The physics behind RFID

RFID Journal University: Alan Thorne

Presentation prepared by EasyEPC

April 4, 2005

Radio frequency identification

Multiple RFID tags and readers

Radio frequency identification

Basic overview of RFID
Fundamental principles and terminology
Electromagnetic radiation
Radio communication
Antennas
How RFID works
Basic operation
Passive, semi-passive and active
Tags and readers
Alternative forms of RFID

Electromagnetic radiation
Propagation of energy,
in the form of a wave
Nature can be altered
Frequency
Amplitude

Electromagnetic radiation
Nature of EM radiation first studied in 19th Century
Maxwell, Hertz and others

Power in Watts

wavelength

NB different ways of
measuring Watts!

Frequency in Hertz
or wavelength in m
Think in terms of EM spectrum
wavelength = speed/frequency
speed = 300,000,000 ms-1
eg freq = 918,000,000 Hz (918MHz)

Electromagnetic spectrum
Grouped into bands

Radio waves
Several bands have
similar properties
between them

Band
designation
Frequency
Wavelength

LF
low
frequency

MF
medium
frequency

HF
high
frequency

VHF
very high
frequency

UHF
ultra high
frequency

SHF
super high
frequency

30300kHz 300kHz3MHz 330MHz 30300MHz 300MHz3GHz 330GHz

101km

1000100m

10010m

10m1m

1m0.1m

0.10.01m

Radio communication
Transmitter and receiver
Electronics plus antenna
Transfer of:

Antenna

Information
Energy

Often have
transceivers
Transmitter

Receiver

Radio communication

Modulation
air interface
physical layer protocol

Many different techniques

AM, FM, Manchester, bi-phase
May use several simultaneously

Radio communication is either near-field or far-field

Two very different mechanisms for EM comms
Can think of as electromagnetic vs magnetic
Based on distance of communication wrt frequency used

Far-field (electromagnetic)
Long distances or high frequencies (e.g. UHF)
More sensitive to environment (e.g. metal, water)

Near-field (magnetic)
Short distances and low frequencies (e.g. LF or HF)

Radio frequency identification

Basic overview of RFID
Fundamental principles and terminology
Electromagnetic radiation
Radio communication
Antennas
How RFID works
Basic operation
Passive, semi-passive and active
Tags and readers
Alternative forms of RFID

 Antenna is critical to operation

Transmit and receive antennas
Equally important

Antenna form factor (size, shape) varies

Near and far field are different
In far-field, wavelength is important

wavelength/2

Antennas

wavelength = 300M ms-1/915MHz

= 300,000,000/915,000,000
= 33cm

Radiation patterns, range and reliability

Antennas are usually directional
Transmit or receive energy in particular direction
Can map the radiation pattern

Radiation patterns, range and reliability

Theoretical complexities
Practical effects
Nulls
Near-field example

Radiation patterns, range and reliability

Theoretical complexities
Practical effects
Nulls
Far-field example

Far-field antenna polarisation

Two types of far-field antenna
Linearly polarised
Circularly polarised

Linear

Energy radiates in a fixed linear fashion

Gives rise to greatest ranges
Tends to generate a narrow beam
Requires alignment of both transmit and receive
antennas

Far-field antenna polarisation

Two types of far-field antenna
Linearly polarised
Circularly polarised

Circular

Energy radiates in a rotating fashion

Tends to generate a wider beam
Reduced range
Alignment of antennas less critical
Works better in presence of multipath and scattering

Multiple antennas
Transceiver may have more than one antenna
Uses a multiplexer to switch between them
Only one can be used at a time

Can increase coverage

Multiple antennas
Transceiver may have more than one antenna
Uses a multiplexer to switch between them
Only one can be used at a time

Can increase coverage

Can increase reliability
Overcome nulls
Help with antenna alignment

Radio frequency identification

Basic overview of RFID
Fundamental principles and terminology
Electromagnetic radiation
Radio communication
Antennas
How RFID works
Basic operation
Passive, semi-passive and active
Tags and readers
Alternative forms of RFID

Multiple tags and multiple readers

Need to prevent collisions
When two simultaneous transmissions interfere

Singulate tags using anti-collision protocol

Probabalistic approaches
Deterministic, reader querying (tree-walking)
Singulated tags become silent

Multiple tags and multiple readers

Need to prevent collisions
When two simultaneous transmissions interfere

Singulate tags using anti-collision protocol

Probabalistic approaches
Deterministic, reader querying (tree-walking)
Singulated tags become silent

Reader anti-collision needed too

Listen-before-talk
Frequency hopping (spread spectrum)

Whats in an RFID tag?

Tag = chip + antenna + substrate

Chip
Contains the electronic circuitry on a small piece of silicon
May be 1mm2 down to 1/100th mm2 (size of a grain of
sand!)
Also called silicon chip, integrated circuit (IC), nanoblock
Contains separate parts to do

Power collection and supply

Logic to process information from reader and construct replies
Circuits to perform communication with the reader
Memory to store identity and other information

Whats in an RFID tag?

Tag = chip + antenna + substrate

Antenna

Conductive; usually metal foil (e.g. copper)

In far-field, takes the form of a wavelength dipole
In near-field, is a loop of 3-10 turns
Dominant in determining the size of the complete tag

Susbstrate
Plastic or paper film
Acts as physical medium for attaching chip and antenna

Whats in an RFID reader?

Reader = case + electronics + power supply + antenna

Electronics
Host computer interface serial and/or ethernet
Microcontroller circuitry
RF transmitter, receiver and antenna switch

Antenna
Internal antenna and/or external antenna ports

Power supply
Battery or mains transformer

Types of reader
Multi protocol, multi frequency
Support for different air interfaces and different operating freqs

Wireless
Use separate wireless communication to host computer
Unlikely to re-use circuitry
If mains powered then not truly wireless, but easier to install

Handheld
Most likely wireless, or requiring periodic synchronisation

Label printer/applicator
Automatically applies self-adhesive RFID tags to cases etc
Most likely prints visible information as well (barcode and
human)

Radio frequency identification

Basic overview of RFID
Fundamental principles and terminology
Electromagnetic radiation
Radio communication
Antennas

How RFID works

Basic operation
Passive, semi-passive and active
Tags and readers

Alternative forms of RFID

Alternative types of RFID

Presentation has focussed on mainstream RFID
Will always be variations between different systems
Many aspects simplified in order to help explain them
Alternative approaches already exist, and more will be
developed

Resonant, LC tags

Similar technology to EAS security tags

Limited data storage capacity
No capability for sophisticated functionality
Cheap

Alternative types of RFID

Magnetic
Replace chip with layers of magnetic material
Very cheap (<1c)
Robust to high
temperatures
Limited data storage capacity
No capability for sophisticated functionality
Less range
Limited ability to read multiple tags simultaneously

Alternative types of RFID

Surface acoustic wave technology
Replace complex silicon chip with SAW chip
Much cheaper
Tagging metals less
problematic
Robust to high temperatures
Typically 2.5GHz operation, i.e. smaller antennas
Truly simultaneous identification of multiple tags
Limited data storage capacity
No capability for sophisticated functionality
More prone to interference

Radio frequency identification

Basic overview of RFID
Fundamental principles and terminology
Electromagnetic radiation
Radio communication
Antennas

How RFID works

Basic operation
Passive, semi-passive and active
Tags and readers
Alternative forms of RFID