RFID: It's not easy to say love you

Ben Wang compiled reports: those who are on the radio frequency identification device is the packaging process development director J. Michael wallace, Abbott laboratory Boss Products Div. and nutritional manufacturers including Ensure and Similac.

Wallace spoke at a worldwide seminar on June 8th titled "RFID: The Experience of a Packager", which was co-sponsored by the Packaging Professional Association and World Packaging Magazine.

Abbott began researching RFID in 1998 and was also studying an alternative electronic document viewing system. Two years later, the company joined MIT's Automatic Identification Center. Its members include his biggest customers, Wal-Mart, CVS, Target, and of course his competitors, such as Unilever.

Wallace said: "We are very interested in discovering what people have learned about RFID, but we still don't understand this. We found that RFID has considerable benefits and potential benefits."

The company is currently conducting three flight experiments. These experimental devices were launched at the end of 2003. Two of them are pharmaceutical products and one is nutritional products. According to Wallace, these contain only a few things. The RFID system will also be effective after being transferred from the flight route to the plants. The company expects to launch their first batch of tagged products in 2005.

Abbott will use Matrics' tags and card readers and will work with his corrugated paper supplier to produce tags using RFID tags. However, he could not provide details, Wallace said: "Most corrugated paper suppliers are seriously considering RFID."

"It's impossible to do this project alone, because there are too many technical issues here," Wallace said. He suggested calling on all consultants and decision makers to work together to solve hardware, software and some comprehensive issues.

He also said: "The RFID should be taken out of the laboratory to the plant, and the RF device's launch should be checked to evaluate the performance of the tags and readers."

For Abbott, his biggest challenge now is how to make RFID work with the company's current IT system, which has matured over the years. Wallace said: "This is not an easy task."

Wallace determined that there are five steps to reach RFID: research, testing, testing, measurements, and tools. He said: "The most valuable thing is the final result."

Related Links: Introduction to RFID Technology

RFID is an abbreviation of "RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION" in English. Radio frequency technology uses radio waves to read and write to recording media. The radio frequency identification distance can reach several tens of centimeters to several meters, and according to the way of reading and writing, thousands of bytes of information can be input, and at the same time, it has extremely high security. The field of application of radio frequency identification technology: Material tracking, vehicle identification, and rack identification, where non-contact data acquisition and exchange are required, is particularly suitable where frequent data content changes are required. For example, Hong Kong’s automatic vehicle identification system, the Autopilot, uses radio frequency technology as its main technology. At present, about 80,000 vehicles in Hong Kong have been equipped with electronic tags. When vehicles equipped with electronic tags pass through special tunnels equipped with radio frequency scanners, parking lots or freeway intersections, they do not need to pay for parking fees, which greatly increases the speed of travel and increases the number of vehicles. Efficiency. Radio frequency technology has also been widely used in the identification and automated management of other items.

Nowadays, RFID is the most popular technology in the AIDC field. Although this technology has existed for many years, it can only be quickly and effectively applied after summarizing and formulating a technical standard from numerous invention technologies in the field. ISO and AIM (AUTO-ID MANUFACTURES) are working on this, and we believe that RFID will develop very quickly in the near future.

1. Composition of RFID system In the specific application process of RFID system, according to different application purposes and application environment, the composition of the system will be different, but from the perspective of the working principle of RFID system, the system is generally composed of signal transmitters, The signal receiver, transmitting and receiving antenna are composed of several parts. The following are described separately:

1) Signal transmitter In the RFID system, the signal transmitter will exist in different forms for different application purposes. The typical form is a tag (TAG). The label is equivalent to the bar code symbol in the barcode technology, used to store information that needs to identify the transmission. In addition, unlike the barcode, the label must be able to automatically transmit the stored information automatically or under the influence of external forces. The tags are generally low-power integrated circuits with coils, antennas, memories, and control systems. A typical label structure is shown above: There are many different classifications of labels according to different classification criteria.

(1) Active tags, passive tags In practical applications, the tag must be powered before it can work, although its power consumption is very low (usually one millionth of a milliwatt level). According to the different ways of obtaining energy according to the labels, the labels can be divided into active labels and passive labels. The active label has its own internal battery for power supply. It has sufficient power, high reliability, and long distances for signal transmission. In addition, active tags can limit the use time or the number of times of use of the tag by designing the battery's different lifespan. It can be used where there is a limit on the amount of data to be transferred or data is used. For example, within one year, the tag can only read and write. Limited times. The disadvantage of the active label is that the useful life of the label is limited, and as the battery power within the label is consumed, the distance of data transmission will be smaller and smaller, which will affect the normal operation of the system.
Passive tags do not have a battery inside, and rely on the outside world for energy to function properly. Passive tags Typical devices that generate electrical energy are the antenna and the coil. When the tag enters the working area of ​​the system, the antenna receives a specific electromagnetic wave, and the coil generates inductive current, which is supplied to the tag via the rectifying circuit. Passive tags have a permanent lifetime and are often used where tag information needs to be read, written, or read and written many times a day, and passive tags support long-term data transfers and permanent data storage. The disadvantage of passive tags is that the data transmission distance is smaller than the active tag. Because passive tags rely on external electromagnetic induction to supply power, their power is relatively weak, the distance and signal strength of data transmission are limited, and a signal receiver (reader) with high sensitivity is required for reliable reading.

