Active Tags Research Articles

Heart rate and swimming activity as indicators of post-surgical recovery time of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

BackgroundFish telemetry using electronic transmitter or data storage tags has become a common method for studying free-swimming fish both in the wild and in aquaculture. However, fish used in telemetry studies must be handled, anaesthetised and often subjected to surgical procedures to be equipped with tags, processes that will shift the fish from their normal physiological and behavioural states. In many projects, information is needed on when the fish has recovered after handling and tagging so that only the data recorded after the fish has fully recovered are used in analyses. We aimed to establish recovery times of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after an intraperitoneal tagging procedure featuring handling, anaesthesia and surgery.ResultsBased on ECG and accelerometer data collected with telemetry from nine individual Atlantic salmon during the first period after tagging, we found that heart rate was initially elevated in all fish and that it took an average of ≈ 4 days and a maximum of 6 days for heart rate to return to an assumed baseline level. One activity tag showed no consistent decline in activity, and two others did not show strong evidence of complete recovery by the end of the experiment: baseline levels of the remaining tags were on average reached after ≈ 3.3 days.ConclusionOur findings showed that the Atlantic salmon used in this study required an average of ≈ 4 days, with a maximum interval of 6 days, of recovery after tagging before tag data could be considered valid. Moreover, the differences between recovery times for heart rate and activity imply that recovery time recommendations should be developed based on a combination of indicators and not just on e.g. behavioural observations.

Development of mPing-based activation tags for crop insertional mutagenesis.

Modern plant breeding increasingly relies on genomic information to guide crop improvement. Although some genes are characterized, additional tools are needed to effectively identify and characterize genes associated with crop traits. To address this need, the mPing element from rice was modified to serve as an activation tag to induce expression of nearby genes. Embedding promoter sequences in mPing resulted in a decrease in overall transposition rate; however, this effect was negated by using a hyperactive version of mPing called mmPing20. Transgenic soybean events carrying mPing‐based activation tags and the appropriate transposase expression cassettes showed evidence of transposition. Expression analysis of a line that contained a heritable insertion of the mmPing20F activation tag indicated that the activation tag induced overexpression of the nearby soybean genes. This represents a significant advance in gene discovery technology as activation tags have the potential to induce more phenotypes than the original mPing element, improving the overall effectiveness of the mutagenesis system.

Next Generation Auto-Identification and Traceability Technologies for Industry 5.0: A Methodology and Practical Use Case for the Shipbuilding Industry

Industry 5.0 follows the steps of the Industry 4.0 paradigm and seeks for revolutionizing the way industries operate. In fact, Industry 5.0 focuses on research and innovation to support industrial production sustainability and place the well-being of industrial workers at the center of the production process. Thus, Industry 5.0 relies on three pillars: it is human-centric, it encourages sustainability and it is aimed at developing resilience against disruptions. Such core aspects cannot be fully achieved without a transparent end-to-end human-centered traceability throughout the value chain. As a consequence, Auto-Identification (Auto-ID) technologies play a key role, since they are able to provide automated item recognition, positioning and tracking without human intervention or in cooperation with industrial operators. Although the most popular Auto-ID technologies provide a certain degree of security and productivity, there are still open challenges for future Industry 5.0 factories. This article analyzes and evaluates the Auto-ID landscape and delivers a holistic perspective and understanding of the most popular and the latest technologies, looking for solutions that cope with harsh, diverse and complex industrial scenarios. In addition, it describes a methodology for selecting Auto-ID technologies for Industry 5.0 factories. Such a methodology is applied to a specific use case of the shipbuilding industry that requires identifying the main components of a ship during its construction and repair. To validate the outcomes of the methodology, a practical evaluation of passive and active UHF RFID tags was performed in an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) under construction, showing that a careful selection and evaluation of the tags enables product identification and tracking even in areas with a very high density of metallic objects. As a result, this article serves as a useful guide for industrial stakeholders, including future developers and managers that seek for deploying identification and traceability technologies in Industry 5.0 scenarios.

