protocols used in some application, this person could cheat for example by changing information in shops price tags. And even there could be viruses in tags which could create security threats in the system.

2. RFID types

As identification using electromagnetic waves offers lots of usage possibilities there are lots of RFID versions which include different protocols, frequencies, modulation techniques, data speeds, etc., as well as different kinds of tags. 2.1 Tags: From power source viewpoint there are 3 kinds of tags: active, semi-passive and passive. Active tags have their inner power source such as battery which provides tags with power. These tags usually periodically send out their signal even if the readers signals are not present. Passive tags doesnt contain inner power source and is fully dependent on interrogators sent energy. Wh en interrogator radiates out radio waves, antennas on the tag receive energy and it is accumulated in chip in order for the Integrated Circuit (IC) to work and send out signal. Semi-passive tag is something in between as it has its own power source however the power source is not used as in active mode to periodically send out signal but provides tag with energy just if the interrogators signals are present. So it is like passive tag but with exception that it takes energy not from interrogator but from its inner power source. The most often used type of tags is passive as it is much cheaper to produce tags without energy element. [2] Another way to classify tags, is by considering the storage type. There are basically 3 such types [3]. 1) Read-only memory: This is the simplest type of tags, because their ID number is written in factory and later it is just possible to read it. For a lot of applications, it is acceptable solution as ID is in the database and after reading tag, computer compares the obtained ID with the ones which are in the database. 2) Write once, read many (WORM): it is clear from its title that this type is similar to the previous type but with a possibility for the system administrator to write the ID on his own. After that the tag can be just read. 3) Read-write tag: Tag can be read and written as many times as it is needed. However there is also the 4th type, which is like pseudo-type since it is a tag without any memory. These are the tags which are attached to for example clothes. As there is no memory, the only thing that these tags can do is to signal its existence. For prevention from stealing it is an acceptable solution, since after buying the item, the tag is removed.

2.2 Operating frequencies: Different RFID systems operate in different frequency bands because each frequency range offers particular possibilities over others including operating range, power requirements and performance, also the size of the tag. There are frequency bands [2]: Low Frequency (LF) range: High Frequency (HF) range: Ultra High Frequency range: 120 150 kHz 13.56 MHz 433 MHz, In Europe 865.6 867.6 MHz (regulated by ETSI), USA 902 928 MHz, other countries particular range in between 860 960 MHz 2450 MHz, 5.8 GHz (standardization discontinued) 3.1 10 GHz

Microwave: Ultra Wide Band (UWB)

Low frequency range advantages include being able to operate in proximity of liquids, metal or dirt. Commonly they are passively powered and have short range around 10 cm. Disadvantage could be low data rates. 13.56 MHz frequency in high frequency range offers better data rate than LF but doesnt perform so good in proximity of liquids and metals. As 13.56 MHz frequency is in highly regulated band where in nearby frequencies some sensitive electronics like medical equipment works, it makes them undesirable in places such as hospitals. In this frequency also passive tags are used so it is good choice for short range identification. In addition these tags are quite cheap, for example as in 2006, one tag could be bought for less than 0.50 US Dollars. UHF 860 960 MHz advantages include wider read range and the tags are cheaper to manufacture. In 2006, the price per tag was approximately 0.15 US dollars and nowadays it is around just 5 US cents. However the tag cannot operate in proximity of liquids and metals because of interference. So applications like metal container tracking, animal tracking and access control are not feasible with UHF systems. In 433 MHz frequency active tags are used because of low power allowance of 10mW. Two major advantages are maximum communication range and propagation within crowded environments. However in 433 MHz system only active tags are used which means increased price, size and weight of the tag comparing with passive tag and battery changing.
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2.45 GHz: In this band tags are mostly active or semi-passive, but may be also passive. It offers higher data rates than previous types and tags can be smaller, there is wider band and they can be read from further distance. However tags usually cost more, use more power, multipath effects and fading need to be taken into account in distances greater than 1m. Moreover it share spectrum allocation with devices such as microwave ovens, tv devices, wi-fi and ZigBee devices as well. In microwave band There is also 5.8 GHz frequency introduced for RFID which offers less interference because of less congested band. However in the USA 5.8 GHz band is being used by Intelligent Transportation Services (ITS), and thus the standardization was discontinued. In Ultra Wide Band some implementations work between 3.1 to 10.6 GHz frequencies [4]. And instead of using one strong signal in narrow band, low power signal is transmitted in wide band. It offers advantages like larger reading range, possibility to operate in the proximity of liquids and metals, and since weak signal does not interfere with sensitive electronic equipment. However tags need to be active or semi-passive and because of that they are more expensive. There is no standard for devices for this frequency band.