(2) Read-only tags and readable and writable tags Depending on the type of memory used internally, tags can be divided into read-only tags and readable and writable tags. The read-only tag has only read-only memory (READ onLY MEMORY) and random access memory (RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY). The ROM is used to store the transmitter operating system specification and data with high security requirements. It performs internal operation control functions with the internal processor or logic processing unit, such as response delay control, data flow control, and power switch control. In addition, the ROM of the read-only tag also stores tag identification information. This information can be written into the ROM by the manufacturer during the label manufacturing process, or the user can write special coded information according to the specific application purpose when the tag starts to be used. This information can simply represent "0" or "1" in the binary, or it can contain complex and quite rich information like a 2D barcode. However, this information can only be written once and read many times. The RAM in the read-only tag is used to store tag response and data temporarily generated during data transfer. In addition, read-only tags, in addition to ROM and ROM, generally have a buffer memory for temporarily storing information waiting for the antenna to transmit after modulation.

The internal memory of the readable and writable tag includes ROM, RAM, and buffer memory as well as an inactive programmable memory. In addition to storing data functions, this memory also has the ability to allow multiple writes of data under appropriate conditions. There are many types of non-active programmable memory devices. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) is a relatively common one. This type of memory can realize the erasure of the original data and the data when the power is applied. Rewrite.

(3) Identification tags and portable data files According to the different storage capacity of memory data in tags, tags can be divided into two types, identification tags and portable data files that are used for identification purposes only. For the identification tag, a numeric or alphanumeric character string is stored in the tag, and for identification purposes it is the key (KEY) to the database in the information management system. The standard code number in bar code technology, such as EAN/UPC code, or mixed coding, or the number coded by a tag user according to a special method, can be stored in the tag. Only the identification number stored in the identification tag is used to identify a specific identification item such as a person, an object, and a place. Specific detailed information about the identified item can only be searched in a database connected to the system.

As the name implies, portable data files mean that the data stored in the tag is very large and can be considered as a data file. This type of tag is generally user-programmable. In addition to storing the identification code, the tag also stores a large amount of other relevant information of the identified item, such as packaging instructions, process descriptions, and the like. In practical applications, all the information about the identified item is stored in the tag. Reading the tag can get all the information about the identified item without having to connect to the database to read the information. In addition, with the improvement of the storage capacity of the tag, the ability to organize data can be provided. In the process of reading the tag, the readout of data can be controlled according to a specific application purpose, so that the data read out in different situations is partially different.

2) Signal Receivers In RFID systems, signal receivers are generally called readers. Depending on the type of tag supported and the function performed, the reader's complexity is significantly different. The basic function of the reader is to provide the means for data transmission with the tag. In addition, the reader also provides quite complex signal state control, parity error checking and correction functions. In addition to storing the information that needs to be transmitted, the tag must also contain certain additional information, such as error checking information. The identification data information and the additional information are organized together according to a certain structure and are sent out in a specific order. The reader controls the transmission of the data stream through the received additional information. Once the information arrived at the reader is correctly received and deciphered, the reader determines whether the transmitter is required to resend the transmitted signal once through a specific algorithm, or the transmitter stops signalling. This is the "command response protocol". Using this protocol, even if you read multiple tags in a very short space and in a small space, you can effectively prevent the “spoofing problem”.

3) The programmer requires a programmer only if it is readable and writable. A programmer is a device that writes data to tags. Writing data by the programmer is generally performed off-line (OFF-LINE), that is, data is written in the tag in advance, and the tag is directly attached to the identified item when the application is started. There are also some RFID application systems where writing data is done on-line (ON-LINE), especially when handled as an interactive portable data file in a production environment.

4) The antenna antenna is a transmitting and receiving device for transmitting data between the tag and the reader. In practical applications, in addition to the system power, the shape and relative position of the antenna will also affect the transmission and reception of data, requiring professionals to design and install the system's antenna.

2. Wireless Data Communication (RFDC)
The data transmission between the tag and the reader takes place in the form of radio waves via air media. In general, we can measure data with two parameters