Research on Life Extension Method of Transmission Line Intelligent Sensing System Based on Environmental Energy Harvesting

In this paper, we focus on building and researching the self‐power sensor system based on the tiny energy harvesting technology which can be used in the scenario of ubiquitous power Internet of Things (UPIoT) and prove the possibility and efficiency for the life extension of transmission line intelligent sensing system. Large scale of sensor in the smart grid technology application, especially in high‐voltage transmission lines, is not convenient; it is worth mentioning that most of all kinds of sensor node equipment using battery power make the life of the equipment or components limited by greatly. Therefore, low power consumption, long life, no battery dependence, free maintenance, and other requirements are increasingly important to solve the difficulties of deployment and maintenance. At the same time, the problem of the battery case electricity use with low efficiency and short life of sensor node has become the bottleneck of further widely deployed wireless sensor node equipment. The power collection technology based on environmental energy can effectively handle with the problems of energy collection efficiency and management that need to be urgently solved in new application scenarios such as zero‐standby power consumption devices, remote active tags, battery‐free telemetry and remote control, and ultralong life sensing system. By studying various kinds of environmental energy collection technologies and utilizing the conversion and management technologies of available weak environmental energy, such as solar energy and magnetic field energy, into electric energy, this paper establishes an energy conversion test system and configuration model and verifies the feasibility of the assumption of maintenance‐free for the intelligent sensing system of transmission lines.

Cybersecurity in Brain-Computer Interfaces: RFID-based design-theoretical framework

Abstract Brain Computer Interface BCI is a real-time communication system that connects the brain and external devices. The BCI system can directly convert the information sent by the brain into commands that can drive external devices and replace human limbs or language organs to achieve hu-man communication with the outside world and the external environment Control. In other words, the BCI system can replace the normal peripheral nerve and muscle tissue to achieve communication between the human and the computer or between the human and the external environment. The objective of this paper is to assist the network security for the BCI applications to identify brain activities in a secure real-time mode. To achieve this, we proposed the design of a Radio Frequency Identification RFID-based system having semi− active RFID tags placed outside the brain on the scalp transmit the collected brain activities wirelessly to a devise SC (Scanner Controller) consist of mini-reader and timer integrated together for every patient. Additionally, the paper implemented a novel system prototype interface called BCI Identification System (BCIIS) to assist the patient in the identification process. Given the benefits of RFID, we believed that if the idea is adopted and implemented by industry, it could enhance and provide secure BCI applications.

Magneto-Inductive HF RFID System

Efforts to increase read range in passive HF RFID systems are hampered by the poor range scaling law of inductive coupling. An alternative approach to enlarging capture volume-increasing the lateral extent of the antenna-is proposed, using a magneto-inductive (MI) travelling wave arrangement to allow larger antenna sizes. A theory of load modulation in MI systems is first presented, together with field simulations in the capture volume. A 2.3 metre-long MI antenna is then constructed, and an active tag emulator is used to demonstrate load modulation. RFID is then demonstrated, with the antenna in both reflection and transmission modes, using a custom reader constructed from laboratory equipment. A transverse read range of 0.5 m is obtained using commercial off-the-shelf RFID cards with 10 W RF power, with high uniformity along the length of the antenna.

A Compact Harmonic Radar System With Active Tags at 61/122 GHz ISM Band in SiGe BiCMOS for Precise Localization

This article presents a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) harmonic radar in the 61-/122-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency bands. The radar is based on two self-designed monolithic microwave wave integrated circuits (MMICs) for the transceiver (TRX) and tag which are fabricated in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The presented TRX-MMIC consists of a fundamental voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a power amplifier (PA), Wilkinson power dividers, and a static divide-by-16 chain for stabilization within a phase-locked loop (PLL) in the transmitter (TX) part. The receiver (RX) part has two channels with a low noise amplifier (LNA), a Gilbert cell mixer, and an intermediate frequency (IF)-amplifier each. The fundamental of the VCO is converted by a frequency doubler and distributed to the local oscillator (LO) input of the RX-mixers. With such a TRX architecture the active nonlinear tag which consists of antennas, pre-amplifiers, and a frequency doubler can be detected. For a sweep from 60 to 64 GHz, a spatial resolution of 4 cm at 1-m distance and a range of 23.3 m is achieved. With these characteristics, the tag enables harmonic radar applications in the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) range for medium range with high accuracy and resolution with a small form factor.