3. General working principles

As RFID is a wireless technology, it uses radio waves for data transferring. RFID systems differ very much, but in figure 1 traditional working principle with passive tag is shown.

Figure 1. Typical RFID system overview This kind of system with passive tag and reader connected to database could be used for example as door unlocking system using the tag instead of the key. All initiation comes from the interrogator (reader) unit which typically sends out periodical RF signals in order to power up tag if it is present [5]. Tag then accumulates energy obtained from reader and rectifies and filters it in order to get direct current which powers up tags IC with memory. From memory data are sent to modulator which encodes and modulates the ID code. The signal then goes to the antenna which transmits the signal in space. The interrogator needs to be sensitive enough to receive signal from the tag. Tag signal is very weak comparing with interrogators signal, that is why the working distance with passive tags is limited. The code from the reader usually goes to a computer where it is compared with another IDs in database and can for example permit an access. Figure 2 illustrates a typical communication system which is used also in RFID.

Figure 2. RFID System from Communications System viewpoint [6, figure 4]

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In order for the reader to communicate with tags, it needs to send out radio signals which can be either just a ping for powering up tag - or could be multi round communication signals. If there are many tags present reader could perform anti-collision protocol. Tag usually consists of: An antenna, which in active tags case just transmits and receives radio signal, in passive tags also collects energy, Integrated circuit with memory which performs communication algorithms such as encoding, Tags inner clock, which generates frequency to transfer data from memory in particular data rate, Rectifier, filter and regulator help to provide tag with direct current, In rewritable tags there could be also memory writing circuit.

4. Data encoding

4.1 Non-return to zero Coding(NRZ):

Figure 4. NRZ coding [4, figure 6.8] This is the simplest coding scheme, because there actually is no encoding. It is used rarely because of many disadvantages for example produce high DC level.

4.2 Pulse interval encoding (PIE):

Figure 5. PIE coding [3, Figure 4-3] In this type of encoding pulse interval is modulated, where for 1 there is longer pulse than for 0. For pulse ending signalizes constant zero pulse.

4.3 Manchester encoding:

Figure 6. Manchester encoding [4, figure 6.8]

Manchester encoding is quite popular in RFID systems. It is simple and easy to implement, just by checking phase to clock signal. With this kind of encoding problem of transmitting long dc values is eliminated. It is also good from synchronization and error control viewpoint.

4.4 Miller encoding:

Figure 7. Miller encoding [4, figure 6.8] From the first look it is not so easy to understand, but there is a transition in the middle of a bit period if it is a 1 bit. There is a transition at the start of the bit period if the 0 bit is followed by a 0 bit. For a 0 followed by a 1 or a 1 followed by a 0, no transition occurs at the symbol interval. This code is very effective in terms of used bandwidth.

4.5 FM0 encoding:

Figure 8. FM0 encoding [4, figure 6.8] This also is often used type of encoding, where 1 consists of constant pulse during bit interval and 0 consists of 2 different level pulses. But there need to be transition between 2 bits. So duty cycle is between 45% and 55%.

4.6 Pulse position modulation data coding:

In 18000-3 standard there is used data coding mode 1 of 4 and 1 of 256. In this kind of data coding in constant symbol time interval pulse can be in different places. In 1 of 4 mode, pulse can be in one of 4 places pulse position determines two bits at a
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time. With mode 1 of 256 is the same principle but one pulse position determines 8 bits.

