The principle and advantage of RFID smart tag technology

The rapid development of China's market economy has made the commodity circulation market increasingly active. However, due to the imperfect legal system in China, the market is still not standardized. Some lawless elements at home and abroad have formed a certain market of counterfeit and shoddy goods in order to make huge profits and shoddy. Some high-tech products are also affected by counterfeit and shoddy products to varying degrees. This has seriously disrupted the social market economic order and hindered the healthy development of China's economy. At present, counterfeit and shoddy products are still spreading further, and the number and scope are also expanding. Therefore, the rapid development of anti-counterfeiting technology and the formation of anti-counterfeiting industry are urgently needed. This is the need to develop a socialist market economy, the need to expand openness, develop foreign trade, and ensure the orderly development of the national economy. It is the need to purify the market and safeguard the interests of enterprises and consumers. As an advanced automatic identification and data acquisition technology, RFID technology plays an important role in the current anti-counterfeiting, logistics, and public safety management, and is expected to become a pioneer in the fields of anti-counterfeiting, logistics, and public safety management.

I. Overview

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is an automatic identification technology that uses electromagnetic induction, radio waves or microwaves for contactless two-way communication to achieve identification purposes and exchange data. In 1948, Harry Stockman's "Communication by Means of Reflected Power" published in the Journal of the Institute of Radio Engineers laid the theoretical foundation for RFID technology. This technology began to appear in the mid-1980s, and with the maturity of large-scale integrated circuit technology, the size of the radio frequency identification system has been greatly reduced, so it has entered the stage of practical use. RFID can be classified into short-range wireless communication technology. Compared with other short-range wireless communication technologies WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared, ZIGBEE, UWB, the biggest difference lies in the passive working mode of RFID, that is, using reflected energy for communication.

1. How does the RFID system work?

The RFID system consists of the following components: 1. An electronic tag consisting of a chip and a tag antenna that communicates with the reader by inductive coupling or electromagnetic backscattering. 2 reader/writer, which is a device for reading/writing tag information. As a terminal for data collection, the reader/writer also needs to exchange data with the middleware. 3 antenna, is a device that provides radio frequency signal space propagation for tags and readers. 4 middleware, the link between RFID devices and enterprise applications, is also the core of RFID applications.

The working principle of the RFID system is as follows: the information to be sent by the reader is encoded and loaded on a carrier signal of a certain frequency and sent out through the antenna, and the electronic tag entering the working area of ​​the reader receives the pulse signal, and the chip in the chip The relevant circuit modulates, decodes, and decrypts the signal, and then judges the command request, password, authority, and the like. If it is a read command, the control logic circuit reads the relevant information from the memory, encrypts, encodes, modulates and transmits it to the reader through the card antenna, and the reader demodulates, decodes, decrypts and sends the received signal. To the central information system for data processing; if the write command to modify the information, the internal charge pump caused by the control logic to raise the working voltage, provide the contents of the EEP-ROM to be rewritten, if the corresponding password and authority are judged If it does not match, an error message is returned. (as shown in Figure 1)

2. Advantages of RFID

Smart tags, also known as radio frequency identification tags, are high-tech products in the field of tags and are now playing an important role in product packaging, gradually replacing traditional product tags and barcodes. Smart Label is a rookie in the field of labeling. It has the function of surpassing the traditional label, and it is the crystallization of high-tech printing of labels such as electronics and computers. An RFID tag is a type of smart tag. Table 1 compares RFID tags with simultaneous or early automatic identification technologies such as magnetic cards, IC cards, and traditional bar codes.

As can be seen from Table 1, the RFID tag has a good comprehensive performance, and its advantages are mainly reflected in:

1 Each RFID tag corresponds to a globally unique ID number. The ID number is written into the memory during the production process of the RFID tag, and cannot be modified once it is written, and is not easy to copy.

2 RFID tags and RFID readers are transmitted wirelessly, which can recognize high speed, mobile, multi-objects, so the tag can be read multiple times without any mechanical wear, and can be quickly read by the reader. .

3 RFID tags are chips designed with large-scale integrated circuit technology. This chip is technically difficult and costly to design and manufacture, thus creating an insurmountable obstacle for counterfeiters. At the same time, the combination of RFID technology and cryptography technology has also increased the cost of counterfeiters from software deciphering.

4 RFID tag reading has the characteristics of non-contact, strong adaptability to the environment, simultaneous reading of multiple tags, and fast reading speed. Therefore, RFID anti-counterfeiting technology can be applied not only to valuable consumer products such as famous cigarettes and famous wines, but also to industrial, agricultural, and transportation-related products.

