RFID: What & Why Stefano Coluccini (caenrfid srl) GDG-Firenze 5 Giugno 2014

1. CAENRFID
RFID: What and Why
GDG Firenze
June 2014
Stefano Coluccini
CMO
s.coluccini@caen.it

2. Storia dell’RFID
o La tecnologia RFID è stata utilizzata per la prima volta dalla RAF
durante la prima guerra mondiale per scopi di IFF (Identification
Friend or Foe)
o Anni 70 – Identificazione di materiale in aree radioattive
o 1977 – I laboratori Los Alamos rendono la tecnologia di pubblico
dominio
o Anni 80 – I primi tag passivi e le prime applicazioni in ambito
commerciale
o 2000 – I primi standard e l’interesse delle grandi aziende

3. What is RFID
Reader Antenna TagHost PC

4. Principi di funzionamento
• Il reader trasmette e riceve simultanemente
• Il tag prende l’energia dalla trasmissione del reader
• Il tag modula la sua impedenza di antenna che cambia la
potenza di backscatter

5. Principi di funzionamento
• Trasmissione dati in
backscattering
• Modulazione di
ampiezza

6. The Great Seal Bug
• Regalato nel 1946 da una scolaresca
sovietica all’ambasciatore USA
• Scoperto solo nel 1952
• Tra i primi esempi di tecnologia
backscatter
• Attivazione attraverso un campo a
radiofrequenza esterno, quasi
impossibile da rilevare
• Principio di funzionamento molto simile
alla moderna tecnologia UHF RFID

7. Classificazione Bande di Frequenza
Super Low
Frequency
Very Low
Frequency
Low
Frequency
Medium
Frequency
High
Frequency
Very High
Frequency
Ultra High
Frequency
UHF
3 Hz – 3 kHz 3-30 kHz 30-300 kHz 300kHz -3MHz 3-30 MHz 30-300 MHz 300MHz-3GHz
time
RFID:
 900 MHz
Preference
GS1/
EPCglobal

8. LF/HF vs. UHF
• Accoppiamento magnetico
• Freq. op. 130 kHz - 13.56 Mhz
• Distanza di lettura < 1 mt.
• Velocità di lettura limitata
• Forte influenza dei metalli
• Accoppiamento elettromagnetico
• Freq. operativa 860 - 960 MHz
• Distanza di lettura > 3 mt.
• Alta velocità di lettura
• Moderata influenza dei metalli

9. RFID: LF … HF … UHF
LF HF UHF

10. ISO 18000-6A, 6B
EPC 1,19; C1G1; C1G2
EM 4222; EM4223
ETSI EN 300 220
ETSI EN 302 208
Parte Radio Protocolli di
comunicazione
Standard RFID UHF

11. 06/06/2014 CAEN Confidential 11
RFID Standardization Bodies - I
• ETSI – European Telecommunication Standards Institute. Its
role is to harmonize the usage of frequencies in Europe
ISO – International Organization for Standardization. Its role is
to define protocols and interfacing modes according to
harmonized frequencies (in Europe: ETSI)
International Telecommunication Union - Organization
within the United Nations System where governments
and the private sector coordinate global telecom
networks and services

12. 06/06/2014 CAEN Confidential 12
RFID Standardization Bodies - II
• EPC Global. A Private company that holds the Intellectual
Properties of the EPC project. Born in 2003 as a joint
venture between EAN (European Article Numbering) and
UCC (Uniform Code Council)
Auto-ID Center. An M.I.T. Boston research group that
created the EPC project (Electronic Product Code)
GS1 (EAN-International - European Article Numbering).
Industrial Association in charge of assigning identification
numbers to products and companies worldwide

13. 06/06/2014 CAEN Confidential 13
Communication Protocols
Two main standards for the Long Range RFID system (UHF) Air interface
communication (ReaderTAG and TAGReader )
ISO 18000
ISO 18000 - 3 at 13.56 MHz
ISO 18000 - 6 at 860-930 MHz
Different air interface standards based
upon the Auto-ID Center's Electronic
Product Code (EPC) referred to 13,56 MHz
e 860-930 MHz frequencies.
In Jan 2005 EPCglobal issues a new revision to overcome this standards non-
uniformity. The second-generation EPC air interface standard is formerly
known as Class 1 Generation 2 C1G2 and recently merged into ISO 18000-6C

14. The ISO 18000 series
Standard Code Description
ISO 15961 RFID for Item Management: Host Interrogator; Tag functional commands and
other syntax features
ISO 15962 RFID for Item Management: Data Syntax
ISO 15963 Unique Identification of RF tag and registration authority to manage the
uniqueness
ISO 18000 RFID for Item Management: Air Interface
-1 Generic parameters
-2 below 135 kHz
-3 at 13.56 MHz
-4 at 2.45 GHz
-5 at 5.8 GHz
-6 at UHF frequency band
ISO 18001 RFID for Item Management: Application Requirement Profiles

15. Standards di EPCglobal
Shared Service
Interactions
EPCglobal Core Services
and other
Shared Services
Company
A
Exchange of
Physical objects
with EPCs
Exchange of data
about EPCs
1010101010101
Company
B