Figure 9. PPM 1 of 4 data encoding [9, ISO 18000-3, Figure G.5]

4.7 Modified frequency modulation

MFM advantage is the lowest bandwidth occupancy of the binary encoding methods. Simple principle is: A bit 1 is defined by a state change at the middle of a bit interval, A bit 0 is defined by a state change at the beginning of a bit interval and where a bit 0 immediately follows a bit 1 there is no state change.

Figure 10. MFM encoding. [9, ISO 18000-3, Figure 41]

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5. Modulation Techniques

Typically ASK, PSK, FSK and their forms are used in RFID systems. Mostly ASK is used and in many cases in form of OOK. For ISO 18000-6c standard there is used different forms of ASK - SSB ASK, DSB ASK and PR ASK. 5.1 Phase reversal ASK: PR-ASK changes phase 180 each time a symbol is sent, it allows narrow band while maximizes power transport to tag. It creates AM index 100%.

Figure 11. Traditional ASK modulation compared with PR-ASK modulation [10, Figure 4] 5.2 Phase Jitter Modulation:

Figure 12. PJM example [9, Figure A.1]

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This is the variation of PSK where phase is changed just by 1 - 2. The advantage of using this kind of modulation is that sideband levels can be set to any arbitrary level without affecting the data rate.

5.3 Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK): It is variation of FSK, but it uses spectrum more efficiently. It doesnt use amplitude modulation that is why it is more resilient to noise. Gaussian minimum shift keying is originated from Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) but after this modulation is digital data is shaped with Gaussian filter.

Figure 12. MSK signal waveforms. [11] With MSK there are just 4 different types of bit signal. 1 is with some particular frequency and 0 is with frequency that is 1,5 times bigger. Also for each frequency there are 2 phase angle states for smooth 0 to 1 or opposite transition.

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6. RFID standards As RFID technology is very widely used, for example in payment systems and tracking, standards are very important because they help to increase confidence, broaden markets, provide guidelines how to develop RFID products, etc. But RFID products are manufactured by so many companies for so many purposes - that is why there are so many different standards. Mainly there are two standardization companies which are related to RFID ISO/IEC and EPC Global. EPC Global standards are just for UHF band RFID air interface protocols while ISO/IEC standards include [7]: Air Interface Communications protocol standards, which describe the physical layer of system, protocols, structure of commands and responses and anti-collision algorithms. Data content standards, which describe how information needs to be formatted. Device communication standards, which describe how reader and computer communicate. Application standards, which describe how products need to be used. Conformance standards, which describe ways to test the products to meet the standards.

Physical layer and air interface protocol are described in ISO 18000 standards group [8] which is divided in 7 parts: ISO/IEC 18000-1: Generic Parameters for Air Interface Communication for globally Accepted Frequencies 6.1 ISO/IEC 18000-2 [9]: Parameters for Air Interface Communications below 135 kHz In this standard, the concept is interrogator talks first. Typically tags transfer 64 bit unique identifier where the first 8 bits are allocation class, the next 8 bits are the number of manufacturer and the last 48 bits are unique id number. For error correction 16 bit Cyclic Redundancy Code (CRC) can be used but it is optional. Algorithms for anti-collision are also included in standard. This standard specifies that 2 kinds of tags can be used: FDX and HDX. FDX tags operate at 125 kHz, HDX at 134.2 kHz. FDX tags: For interrogator to tag communication: ASK modulation with a modulation index of 90% - 100% is used. Encoding type is Pulse Interval Encoding (PIE). Because in PIE the transfer of 0 and 1 takes different amount of time,
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assuming equally distributed 0 and 1 bits the average data rate is 5.1 kbps. Channel bandwidth is 4 kHz. For tag to interrogator communication: inductive coupling is the way to transfer signal. 4 kbps Manchester encoding is used. To improve tags collision detection, during the inventory process 2 kbps Dual Pattern (DP) data coding is used. In Figure 3 Manchester encoding with DP coding is compared. Channel bandwidth is 10 kHz. Start Of Frame (SOF) pattern is code used to start communication. In this standard it is Manchester coded bit sequence of 110 and no End Of Frame (EOF) pattern is used. End of frame pattern signals to tag that communication ends.

