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RFID Technologies. Master seminar : Tangible User Interfaces Bruno Dumas – DIVA Group University of Fribourg. 9.12.2005. Presentation summary. “RFID” ? Base of the technology Technical aspects Advantages & Limitations “Standard” applications Applications to TUIs Conclusion. “RFID” ?.
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RFID Technologies Master seminar : Tangible User Interfaces Bruno Dumas – DIVA Group University of Fribourg 9.12.2005
Presentation summary • “RFID” ? • Base of the technology • Technical aspects • Advantages & Limitations • “Standard” applications • Applications to TUIs • Conclusion
“RFID” ? • RFID -> Radio Frequency IDentification • Derived from early military technology (russian “bugs”, 1939 Allied IFF systems, etc.) • First papers on the RFID theory in the 60’s • First high scale deployments in the 90’s • 21st century : RFID everywhere ?
Base of the Technology • Necessary elements : a reader and a tag • Reader sends a wave at a given frequency • If a tag is close enough to the reader, it will receive the wave • The tag is designed to take advantage of the wave energy to send back an answer, enclosing (for example) its identity
? Base of the technology ?
Technical aspects : Tags • Different types of tags : • (Pure) passive • Semi-active (same technology than passive tags, but battery assisted) • Active (contain a transceiver, battery assisted) Increase in read range, but also in price !
Technical Aspects : frequencies • RFID operates at different frequencies
Technical aspects : protocols • Numerous protocols… • … Really numerous : • ISO standards • Industry-defined (EPC) standards • US Department of Defense standards • And *lots* of proprietary solutions…
Technical aspects : Protocols • Proof by example : the 860-930 Mhz range
Advantages As Sokymat says… But sometimes very low range Mainly valid for high frequency tags Depends of the material Not all tags have this functionality Only valid for low frequency tags
Limitations • Read range (for passive tags, less than 1 meter in most cases, sometimes even less than a few cm !) • Security (nothing at this time, at least among the standards; planned ?) • Multi-tag management (collision problems with some types of readers and tags) • Interferences with metals and liquids • No unification between the different protocols
Case study : US Passport • The US decided to introduce RFID chips into their new passport • Goal : easily integrate machine reading of personal and biometrics data • … All this with no security at all… • They were finally told of the dangers and reviewed the concept • The « new » passport contains encryption, shielding, some sort of PIN code…
“Real” advantages • Cost will necessarily go down • As a replacement for the bar code, good technology • Linked with other technologies (like GPS or sensors), can become really attractive
“Standard” Applications • Presented as a successor of the bar code (which shall still remain in place a few years, though) • Supply chain • Traceability • Animal Identification • Checkpoint systems • …
Application to TUIs • Augmented documents • Tangible bookmarks • Easy “interfacisation” of random objects • Etc… • What could be the limit when every product is tagged ?
Conclusion • Present state of the RFID : • Nonetheless, will be a major piece of our future • Dearly desired by the industry • Desirable for the TUI research • … as a tool • … mixed with other technologies ?
Final anecdote • Some fundamentalist Christians firmly believe that RFID is in reality… • … The Mark of the Beast !!! (Cf. Wikipedia.org for more details ^^ )
References • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID • K. Finkenzeller, RFID handbook : fundamentals and applications in contactless smart cards and identification, Wiley & Sons 2004. • S. Shepard, RFID : radio frequency identification, McGraw Hill 2005. • RFID: a week long survey on the technology and its potential • Bridging Physical and Virtual Worlds with Electronic Tags • Real Applications using RFID tags • AIM RFID Emblem