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Applications for
RFID
Low-frequency RFID tags are commonly used for animal
identification, beer keg tracking, and automobile key-and-lock,
anti-theft systems. Pets are often embedded with small chips so that
they may be returned to their owners if lost. In the United States,
two RFID frequencies are used: 125kHz (the original standard) and
134.5kHz, the international standard.
High-frequency RFID
tags are used in library book or bookstore tracking, pallet
tracking, building access control, airline baggage tracking, and
apparel item tracking. High-frequency tags are widely used in
identification badges, replacing earlier magnetic stripe cards.
These badges need only be held within a certain distance of the
reader to authenticate the holder.
UHF RFID tags are commonly
used commercially in pallet and container tracking, and truck and
trailer tracking in shipping yards.
Microwave RFID tags are
used in long range access control for vehicles, an example being
General Motors' OnStar system.
Some toll booths, such as
California's FasTrak system, use RFID tags for electronic toll
collection. The tags are read as vehicles pass; the information is
used to debit the toll from a prepaid account. The system helps to
speed traffic through toll plazas.
Sensors such as seismic
sensors may be read using RFID transceivers, greatly simplifying
remote data collection.
In January 2003, Michelin announced
that it has begun testing RFID transponders embedded into tires.
After a testing period that is expected to last 18 months, the
manufacturer will offer RFID-enabled tires to car-makers. Their
primary purpose is tire-tracking in compliance with the United
States Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and
Documentation Act (TREAD Act).
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Electronic Product
Code
The Electronic Product Code, (EPC), is an
electronically coded tag that is intended as an improvement on the
UPC barcode system. The EPC is a 96-bit tag which contains a number
called the Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN). Unlike a UPC
number, which only provides information specific to a group of
products, the GTIN gives each product its own specific identifying
number, giving greater accuracy in tracking. The EPC was the
creation of the MIT AutoID Center, a consortium of over 120 global
corporations and university labs. The EPC system is currently
managed by EPCGlobal Inc., a subsidiary of the Electronic Article
Numbering Group and the Uniform Code Council, creators of the UPC
barcode.
ISO
14443A
Approved in 1997, the particular that defines ISO
14443A is its 100% modulation depth. In the real world application,
this means that the reader stops emitting its field for prescribed
periods of time. This is also the most widely used contactless
standard in the world and is used by two main memory products –
Mifare and PicoPass. This standard is used for many applications
including transport applications.
ISO 14443B
Due the limitations of its
predecessor’s modulation depth - it was inherently unsuitable for
microchips that require a continuous clock – the ISO 14443B was
established. The defining variable of the B series is its 10%
modulation depth that serves to preserve the continuity of the
clock. Due to its advances, ISO 14443B has been adopted as the
national standard for a number of countries, such as the U.S., China
and Japan.
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ISO 15693
Building upon
advances in technology, ISO 15693 was established with the main goal
of increasing the distance of communication. Whereas the 14443
series was limited by a communication distance of only 10cm, ISO
15693 increased that distance to 50cm – 70cm. The main advantage of
this standard is its use in vicinity applications that require the
reader and card to communicate over a greater distance.
Magnetic
stripe
Magnetic stripe, sometimes called magstripe, refers
to a band of magnetic material on credit cards, transit fare cards
or identification cards to store information. The magnetic stripe is
read by physical contact and swiping past a reading
head.
This is in contrast to the newer generation of smart
cards which contain an actual computer chip with metal contacts, or
contactless cards which use a magnetic field for close-proximity
reading.
Memory
Cards
Memory cards (also known as "dumb" smart cards
because they can only store data, not process it like a computer)
are typically single-use, disposable cards. Prepaid telephone cards
and the Visa Cash cards used in the Atlanta Olympic Games are
examples of this type of memory card. A reusable version, which can
be reloaded with monetary value, is also available.
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Potential uses for
RFID
RFID tags are often envisioned as a replacement for
UPC bar-codes, having a number of important advantages over the
older bar-code technology. RFID codes are long enough that every
RFID tag may have a unique code, while UPC codes are limited to a
single code for all instances of a particular product. The
uniqueness of RFID tags means that a product may be individually
tracked as it moves from location to location, finally ending up in
the consumer's hands. This may help companies to combat theft and
other forms of product loss. It has also been proposed to use RFID
for point-of-sale store checkout to replace the cashier with an
automatic system, with the option of erasing all RFID tags at
checkout and paying by credit card or inserting money into a payment
machine. (http://www.ncr.com/repository/articles/pdf/sa_selfcheckout_integratedsolutions.pdf).