Figure 3. Manchester coding (left) inventory command coding (right). [9, figure 5] HDX tags: For interrogator to tag communication: ASK modulation with PIE is used. Data rates for slow communication is 1 kbps and for fast data rate 2.3 kbps. Slow rate and fast rate differ on pulse width. For communication tag to interrogator: NRZ coding with FSK modulation is used. Low bit frequency is the same carrier frequency 134.2 kHz and High bit frequency is in range 123,7 4,2 kHz. Data rate is improved in such a way and average data rate is 8 kbit/s. SOF and EOF patterns consist each of 6 bits. Interrogator to tag bandwidth is 8 kHz, whereas for tag to interrogator it is 15 kHz. 6.2 ISO/IEC 18000-3 [9]: Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 13.56 MHz In ISO 18000-3 standard there are 2 operating modes which can work without interfering with each other.

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MODE 1: When communication is initiated, there are 2 tag response formats - with precursor and without it. Precursor is first part of communication, it helps to perform anti-collision algorithms in early stages. During the precursor communication, frequency that is 32 times smaller than carrier frequency and Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying (DBPSK) is used for modulation. Interrogator to tag communication is in bandwidth 13,56 MHz +/- 7 kHz. 2 kinds of amplitude modulation are used with 100% or 10% modulation index. Tags shall decode both. Data coding technique is Pulse Position Modulation (PPM). 2 data coding modes shall be supported by tag 1 of 256 (with data rate 1.65 kbit/s) and 1 of 4 (with data rate 26.48 kbps). For tag to interrogator communication 1 or 2 subcarrier frequencies are used: either just 423.75 kHz or also 484.28 kHz. With 2 subcarriers occupied channel bandwidth is 13,56 MHz (484,28 kHz 40 kHz). Manchester coding is used for data encoding and CRC 16 code for error correction. MODE 2: Interrogator to tag communication: 13,56 MHz +/- 7 kHz bandwidth is occupied. Data are modulated in Phase Jitter Modulation (PJM) with min level +/- 1,0 and max. level +/- 2,0 . PJM is PM variation where signal phase differ by just small angle in this case 1 - 2. For data coding is used Modified Frequency Modulation (MFM). In this way data rate is 423.75 kbps. Tag to interrogator communication uses 13,56 MHz 3,013 MHz frequency range. Tag can use one of 8 subcarrier frequencies in this range (969; 1233; 1507; 1808; 2086; 2465; 2712; 3013 kHz) where each subcarrier frequency has 106 kHz bandwidth. BPSK is used for modulation in this case with MFM data coding. MFM is used because it has the lowest bandwidth occupancy comparing with other binary encoding methods. From tag to reader data rate is 105,9375 kbps. This is full-duplex system. CRC codes are used also in this standard: 16 bit CRC for interrogator to tag and 32 bit - tag to interrogator. When many tags are present, Time and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FTDMA) principle is used. Tags then each randomly choose one of 8 subcarrier channels and after valid command, transmit the reply, after next command choose another channel and sends again. Tags which are identified are muted so they dont respond to commands anymore. 6.3 ISO/IEC 18000-4 [9]: Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 2.45 GHz In this standard there also are 2 modes. MODE 1 is a passive backscatter RFID system.
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Encoding Error control coding Operating frequency range Max occupied channel bandwidth Modulation Data rate

Interrogator to tag Tag to interrogator Manchester encoding FM0 CRC 16 2400 to 2483.5 MHz 0.5 MHz ASK with modulation index of 99% 30 40 kbps ASK

MODE 2: Long range high data rate RFID system it is appropriate for long range with active tags. Interrogator to tag Encoding Error control coding Operating frequency range Max occupied channel bandwidth Modulation Data rate No encoding Tag to interrogator R/O-tag R/W-tag (notification) Miller Miller