A natural advantage of 5 RFID anti-counterfeiting is the combination of logistics for anti-counterfeiting. By tracking the supply chain of products and combining the management of distributed databases, we can trace the traces of products.

3. Development status of RFID technology at home and abroad

The development of RFID technology abroad is also relatively early. Especially in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and South Africa, there are relatively mature and advanced RFID systems. According to different operating frequencies, RFID tags can be classified into low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), ultra high frequency (UHF) and ultra high frequency (SHF). Among them, the low-frequency close-range RFID system is mainly concentrated in the 125KHz and 13.56MHz systems; the high-frequency long-distance RFID system is mainly concentrated in the UHF frequency band (902MHz-928MHz) 915MHz, 2.45GHz, 5.8GHz. Long-range RFID systems in the UHF band have been well developed in North America; European applications have gained more applications with active 2.45 GHz systems. The 5.8 GHz system has mature active RFID systems in Japan and Europe.

China's research on RFID technology has also developed rapidly, and market cultivation has begun to bear fruit. More typical is the introduction of a remote automatic identification system with independent intellectual property rights in the construction of automatic identification system for railway numbers in China. After years of on-site operation test, the railway number automatic identification system project was fully put into construction in 1999. After two years of construction and trial operation, the current railway number automatic identification system project has played a system design function, which has fulfilled the dream of railway people, and its role in radiation and penetration into other applications has become increasingly apparent. In close-range RFID applications, many cities have implemented bus RF cards as prepaid electronic tickets, prepaid electronic rice cards and other applications. In terms of RFID technology research and product development, China has the technical ability and system integration capability to independently develop low-frequency, high-frequency and microwave RFID electronic tags and readers. The gap between advanced RFID technology and foreign technology is mainly reflected in the technology of RFID chips. Despite this, in the design and development of tag chips, there have been many successful low-frequency RFID system tag chips available in China.

Second, the application of RFID technology

Because of its unique advantages, RFID smart tags are widely used in anti-counterfeiting, logistics, and public management.

1.Application of RFID technology in anti-counterfeiting

1 document security. At present, internationally, RFID tags can be embedded in standard passport covers or documents in terms of passport security and electronic wallet. The chips also provide security functions and support hardware encryption, which conforms to the international standard of ISO14443. Domestically, there has been a considerable application in this field. The promotion and application of the second-generation ID card is a typical representative in this respect.

2 ticket security. In some areas, RFID technology is urgently needed. For example, in places with a lot of people such as train stations, subways, and tourist attractions, RFID electronic tickets can be used instead of traditional manual tickets to improve efficiency, or in places where tickets and performances are relatively large. Anti-counterfeiting of tickets with RFID technology. This not only eliminates the need for manual identification, but also enables the rapid passage of personnel, and can also identify the number of times the tickets are used, so as to prevent the tickets from being stolen and used again, and to achieve "number of anti-counterfeiting."

2.Application of RFID technology in railway safety tracking

Traditional railway freight transport can no longer meet the needs of modern logistics development, and must be developed into a modern logistics industry that provides transportation, warehousing, packaging, distribution, distribution, processing, information processing and other services.

The Transportation Management Information System (TMIS) not only covers the various competent business departments of the Railways Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, but also integrates all the grassroots stations in the whole road and integrates them through the railway computer network. It is the “most complicated and largest transportation management system of the world railway”. It can track and manage railway freight vehicles, locomotives, trains and containers. It can manage the main stations of the whole road; it can be transported to the Ministry of Railways and Railway Bureau. Dispatching and daily transportation planning for computer preparation and management; covering the whole process of railway transportation production, is the core system of railway informationization, which consists of multiple subsystems, including: transportation statistical analysis, transportation dispatch management, station comprehensive management, and confirmation Information management, ticket information management, freight sales and technical planning, large-node truck tracking management, automatic number identification system, drug safety tracking system, container tracking management, truck usage fee clearing.

Among them, Automatic Track Identification (ATIS) is an important part of TMIS and the most successful application case of RFID in China. ATIS accurately establishes trains and vehicles by installing electronic tags on all locomotives and trucks and placing ground identification equipment at all section stations, marshalling stations, large freight stations and demarcation stations to establish a railway train, locomotive and A computerized automated report collection system for information such as truck numbers, identification, attributes, and location. It can timely and accurately collect trains, train numbers and arrival information, speed up the realization of all-way trucks, locomotives, trains, containers tracking management, meet the needs of TIMS and other management systems for trains, vehicles and other basic information, and finally achieve transportation operations management. Modernization, networking and resource sharing. As the information source of TMIS, ATIS plays an extremely important role in improving the utilization rate and utilization rate of railway locomotives and vehicles, and improving the efficiency of railway transportation and the modernization of transportation management in China.