Identification of New Mutant Alleles of Augmin Subunits Broadens Spectrum of Augmin Function During Sexual Reproduction in Arabidopsis

In flowering plants, production of functional gametophytes is prerequisite for the double fertilization that leads to successful proliferation. Pollen grains as male gametophytes in Arabidopsis thaliana are uniquely patterned with two sperm cells inside a vegetative cell. To better understand the genetic regulation underlying pollen development, we morphologically screened DAPI-stained mature pollen in a mutant population generated using an activation tagging vector in this study. As a result, we identified two independent lines, AL318 and AL434, exhibiting similar mutant phenotypes regarding nucleus number and pollen pattern. Genetic analysis showed that the two mutants are maintained in heterozygotes but not in homozygotes, due to highly reduced genetic transmission from both sexes. Developmental analysis revealed that mutant microspores at the polarized stage either completely fail to enter pollen mitosis I, or abnormally divide with altered division asymmetry, resulting in mature pollen without the male germline. We found that these defects arise from genetic lesions in the AUG2 and AUG4 genes, members of the augmin complex that mediates microtubule (MT)-dependent MT nucleation in a broad range of species. Collectively, our study provides genetic evidence that the augmin complex plays a critical role in mitotic entry and proper execution for pollen mitosis I, broadening the spectrum of augmin function during sexual reproduction in Arabidopsis.

A bespoke low‐cost system for radio tracking animals using multi‐rotor and fixed‐wing unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract Due to the costs of related technologies, tracking studies typically use low numbers of animals as representative samples for whole group or species analysis, often without clear knowledge as to how representative these numbers are. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has the potential to considerably improve radio‐frequency (RF)‐based tracking systems. This includes improved line‐of‐sight visibility, access and range in difficult terrain and an increase in achievable spatial accuracy. This paper presents details of a fully custom‐built active RF identification tag and receiver system bespoke to UAVs, compatible with both multi‐rotor and fixed‐wing platforms. Using sheep as a model, we show the suitability of this system for tracking large terrestrial mammals. During static testing using both platform types, we calculated a spatial accuracy of 58.5 m (based on 95th percentile/R95 parameter) for this system using data from 14 flights (n = 175 tag interactions). When tested on sheep, working tags were detected 93% of the time over seven conducted flights. We provide practical considerations for operating this system on a UAV platform, address concerns relating to the system and identify future areas of research both for this system and other UAV‐based RF tracking systems.

Toward Efficient Compressed-Sensing-Based RFID Identification: A Sparsity-Controlled Approach

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) has pervasive applications in building ultralow-power ubiquitous networks, where backscatter communication during tag identification is neither reliable nor efficient. Inspired by the sparsity that only a few RFID tags communicate with the reader simultaneously, many compressed sensing (CS)-based schemes have been proposed to exploit the colliding tag responses to facilitate efficient tag identification. However, most of them suffer from huge ID search space and signature collision during the CS recovery process. To address these issues, we propose SCRIC, a novel sparsity-controlled RFID identification scheme using a random signature assignment, which achieves a faster and more robust identification performance. Specifically, to tackle identification failure caused by severe signature collision, we assign each active tag an access probability to control the sparsity and reduce signature collision. Theoretical analysis is given to prove that the signature collision probability of the proposed scheme is reduced compared with the existing random signature scheme and an optimal access probability is derived. Moreover, considering that conventional CS recovery algorithm relies heavily on the unpractical assumption that the active tag number is known precisely in advance, we integrate the cross validation (CV) into CS recovery algorithms and propose a greedy algorithm called the CV-based orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP-CV), which can reduce the tag identification false alarm rate without any prior knowledge. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed mechanism significantly outperforms the existing CS-based tag identification methods in terms of identification speed and robustness to noise.

Autonomous Active Tag Using Energy Harvesting Strategies

In this work, we present autonomous active tags. The power sources of these active tags employ energy harvesting techniques, specifically, solar and mechanical techniques. The integration of these techniques, and the storage of the energy obtained with a supercapacitor, converts the active tag into an autonomous device. These tags work in a low power mode in which they dynamically adjust their radio communication capabilities. Such a configuration depends on the application. We tested the tags in a real environment with testing parameters to check the modules, meaning more wake-ups over a longer time. Under these conditions, the tags gather enough energy to autonomously maintain standby operation on a sunny day for ten hours. In conclusion, this autonomous active tag is a demonstration that the integration of energy harvesting techniques, supercapacitor storage and the management of low power modes for transceivers, microcontrollers, and memories creates a device without energy dependencies that only depends on the requirements, and can be used in many applications related to, for instance, smart homes, smart cities, smart cars, and connected forests.