An
organization called EPCglobal is working on a proposed international
standard for the use of RFID and the Electronic Product Code (EPC)
in the identification of any item in the supply chain for companies
in any industry, anywhere in the world. The organization's board of
governors includes representatives from EAN International, Uniform
Code Council, The Gillette Company, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart,
Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, and Auto-ID
Labs.
Many somewhat far-fetched uses, such as allowing a
refrigerator to track the expiration dates of the food it contains,
have also been proposed, but few have moved beyond the prototype
stage.
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RFID
Frequency
There are four different frequency ranges used
for tags: low, high, and ultra-high and microwave?
RFID
technology uses radio waves to communicate and therefore different
radio frequencies effect that communication. The most common
frequencies used are low (125 KHz to 135 KHz), high (13.56 MHz),
ultra high (850MHz to 956MHz), and microwave (2.4 GHz). Different
frequencies offer comparative advantages in range, power, and cost
and are therefore used with consideration of the required
application.
How do I know which frequency is right for my
application?
As stated above, different frequencies offer
comparative advantages in range and power and are therefore used
with consideration of the required application as well as other
business considerations such as cost effectiveness.
Low
Frequency tags have short ranges, but are also less expensive and
use less power making them ideally suited for mass production such
as security access cards and tracking assets.
High Frequency
and Ultra High Frequency tags provide longer reading ranges and high
speed data transfer, but have a higher system cost.
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Types of RFID Tags
RFID
tags can be either active or passive. Passive RFID tags do not have
their own power supply: the minute electrical current induced in the
antenna by the incoming radio-frequency scan provides enough power
for the tag to send a response. Due to power and cost concerns, the
response of a passive RFID tag is necessarily brief, typically just
an ID number. Lack of its own power supply makes the device quite
small: commercially available products exist that can be embedded
under the skin. As of 2004, the smallest such devices commercially
available measured 0.4 mm _ 0.4 mm, and thinner than a sheet of
paper; such devices are practically invisible. Passive tags have
practical read ranges that vary from about 10 mm up to about 5
metres.
Active RFID tags, on the other hand, must have a
power source, and may have longer ranges and larger memories than
passive tags, as well as the ability to store additional information
sent by the transceiver. At present, the smallest active tags are
about the size of a coin. Many active tags have practical ranges of
tens of metres, and a battery life of up to several years.
As
passive tags are much cheaper to manufacture, the vast majority of
RFID tags in existence are of the passive variety.
There are
four different kinds of tags commonly in use, their differences
based on the level of their radio frequency: Low frequency tags
(between 125 to 134 kilohertz), High frequency tags (13.56
megahertz), UHF tags (868 to 956 megahertz), and Microwave tags
(2.45 gigahertz).
See also for some Transponder devices which
deliver a similar function, and contactless chipcards.
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What is a SAM?
SAM
stands for Security Access Module which is a smart card module
dedicated to the active authentication. This is the principal module
for security and identification that gives the smart card its active
component in communicating for security and authentication
applications.
What is a semiconductor?
A
semiconductor is, at face, an element that is neither a good
conductor nor insulator of electricity, such as silicon. The main
principal is that since it does not fall directly into either
category, it lends itself to the manipulation of electric current
based on the manipulation of electrons under certain conditions. Due
to its ability of allowing the manipulation of electric current,
semiconductors are used as the basic building block for Integrated
circuits and microprocessors.
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What is a SIM?
A
subscriber identity module (SIM) is a smart card securely storing
the key identifying a mobile subscriber. SIMs are most widely used
in GSM systems, but a compatible module is also used for UMTS UEs.
The card also contains storage space for text messages and a phone
book.
By using a SIM card, a subscriber can easily change the
phone itself without losing his or her phone book and most
importantly, without having to change her phone number.
Early
versions consisted of the whole fullsize (85 x 54 mm) smart card.
Soon the race for a smaller telephones called for a smaller version
of the card. The card was cropped down to 25 x 15 mm (as
illustrated). Since the SIM card slot is standardized (by the
GSM11.11 standard), a subscriber can change carriers and use his
current phone with a new provider's SIM card. However, this is
difficult in the United States; almost all U.S. GSM providers
SIM-lock phones that they sell—i.e., electronically lock their
phones so that they can only be used with the provider's own SIM
cards.
Some providers will unlock a customer's phone once he
or she has fulfilled the service contract. Others, such as T-Mobile
USA, have been known to unlock phones after a few months. Others,
such as AT&T Wireless, will not unlock phones under any
circumstances. AT&T Wireless not only locks its phones against
its direct competitors, but even locks them against non-AT&T
Wireless providers that have partnership agreements with the
company.
