T.C. MALTEPE UNIVERSITY Department of Electronics Engineering RFID SYSTEM COMPONENTS DESIGN Özgür BOSTAN 060703006 Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan TOPALOĞLU June, 2010 Maltepe/İstanbul
T.C. MALTEPE UNIVERSITY Department of Electronics Engineering RFID SYSTEM COMPONENTS DESIGN Özgür BOSTAN 060703006 Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan TOPALOĞLU June, 2010 Maltepe/İstanbul iii
Bu çalışma / / 20... tarihinde aşağıdaki jüri tarafından Elektronik Mühendisliği Bölümünde Lisans Bitirme Projesi olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bitirme Projesi Jürisi Proje Danışmanı Üniversite Maltepe Üniversitesi Fakülte Mühendislik Fakültesi Jüri Üyesi Üniversite Maltepe Üniversitesi Fakülte Mühendislik Fakültesi Jüri Üyesi Üniversite Maltepe Üniversitesi Fakülte Mühendislik Fakültesi iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan TOPALOĞLU, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali AKMAN for his advice and assistance in the design of antenna, Dr. H. Bülent YAĞCI and Res. Asst. Osman CEYLAN (Istanbul Technical University, Electronics & Communication Engineering Department) for their assistance in antenna and multiplexer measurement tests and BITS COMPUTER for hardware support. I would also like to thank my friend Gökmert YAPAKÇI who willingly helped me gather the necessary data and information needed for antenna design. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for supporting me spiritually and morally throughout my life in all circumstances. June, 2010 Özgür BOSTAN v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... v TABLE OF CONTENTS... vi LIST OF FIGURES... viii LIST OF TABLES... x ABBREVIATIONS... xi LIST OF SYMBOLS... xiii SUMMARY... xiv ÖZET... xv 1. INTRODUCTION... 1 1.1. DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF RFID... 1 1.1.1. What Is RFiD?... 1 1.1.2. What Is AUTO-ID?... 1 1.1.3. The History of RFiD... 2 1.1.3.1. Important Dates in Chronological Order [1]... 4 1.2. OVERVIEW OF RFID SYSTEMS... 4 1.2.1. Main Components of RFiD System... 5 1.2.1.1. Reader... 5 1.2.1.2. Antenna... 7 1.2.1.3. Tag... 8 1.2.2. The Operating Principle of RFiD System... 11 1.2.2.1. Infrastructure of RFiD System... 12 1.2.3. Interrogator/Supervisor... 13 1.2.4. Middleware Software and System Interface... 14 1.2.5. RFiD Frequency Bands... 14 1.2.6. RFiD Standards... 17 1.2.6.1. What is EPCglobal?... 18 1.2.6.2. What is EPC?... 19 1.2.7. Application Areas of RFiD... 20 1.3. TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON RF... 21 1.3.1. What is RF?... 21 1.3.2. What is Wavelength?... 21 1.3.3. What is Electromagnetic Field?... 22 1.3.4. What is RF power?... 23 1.4. OTHER AUTO-ID TECHNOLOGIES... 24 1.4.1. Comparison between RFiD and Barcode... 24 1.5. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS OF RFID... 26 1.6. THE PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS... 26 1.7. THE FUTURE OF RFID... 27 2. RFID SYSTEM COMPONENTS DESIGN... 29 2.1. UHF RFID ANTENNA DESIGN... 29 2.1.1. Antenna Design with FR4 as Dielectric Material... 32 2.1.1.1. Simulation and Measurement Results... 35 vi
2.1.2. Antenna Design with Rogers as Dielectric Material... 44 2.1.2.1. Simulation and Measurement Results... 45 2.2. UHF RFID ANTENNA MULTIPLEXER DESIGN... 51 2.2.1. Measurement Results... 53 3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS... 55 3.1. Antenna Design... 55 3.2. Multiplexer Design... 56 REFERENCES... 58 Indirect References... 59 APPENDICES... 61 vii
LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1 Simple RFiD System [1]... 5 FIGURE 1.2 Desktop RFiD Reader [2]... 6 FIGURE 1.3 Handheld RFiD Reader [3]... 6 FIGURE 1.4 Reader Antenna [4]... 7 FIGURE 1.5 Antenna on the Tag [5]... 8 FIGURE 1.6 Passive Tag [6]... 9 FIGURE 1.7 Active Tag [7]... 9 FIGURE 1.8 The Working System of Tags [8]... 10 FIGURE 1.9 The Operating Principle of RFiD [1]... 12 FIGURE 1.10 Example of Infrastructure [9]... 13 FIGURE 1.11 Frequency Bands [8]... 15 FIGURE 1.12 Worldwide UHF RFiD Frequencies [8]... 16 FIGURE 1.13 An Example for RFiD System [11]... 20 FIGURE 1.14 RF Wavelength... 22 FIGURE 1.15 Electric Field [13]... 22 FIGURE 1.16 Magnetic Field [14]... 23 FIGURE 2.1 Microstrip Patch Antenna... 29 FIGURE 2.2 Fringing Fields... 32 FIGURE 2.3 Ant-A... 33 FIGURE 2.4 Ant-B... 34 FIGURE 2.5 Ant-A (Fabricated ver.)... 34 FIGURE 2.6 Ant-B (Fabricated ver.)... 35 FIGURE 2.7 Smith Chart (Ant-A, Simulation Result)... 37 FIGURE 2.8 Smith Chart (Ant-A, Measurement Result)... 37 FIGURE 2.9 Return Loss (Ant-A, Simulation Result)... 38 FIGURE 2.10 Return Loss (Ant-A, Measurement Result)... 38 FIGURE 2.11 VSWR (Ant-A, Simulation Result)... 39 FIGURE 2.12 VSWR (Ant-A, Measurement Result)... 39 FIGURE 2.13 Smith Chart (Ant-B, Simulation Result)... 41 FIGURE 2.14 Smith Chart (Ant-B, Measurement Result)... 41 FIGURE 2.15 Return Loss (Ant-B, Simulation Result)... 42 FIGURE 2.16 Return Loss (Ant-B, Measurement Result)... 42 FIGURE 2.17 VSWR (Ant-B, Simulation Result)... 43 FIGURE 2.18 VSWR (Ant-B, Measurement Result)... 43 FIGURE 2.19 Ant-C (Fabricated ver.)... 44 FIGURE 2.20 Smith Chart (Ant-C, Simulation Result)... 45 FIGURE 2.21 Smith Chart (Ant-C, Measurement Result)... 45 FIGURE 2.22 Return Loss (Ant-C, Simulation Result)... 46 FIGURE 2.23 Return Loss (Ant-C, Measurement Result)... 46 FIGURE 2.24 VSWR (Ant-C, Simulation Result)... 47 FIGURE 2.25 VSWR (Ant-C, Measurement Result)... 47 FIGURE 2.26 Antenna Gain of linear Rogers... 48 FIGURE 2.27 Ant-C (boxed ver.)... 49 FIGURE 2.28 Ant-A (Boxed ver.)... 49 FIGURE 2.29 Antenna Reading Test System... 50 FIGURE 2.30 Antenna Measurement Test System... 50 FIGURE 2.31 PCB Layout of the MUX... 51 viii
FIGURE 2.32 Front and Rear View of the MUX (Fabricated ver.)... 52 FIGURE 2.33 Front and Rear View of the MUX (After components aligned)... 52 FIGURE 2.34 Power Loss (RF IN to RF OUT_1)... 53 FIGURE 2.35 Power Loss (RF IN to RF OUT_2)... 53 FIGURE 2.36 Multiplexer Measurement Test System... 54 ix
LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1.1 Comparison between Passive and Active Tags... 10 TABLE 1.2 Active and Passive Tag Applications... 11 TABLE 1.3 Comparison of Frequency Bands... 16 TABLE 1.4 Structure of EPC [10]... 19 TABLE 1.5 Comparison between RFiD and Barcode... 25 TABLE 2.1 Antenna List (FR4)... 35 TABLE 2.2 Antenna List (Rogers)... 44 TABLE 3.1 Characteristics of the Designed Antennas... 55 TABLE 3.2 Simulation and Measurement Results of the Designed Antennas... 55 x
ABBREVIATIONS AAR AIDC AUTO-ID db dbm DoD EAN EAS EPC ETSI GHz GPS HF IBM ID ISO IFF khz LAN LBT LF LHCP MHz MIT mm MRAM MUX PCB RHCP RF : Association of American Railroads : Automatic Identification and Data Capture : Automatic Identification : Decibel : Decibel, referenced to one milliwatt : Department of Defense : European Article Numbering : Electronic Article Surveillance : Electronic Product Code : European Telecommunication Standards Institute : Gigahertz : Global Positioning System : High Frequency : International Business Machines : Identification : International Organization for Standardization : Identify Friend or Foe : Kilohertz : Local Area Network : Listen Before Talk : Low Frequency : Left Hand Circular Polarization : Megahertz : Massachusetts Institute of Technology : Millimeter : Magnetic Random Access Memory : Multiplexer : Printed Circuit Board : Right Hand Circular Polarization : Radio Frequency xi