Homeobox transcription factor OsZHD2 promotes root meristem activity in rice by inducing ethylene biosynthesis.

Root meristem activity is the most critical process influencing root development. Although several factors that regulate meristem activity have been identified in rice, studies on the enhancement of meristem activity in roots are limited. We identified a T-DNA activation tagging line of a zinc-finger homeobox gene, OsZHD2, which has longer seminal and lateral roots due to increased meristem activity. The phenotypes were confirmed in transgenic plants overexpressing OsZHD2. In addition, the overexpressing plants showed enhanced grain yield under low nutrient and paddy field conditions. OsZHD2 was preferentially expressed in the shoot apical meristem and root tips. Transcriptome analyses and quantitative real-time PCR experiments on roots from the activation tagging line and the wild type showed that genes for ethylene biosynthesis were up-regulated in the activation line. Ethylene levels were higher in the activation lines compared with the wild type. ChIP assay results suggested that OsZHD2 induces ethylene biosynthesis by controlling ACS5 directly. Treatment with ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid), an ethylene precursor, induced the expression of the DR5 reporter at the root tip and stele, whereas treatment with an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor, AVG (aminoethoxyvinylglycine), decreased that expression in both the wild type and the OsZHD2 overexpression line. These observations suggest that OsZHD2 enhances root meristem activity by influencing ethylene biosynthesis and, in turn, auxin.

Front Cover: New Approaches for Absolute Quantification of Stable‐Isotope‐Labeled Peptide Standards for Targeted Proteomics Based on a UV Active Tag

DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202000007 Targeted proteomics, a powerful strategy for simultaneous determination of human proteins, requires quantified stable isotope labeled (SIL) peptide standards to enable precise protein quantification. In article number 2000007 by Karsten Schnatbaum et al., a new approach for absolute quantification of SIL peptides is reported, which eliminates the need for laborious and expensive amino acid analysis based protocols. The method relies on a UV-active quantification tag (Qtag) that is removed by tryptic digestion and was exemplarily applied for accurate quantification of the in-vivo specificity of a histone methyltransferase.

New Approaches for Absolute Quantification of Stable-Isotope-Labeled Peptide Standards for Targeted Proteomics Based on a UV Active Tag.

Targeted proteomics depends on the availability of stable isotope labeled (SIL) peptide standards, which for absolute protein quantification need to be absolutely quantified. In the present study, three new approaches for absolute quantification of SIL peptides are developed. All approaches rely on a quantification tag (Qtag) with a specific UV absorption. The Qtag is attached to the peptide during synthesis and is removed by tryptic digestion under standard proteomics workflow conditions. While one quantification method (method A) is designed to allow the fast and economic production of absolutely quantified SIL peptides, two other methods (methods B and C) are developed to enable the straightforward re-quantification of SIL peptides after reconstitution to control and monitor known problems related to peptide solubility, precipitation, and adhesion to vials. All methods yield consistent results when compared to each other and when compared to quantification by amino acid analysis. The precise quantitation methods are used to characterize the in vivo specificity of the H3 specific histone methyltransferase EZH2.

E-Passport Verification System

In this digital world, RFID technology is applied to many applications in different fields such as transportation, health-care, industries etc. This technology along with Internet of things (IOT) facilitates wireless identification using active and passive tags with suitable readers. In this paper, RFID technology is applied for passport verification system to authenticate the passport holder. This avoids forgery and manual work associated with traditional passport verification system. The passport checker checks the passenger’s passport by means of e-passport embed with RFID tag, fingerprint sensor and OTP through GSM. This e-passports are used in strengthening the security and helps the Airport authorities to identify the movement of order breakers or antisocial elements.

OsbHLH073 Negatively Regulates Internode Elongation and Plant Height by Modulating GA Homeostasis in Rice.