The use and content of the card is protected by
several levels of access codes. PIN is the every day access code for
normal use of the phone. PIN2 is reqired to use special functions
(like limiting outbound telephone calls to a list of numbers). PUK1
and PUK2 is used to reset PIN1 and PIN2 respectively.
The SIM
is also a database—it stores network information such as its current
location area identity (LAI). If the handset is turned off and back
on again it will take data off the SIM and search for the LAI it was
in. This saves time by avoiding having to search the whole list of
frequencies that the telephone normally would.
Japan's PDC
system also specifies a SIM, but this has never been implemented
commercially. The specification of the interface between the Mobile
Equipment and the SIM is given in the RCR STD-27 annex 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM
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What is a smart card
module?
A smart card module refers the Integrated circuit
chip and contact plate that is embedded within the smart
card.
What is a
smart card?
A smartcard or smart card is a tiny secure
cryptoprocessor embedded within a credit card-sized or smaller (like
the GSM SIM) card.
Smart cards were invented and patented in
France by Roland Moreno in the 1970s. Their first mass usage was
payment in the French payphones starting from 1983 (Télécarte). The
second one was the integration of a microchip into all French debit
cards (Carte Bleue).
The ISO/IEC 7816 series of standards
define:
- the physical shape of the smart card
- the positions and shapes of its electrical connectors
- the communications protocols and power voltages to be applied
to those connectors
- the functionality
- the format of the commands sent to the card and the response
returned by the card
The cards do not contain a battery; power is supplied by the card
reader.
In a contact-type smart card, the chip can be recognized
by an area of gold-plated contacts about 1 cm2 close to the short
side of the card. Normally the contact communication is relatively
slow (9.6-115.2 kbit/s). There is currently a trend towards
implementing USB 1 on these contacts (up to 10 Mbit/s), but there is
not yet a final standard.
The applications of smartcards
include their use as credit or ATM cards, SIMs for mobile phones,
authorization cards for pay television, high security identification
and access control cards, public transport tickets,
etc.
Smart cards may also be used as electronic wallets. The
smart card chip can be loaded with electronic money, which can be
used to pay parking meters, vending machines, and merchants.
Cryptographic protocols protect the exchange of money between the
smart card and the accepting machine. Examples for this are Proton,
GeldKarte, Moneo and Quick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_card
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What is a wafer?
A
wafer refers to the semiconductor, usually silicon that the
Integrated circuit chip is built upon. It gets its name from its
wafer-like appearance.
What is an IC?
IC stands for
Integrated Circuit. Built upon the semiconductor wafer, the IC
consists of the integration of the microprocessor, ROM, RAM, EPROM
or EEPROM, which together comprise the circuit.
What is meant by
“contactless” smart card?
Contactless smart card refers to
a card with an RFID chip which does not require physical contact
with a reader to operate. Contactless smart card technology is based
upon ISO 14443 A/B, ISO 15693 and ISO18000 standards. Functionality
ranges from basic reading/writing, data storage, to more intelligent
functions such as cryptography. This technology lends itself to
multiple uses from authenticating identity and allowing admittance
to a building, to reading from long distances at drive through
toll-booths.
What
is Dual Interface?
This interface allows cards to be read
by contact and contactless readers.
EMV
EMV is an acronym for EuroPay
MasterCard and Visa that refers to preset specifications that define
the structure for international debit/credit cards. These major
international banking institutions set an international standard for
the use of smart card banking solutions in order to create
uniformity for international financial transactions. The standards
they set address the data and protocol along with extremely high
level data security mechanisms to protect the sensitive financial
data of the card across multiple international banking
systems.
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What is GSM?
GSM
stands for Global Service for Mobile Communications which is an
established system that lets subscribers access the global
communication network via a SIM card.
What is MIFARE?
MIFARE is a
platform introduced by Phillips that adheres to the standards set by
ISO 14443A and is an industry standard for both contactless and dual
interface schemes. It is used extensively in electronic ticketing,
public transportation and access control.
What is RFID?
Radio
frequency identification (RFID) is a method of remotely storing and
retrieving data using devices called RFID tags. An RFID tag is a
small object, such as an adhesive sticker, that can be attached to
or incorporated into a product. RFID tags contain antennas to enable
them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID
transceiver. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID.
What is UIM
UIM is
an acronym for User Identification Module which refers to a
subscriber identity module for standards other than GSM. It is used
for any applications other than GSM that require the identification
and authentication of a subscriber to a service.
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