RFID SHF SI UHF U.S. VSWR WLAN : Radio Frequency Identification : Super High Frequency : International System of Units : Ultra-High Frequency : United States : Voltage Standing Wave Ratio : Wireless Local Area Network xii
LIST OF SYMBOLS c: Speed of light f: Frequency : Length T: Period λ: Wavelength : Dielectric constant Ƞ: Efficiency Ω: Ohm, unit of impedance xiii
SUMMARY Radio frequency identification (RFiD) is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify people, animal and objects automatically. This system includes three main components; reader, antenna and tag. RFiD systems can be used in any intended location to track and identify desired object. Reducing human intervention, having real time information, increasing security, having unique data for all of the objects that are tracked and counting the objects simultaneously are main advantages of RFiD system. In this project two types (linear and circular) of antennas and a middleware circuit for multiplexing RFiD reader antenna ports have been designed and manufactured domestically to reduce the cost of RFiD system implementation. By using multiplexer, unnecessary use of extra RFiD readers could be prevented when there is no more antenna port and producing it domestically provides financial contributions for our country. In the same way, domestic production of the antenna helps the country grow financially. Taking into consideration the national financial interests, manufacturing the antennas and multiplexers domestically could allow producers to achieve significant profit and as a result, use of domestic goods is stimulated. xiv
ÖZET Radyo frekanslı tanımlama (RFiD) teknolojisi; elektromanyetik dalgaları kullanarak insanları, hayvanları ve nesneleri elektronik cihazlar vasıtasıyla (insandan bağımsız) gözlem altına alan ve takip eden, otomatik tanımlama teknolojilerinin üyesi olan bir sistemdir. Bu sistem; okuyucu, anten ve etiket olmak üzere üç ana bileşenden meydana gelir. RFiD sistemi takip altına alınacak nesne ya da varlığın hangi sektörde olduğuna bakılmaksızın arzu edilen bütün iş alanlarında kullanabilir. RFiD teknolojisiyle birlikte insan müdahelesi asgariye indirilmiş, gerçek zamanlı bilgi sağlanmış, güvenlik artırılmış, tanımlanan her bir varlığa özel bir kimlik atanmış ve en önemlisi aynı anda birçok yerden birden fazla veri alınmış olur. Bu proje kapsamında iki tipte (doğrusal ve dairesel) RFiD anten ve RFiD okuyucusunun anten girişlerini çoklamak için bir adet ara katman devresi tasarlanmış ve gerçeklenmiştir. Tüm bu bileşenlerin yurt içinde üretilmesiyle sistemin uygulanma maliyetinin düşürülmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çoklayıcının kullanılmasıyla gereksiz yere fazladan okuyucu kullanımı engellendi ve yurt içinde üretilmesiyle ülkemiz adına mali açıdan katkı sağlandı. Ayn şekilde antenin de yurt içinde üretimiyle ülkenin ekonomik açıdan gelişmesine katkıda bulunuldu. Ülkenin finansal çıkarları göz önüne alınarak yurt içinde tasarlanıp üretilen bu bileşenler sayesinde, satıcı ile son kullanıcıya mali açıdan önemli derecede avantajlar sağlandı ve yerli malı kullanımı teşvik edildi. xv