Internode elongation is one of the key agronomic traits determining a plant’s height and biomass. However, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling internode elongation is still limited in crop plant species. Here, we report the functional identification of an atypical basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor (OsbHLH073) through gain-of-function studies using overexpression (OsbHLH073-OX) and activation tagging (osbhlh073-D) lines of rice. The expression of OsbHLH073 was significantly increased in the osbhlh073-D line. The phenotype of osbhlh073-D showed semi-dwarfism due to deficient elongation of the first internode and poor panicle exsertion. Transgenic lines overexpressing OsbHLH073 confirmed the phenotype of the osbhlh073-D line. Exogenous gibberellic acid (GA3) treatment recovered the semi-dwarf phenotype of osbhlh073-D plants at the seedling stage. In addition, quantitative expression analysis of genes involving in GA biosynthetic and signaling pathway revealed that the transcripts of rice ent-kaurene oxidases 1 and 2 (OsKO1 and OsKO2) encoding the GA biosynthetic enzyme were significantly downregulated in osbhlh073-D and OsbHLH073-OX lines. Yeast two-hybrid and localization assays showed that the OsbHLH073 protein is a nuclear localized-transcriptional activator. We report that OsbHLH073 participates in regulating plant height, internode elongation, and panicle exsertion by regulating GA biosynthesis associated with the OsKO1 and OsKO2 genes.

Electrochemical Aptasensor for Detection of Dopamine

This work presents a proof of concept of a novel, simple, and sensitive method of detection of dopamine, a neurotransmitter within the human brain. We propose a simple electrochemical method for the detection of dopamine using a dopamine-specific aptamer labeled with an electrochemically active ferrocene tag. Aptamers immobilized on the surface of gold screen-printed gold electrodes via thiol groups can change their secondary structure by wrapping around the target molecule. As a result, the ferrocene labels move closer to the electrode surface and subsequently increase the electron transfer. The cyclic voltammograms and impedance spectra recorded on electrodes in buffer solutions containing different concentration of dopamine showed, respectively, the increase in both the anodic and cathodic currents and decrease in the double layer resistance upon increasing the concentration of dopamine from 0.1 to 10 nM L−1. The high affinity of aptamer-dopamine binding (KD ≈ 5 nM) was found by the analysis of the binding kinetics. The occurrence of aptamer-dopamine binding was directly confirmed with spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements.

Rice (Oryza sativa) Receptor for Activated C Kinase1B (OsRACK1B) Regulates Chlorophyll Catabolism and NADPH oxidase‐dependent H2O2 Signaling Pathways during Salinity Stress

The Receptor for Activated C Kinase1B (RACK1B) is a WD‐40 type scaffold protein that regulates diverse environmental stress signal transduction pathways. Arabidopsis RACK1A has been reported to interact with various proteins in salt stress and Light‐Harvesting Complex (LHC) pathways. However, the mechanism of how RACK1 contributes to the photosystem and chlorophyll metabolism in stress conditions remains elusive. Using T‐DNA‐mediated activation tagging transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines, we show that leaves from rice RACK1B gene (OsRACK1B) gain‐of‐function (OsRACK1B‐OX) plants exhibit the stay‐green phenotype by stabilizing chlorophyll under salinity stress. In contrast, leaves from down‐regulated OsRACK1B (OsRACK1B‐UX) plants display an accelerated yellowing phenotype accompanied by chlorophyll degradation. qRT‐PCR analysis revealed that genes encoding chlorophyll catabolic enzymes (CCEs) are differentially expressed in both OsRACK1B‐OX and OsRACK1B‐UX rice plants. In addition to CCEs, STAY‐GREEN (SGR) is a key component that forms the SGR‐CCE complex in senescing chloroplasts, which causes LHCII complex instability. Transcript and protein profiling revealed a significant upregulation of OsSGR in RACK1B‐UX plants than that in RACK1B‐OX plants during salt stress. The BiFC assay demonstrated that OsRACK1B interacts with OsSGR in planta in both cytoplasm and the nucleus. Our findings suggest that overexpression of OsRACK1B negatively regulates chlorophyll degradation, delays salinity‐induced senescence and OsRACK1B functions in this process, at least in part, by antagonizing the function of OsSGR through a direct interaction. Interestingly, histochemical staining revealed a global increase of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in plants overexpressing OsRACK1B compared to that of the wild‐type and the trend can be reversed by pre‐treatment leaves with diphenylidonium (DPI), a NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibitor. In gel‐activity of NOX and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) scavenging enzymes revealed that OsRACK1B regulates NOX and ROS scavenging enzyme activity in a salt stress dependent manner indicating a complex interplay and a novel regulatory module involving OsRACK1, NOX dependent H2O2 signaling, and a balanced ROS scavenging enzyme activity. BiFC analysis demonstrated that RACK1 also interacts with N‐terminal region of NOX at the plasma membrane. We hypothesize that elevated level of H2O2 acts as a signaling molecule to counteract salt stress and chlorophyll catabolism in OsRACK1B transgenic leaves under salinity stress. Taken together, these results provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms of chlorophyll catabolism, salinity‐induced senescence which can be useful in circumventing the effect of salt on photosynthesis and in reducing yield penalty of important cereal crops, like rice, in global climate change conditions.Support or Funding InformationThis work was partially supported by National Science Foundation (NSF), USA grant to Howard University (Grant number MCB 0542312); Dept. of Biology and Graduate School of the Howard University.Proposed working model of how OsRACK1B delays chlorophyll breakdown through regulation of Stay‐Green (SGR) protein and Rboh/NADPH‐Oxidase‐dependent H2O2 signaling to cope with high salinity stress.OsRACK1B localizes in the nucleus and the cytoplasm in rice. During abiotic stresses such as high salinity, OsRACK1B directly or indirectly represses the transcripts of chlorophyll catabolic genes and activates defense‐related genes in the nucleus. After synthesized in the cytosol, OsRACK1B shuttles to the chloroplast where it binds to the Stay‐Green (SGR) protein and limits the availability of SGR to form SGR‐CCE‐LHCII multi‐protein complex, a prerequisite for chlorophyll breakdown. Simultaneously, OsRACK1B interacts with the N‐terminal region of Rboh/NADPH oxidase in the cytoplasm and regulates the NADPH oxidase‐dependent H2O2 production via the action of CuZn‐SOD resulting in a ROS dependent systemic wave inside the cell. At a certain level, H2O2 can act as a signaling molecule to generate a positive feedback loop for chloroplast homeostasis and may trigger retrograde signaling to regulate nuclear gene expression to protect the chloroplast and enhance stress tolerance of the plant. High salinity stress also induces stress phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). OsRACK1B can also protect the photosystem complex through negative regulation of ABA signaling pathway. Solid and dotted lines indicate actual and hypothetical regulations of the signaling effect, respectively.Figure 1