3. RFID technology public safety applications

The birth of RFID technology is extremely important in the fields of food and medicine related to the health and safety of the people. At present, the application of RFID technology in the pharmaceutical industry is mainly reflected in: anti-counterfeiting measures for drugs; prevention of drug errors and irrational use of drugs; identification and tracking of patients; recall of defective drugs; tracking of documents, test tubes, vials or specimens; Tracking of instruments and medical devices.

RFID smart tags can help manufacturers and consumers keep abreast of commodity inventory, circulation, quality assurance, etc., and play a big role in monitoring the status and location of their products in the supply chain. For example, many food and pharmaceutical packaging must be stored and transported at specific temperatures and in low-pollution environments. The general label can not understand and monitor the temperature and nature of the product preservation, and the smart label can monitor the temperature of the perishable product sensitive to temperature requirements during the storage and transportation of the product. It relies on special chips, antennas, sensors, etc. Measure the temperature during storage and transportation, warn the manufacturer to prevent the influence of temperature changes on the product, and judge the sales of the product by checking the product inventory data. In addition, smart tag RFID has improved the anti-counterfeiting effect of traditional tags, especially in pharmaceutical packaging, its anti-counterfeiting function has greatly exceeded the traditional bar code. This effectively protects public safety.

Third, the current problems faced by RFID technology

1. The technology is not mature

RFID is a promising industry, but its promotion requires the firmness and maturity of each step: standard formulation, chip design and manufacturing technology, antenna design and manufacturing technology, chip packaging technology, read-write equipment development and production technology, system integration And data management software platform, application system development, manufacturing technology and so on. There are not many devices that can be supported in the most promising UHF band market, and RFID signals are easily blocked by objects. These are technical challenges.

2. The cost is high

This is the most fatal shortcoming of RFID. Only the cost of RFID tag production in Japan ( printing cost is the main proportion) is more than ten yuan, and the unit cost of bar code label is only 0.1 yuan. At present, the annual demand for RFID tags in the world is about 10 million pieces, and only after the demand exceeds 5 billion pieces, the price can be reduced to 2 cents. Christopher, president of Wal-Mart's RFID technology partner Tag-istics, said that a set of RFID systems in the United States (including project implementation) is generally around $2.5 million, and large systems are much higher. In the past few years, China Railway Express has been continuously testing the effects of RFID systems and piloting them in a small scale. It has finally found that the investment is too large, and it is impossible for a company to bear this part of the investment alone.

3. Standards are not uniform

At present, there are three main standards: international standards, EPC standards in Europe and America, and Ubiquitous ID in Japan. Among them, the role of the Auto-ID Center non-profit organization initiated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT in regulating RFID applications will become more and more obvious. Based on RFID theory, technology and applied research, Auto-IDCenter's main contributions are as follows:

1 Proposed the concept of product electronic code EPC (Electronic Product Code) and its format planning. It lays the foundation for reducing the functional design of electronic tag chips, reducing the cost of electronic tags and expanding the field of RFID applications.

2 proposed the concept and structure of the physical Internet, and built a bridge for EPC to enter the Internet.

3 Established an open international automatic identification technology application public technology research platform, which opened the conditions for promoting low-cost standardization of RFID tags and readers.

Despite this, due to the lack of uniform technical standards for RFID, current technologies cannot guarantee that all tags and readers will be compatible. Therefore, in a warehouse where RFID is desired, more than one reader may be required to separately handle different tags from different hardware vendors' production providers.

4. Security issues

Since RFID is ultimately connected to the Internet, this involves the same security issues as credit cards.

5. Privacy issues

RFID can be tracked by means of tags. After purchasing a wine, a person can know the whereabouts and habits of the owner of the bottle by tracing the label on the bottle.

Fourth, the idea of ​​the use of RFID technology

Because RFID technology has the function of real-time monitoring and tracking, it can greatly exert its advantages in the management of dangerous goods. For example, in the case of guns under state control, RFID technology can be used to prevent criminals from endangering public safety. In the process of making a gun, an RFID tag can be added to each gun, which is equivalent to giving each gun an ID card, so that it can be monitored and tracked. It is also possible to implant the RFID tag into the package of the toxic item, to avoid contact with the person as much as possible, and to understand the condition of the toxic object through the computer, thereby reducing the harm of the toxic substance to the human body. RFID technology is also a good choice for book management.

As an intelligent high-tech technology, RFID technology plays an important role in anti-counterfeiting, logistics and public safety management with its unique advantages. At present, due to the high cost and high price, it has not been widely promoted and applied, but with the improvement of technology, cost and price decline, its development potential is huge, and the prospect is very attractive. (Editor: Liu Yidong)

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