R/W-tag (communication) Manchester

Different types of CRCs for detection are used 2400 to 2483.5 MHz

1 MHz DBPSK or OOK 76,8 kbit/s

GMSK 384 kbps

DBPSK 76,8 kbit/s

DBPSK 384 kbit/s

The communication between interrogator and tag is based on Time Division Duplexing/Time Division Multiplexing (TDD/TDM). 6.4 ISO/IEC 18000-6 [9]: Parameters for Air Interface Communications at 860 to 960 MHz This is half-duplex system. In this group there are 3 types of RFID systems. Type A: Interrogator to tag PIE
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Data coding

Tag to interrogator FM0

Modulation Modulation index Data rate Error control coding Type B characteristics:

ASK 27% to 100% 33 kbps (mean) 40 or 160 kbps 5 bit CRC; 16 bit CRC 16 bit CRC

Data coding Modulation Modulation index Data rate Error control coding

Interrogator to tag Manchester

Tag to interrogator FM0 ASK 18% or 100% 10 or 40 kbit/s (according to local regulations) 16 bit CRC

EPC Global had class 1 and class 2 standards which were not compatible with ISO 18000 standards. As EPC Global grew in popularity their new standard - Class1 Generation 2 (Gen2) - was included in ISO 18000-6 part as type C in year 2006. Type C characteristics: Interrogator to tag PIE DSB-ASK, SSB-ASK or PRASK (Phase-reversal amplitude shift keying) not less than 80% up to 128 kbps 16 bit CRC Tag to interrogator FM0 or Miller PRASK

Encoding Modulation

Modulation depth Data rates Error correction codes 6.5 ISO/IEC 18000-7 [9]: 433.92 MHz

up to 320 kbps

Parameters for Air Interface Communications at

Encoding Modulation Data rate Error correction codes Channel bandwidth

Interrogator to tag Tag to interrogator Manchester FSK with frequency deviation of +/- 50 kHz 27,7 kbps 16 bit CRC 500 kHz 200 kHz

ISO/IEC 18000-5 was standard for microwave communications at 5.8 GHz, but is withdrawn.

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References

[1] Wikipedia web page. Last edited 13. april 2013. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification [2] Stephen A. Weis, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): Principles and Applications, MIT CSAIL, pp. Available: http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs199r/readings/rfid-article.pdf [3] Jerry Banks et al., RFID applied, Wiley & Sons inc., 2007, pp. 61 123. [4] Harvey Lehpamer, RFID design principles, Artech House inc., 2008, pp. 103 132, 223227. [5] Louis E. Frenzel Jr, McGraw Hill, Principles of Electronic Communication Systems

3rd edition, 2008, pp. 840 844. [6] Guang Yang, Coding for passive RFID commuication, Ph. D. dissertation, The selmer center, department of informatics, University of Bergen, Norway, March 2012, Available:
https://bora.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/6208/44996%20Yang%20main_thesis.pdf?sequ ence=1

[7] rfid.net webpage, last updated: 13 March 2012, Available:

http://rfid.net/basics/196-rfid-standards-101[8] Bob Violino, A Summary of RFID Standards, 16 January 2005, Available: http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?1335/ [9] ISO/IEC 18000 standards: Information technology -- Radio frequency identification for item management. (ISO/IEC 18000-2:2009, ISO/IEC 18000-3: 2010, ISO/IEC 18000-4: 2008, ISO/IEC 18000-6: 2013, ISO/IEC 18000-7: 2009) [10] Darren McCarthy, RFID Technology and Testing 3 February, 2009, Available: http://www.eetimes.com/design/microwave-rf-design/4019025/RFID-Technology-andTesting [11] Radio-electronics.com webpage, What is GMSK Modulation - Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying, Available: http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/rf-technology-design/pm-phasemodulation/what-is-gmsk-gaussian-minimum-shift-keying-tutorial.php

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