Pre-targeted Imaging of Protease Activity through In Situ Assembly of Nanoparticles.

The pre-targeted imaging of enzyme activity has not been reported, likely owing to the lack of a mechanism to retain the injected substrate in the first step for subsequent labeling. Herein, we report the use of two bioorthogonal reactions-the condensation reaction of aromatic nitriles and aminothiols and the inverse-electron demand Diels-Alder reaction between tetrazine and trans-cyclooctene (TCO)-to develop a novel strategy for pre-targeted imaging of the activity of proteases. The substrate probe (TCO-C-SNAT4) can be selectively activated by an enzyme target (e.g. caspase-3/7), which triggers macrocyclization and subsequent in situ self-assembly into nanoaggregates retained at the target site. The tetrazine-imaging tag conjugate labels TCO in the nanoaggregates to generate selective signal retention for imaging in vitro, in cells, and in mice. Owing to the decoupling of enzyme activation and imaging tag immobilization, TCO-C-SNAT4 can be repeatedly injected to generate and accumulate more TCO-nanoaggregates for click labeling.

Guest Editorial: Special Issue on IEEE RFID 2019 Conference

With the proliferation of the Internet of Things, there is an increased demand to enhance every day physical objects with sensors and communication abilities so that they can have digital counterparts (“digital twins”) in a connected world. While many solutions based on protocols such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, ANT, LoRa, LPWAN, NB-IoT, HaLow, etc. do exist, RFID technology presents a compelling alternative. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a generic term for a variety of active and passive RF technologies. RFID transponders have varying degrees of sophistication and their design is often a tradeoff between functionality and cost. At one end of the spectrum, there are active RFID tags that offer on-board battery and memory, sensor integration, active RF transmitters and hence communication range up to kilometers albeit at increased costs. At the other end, passive and semi-passive RFID tags rely on a simple load modulation to backscatter ID and data back to the reader over several meters distance. Passive RFID tags, in particular, lend themselves well for applications needing large-scale, low-cost, automatic identification and are a good option for imparting digital identity to a host of physical assets. Industry alliances such as the NFC forum (for HF RFID) and the RAIN RFID alliance (for UHF RFID) have been formed to motivate and promote these efforts.