16. EPC Electronic Product Code
The Auto-ID Center has proposed a new Electronic Product Code as the next
standard for identifying products.
Header: EPC’s version number;
EPC Mgr: 28 bits = 268,435,456  Manufacturer of the product
Object Class: 24 bits = 16,777,216  Type of product,
Serial Number: 36 bits = 68,719,476,736  unique product identifier
Each manufacturer can have 16 million object classes and 68 billion serial numbers
in each class

17. RFID Today
Long read range => new applications
Low cost of tags/label => item level
Globally accepted industry standards
Big companies interest
(DoD, WalMart, M&S, DHL …)

18. Dock Door Smart Shelf
Forklift ReaderMobile Reader Conveyor Portal
UHF RFID Installations

19. Which Markets
• Retail
• Supply chain logistic
• Transportation
• Waste management
• Industrial automation
• Cold chain logistic
• Access control
• ……

20. Omnichannel retail & RFID

21. RFID & Android: BYOD …

22. RFID & Android: … e oltre

23. Terminali industriali RFID: ieri e oggi

24. • Spin-off of CAEN spa
• The first Italian company providing
UHF RFID products
• Key player in the EU RFID scenario
• Worldwide customers in
manufacturing, logistics, transport,
healthcare, fashion, retail…
• Totally in-house HW, SW & support
skills
• Key partner in EU funded projects
• An “added value manufacturer”
Who we are

25. What we do
• UHF RFID Readers - easy2read®
• UHF RFID Loggers - easy2log®
• UHF RFID Custom Products
• UHF RFID HW Integration

26. Embedded
Fixed
Application Oriented
easy2read® product line

27. easy2log® product line
• Huge amount of samples
(4000 or 8000)
• Long battery life
• High accuracy (0.1°C
typical)
• Multiple configurable
alarms
• Standard RFID interface
• Fast data download
• Friendly manual interface
• Remaining shelf life, ETA
and MKT calculation

28. • R&D with 30 years of experience
• Continuous innovation of the products
• Dynamism
• Product customization
• Commercial and technical training
• Quick technical support during the customer
integration process
• Wide product proposals
• Consultancy service on complementary products
(UHF labels, special tags, UHF antennas)
• Partner network (Label/tag/Antenna
manufacturers, SW houses, System Integrators)
Our Added Value

29. How we work
CAEN RFID
HW solutions
Technical support
End Users
System Integrators
HW Manufacturers
Solution Providers
Distributors

30. Our customers
• Handheld and printer manufacturers
• Industrial automation providers
• System integrators and solution providers
• Big companies with internal skilled IT dept.
• Distributors/Resellers
• End users only in cooperation with local
partners

31. Key customers and partners

32. Handhelds/PDAs
Compact OEM readers inside (A528, R1230C)
WORKABOUT PRO
IKON
NEO

33. Compact OEM readers inside (A528, R1230C)
Handhelds/PDAs

34. Printers

35. Other devices

36. Logistics/Industrial Manufacturing
Kanban Process (ABB Drives) Roll cages tracking (Finnish Post)
Vehicle Access Control in Glass
Manufacturing (Asahi Glass, Moustier)
Production Flow Management
(Novaglass)

37. Logistics/Industrial Manufacturing
Warehouse Automation (Acciai Vender) Innovative tool for manufacturer
Shipping material and pallet
management (Colcafè)
Production Flow Management (Malwee)

38. Transportation
Garbage Collection Monitoring
(Aspropyrgos Municipality )
Waste Management
Urban Mobility Management (PisaMo,
Mover)
Real Time Fleet Management
(Settentrionale Trasporti)

39. Transportation
Train Monitoring (Circumvesuviana) • Vehicle Tracking System (Automotive Group)
Car Manufacturing plant (Sada Group) Bicycle parking area (Cernusco sul Naviglio)

40. Transportation
Truck Tracing at Motorway and Harbour gates (Samer Shipping)
TraceTracker Asset (Grunnarbeid)

41. Healthcare
ASSIST founded project
Pharmacy (Datelka) OPERA founded project

42. Fashion-Retail
• Books Tagging in a Bookstore (BGN
Boekhandels )
• Point of sales (Larusmiani)
Customer experience (SAPAF) EAS - Electronic Article Surveillance

43. Fashion-Retail
Smart changing room, Inventory & EAS

44. Cold Chain
Pharmaceutical products (DHL)
Vegetables (SydGront)

45. Cold Chain
Pharmaceutical products
Transportation (Medlog)
Vaccine Transportation (WINcat)
Chocolate storage & transportation
Lindt & Sprüngli

46. FMCG/Leisure
People access control
The Santa Claus Village
Faster, safer and more efficient supply chain (Parmacotto, Auchan)
Security and Productivity

47. Thanks for your
attention… questions?
Stefano Coluccini
CMO
CAEN RFID srl
e-mail: s.coluccini@caenrfid.it
http://www.youtube.com/user/CAENRFID