Reader Unit Research Articles

Pattern reconfigurable UHF RFID universal reader antenna array

In response to the rising demand for adaptable and versatile RFID reader antenna, this paper presents an integrated reader system featuring an array of four antennas. The primary objective is to design four identical, circularly polarized, high-gain, wide-band antennas that cover the 860–960 MHz UHF RFID band. Each antenna consists of three layers, the radiator and director layers, designed as patch antennas with trimmed edges and a central slot, while the reflector layer is constructed from a copper material. These layers are assembled with four Teflon spacers, and a coaxial connector is utilized for feeding the antenna. An open-circuit stub is used to improve impedance matching. CST Microwave Studio was employed for design optimization. The four sector antennas achieve a 150 MHz bandwidth (833–983 MHz) and a maximum gain of 8.4 dBi. When combined with a four-port RFID reader (ThingMagic M6E), the antenna system generates four electronically switchable beams in the azimuth plane. The proposed antenna exhibits left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) within the RFID ISM band, maintaining an axial ratio (AR) between 1 dB and 3 dB. The antenna array, including the reader and control unit, measures 255 × 255 × 210 mm. Simulation and measurement results confirm the system's performance and functionality.

A Wideband, High Gain and Low Sidelobe Array Antenna for Modern ETC Systems

Modern electronic toll collection (ETC) systems are currently moving towards a system design that is capable of fast and optimal payment handling for a single lane. Thus, the antenna of a roadside reader unit (RSU) needs to provide sufficient coverage over the vehicle lane during a payment cycle. In this paper, a left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) 2×4 array antenna is proposed for European standard RSU readers at 5.8 GHz. The proposed array antenna consists of patch element antennas with parasitic elements to enhance gain and bandwidth. Sequential phase rotation feeding networks are applied to make the antenna low-profile. By using the optimized nut-shaped metasurface, the antenna can achieve higher gain due to concentrated radiation power in the boresight direction. The antenna has a wide impedance bandwidth of 2.34 GHz (37.73%), axis ratio bandwidth of 2.07 GHz (32.9%), high gain of 17 dBi, and sidelobe level (SLL) lower than -15 dB at 5.8 GHz. Especially, half-power beamwidths are 34∘ and 17∘ in horizontal and vertical planes, respectively, which covers sufficient space for a single lane while avoiding interference with other lanes. The performance of the proposed antenna is verified by measured results. It showed that the proposed antenna is a promising candidate for ETC applications.

Internet of Things-Based Automated Shopping Cart Incorporated With Virtual Instrumentation Using LabVIEW for Control Applications

Shopping mall or a super market is a first choice for buying all necessary products and that is why it attracts more number of customers than the retail shop. But the problem is it creates too many hurdles for customer and owner to maintain the order and keep sync with the time at billing counter. The normal billing and shopping system lacks the time saving approach also it doesn't have proper security arrangements to avoid theft and duplication. To overcome this issue, we developed a smart way for shopping using LabVIEW incorporated with internet of things (IOT). Each and every product contains RFID tag. The smart trolley will consist of a RFID reader, transmitter and ZigBee unit. Along with this, the cart is equipped with the child monitor unit. The whole system is controlled by utilizing the controller developed using LabVIEW. The ZigBee module attached in the cart is responsible for sending the bill to the main billing system and IOT feature is also enabled so that shopping-bill of each customer is mailed to their respective mail-id through esp8266 Wi-Fi module.

Simultaneous Power Feedback and Maximum Efficiency Point Tracking for Miniaturized RF Wireless Power Transfer Systems.

Near-field interfaces with miniaturized coil systems and low output power levels, such as applied in biomedical sensor systems, can suffer from severe efficiency degradation due to dynamic impedance mismatches, reducing battery life of the power transmitter unit and requiring to increase the level of electromagnetic emission. Moreover, the stability of weakly-coupled power transfer systems is generally limited by transient changes in coil alignment and load power consumption. Hence, a central research question in the domain of wireless power transfer is how to realize an adaptive impedance matching system under the constraints of a simultaneous power feedback to increase the system’s efficiency and stability, while maintaining circuit characteristics such as small size, low power consumption and fast reaction times. This paper presents a novel approach based on a two-stage control loop implemented in the primary-side reader unit, which uses a digital PI controller to maintain the rectifier output voltage for power feedback and an on-top perturb-and-observe controller configuring the setpoint of the voltage controller to maximize efficiency. The paper mathematically analyzes the AC and DC transfer characteristics of a resonant inductive link to design the reactive AC matching network, the digital voltage controller and ultimately the DC-domain impedance matching algorithm. It was found that static reactive L networks result in suitable efficiency levels for coils with sufficiently high quality factor even without adaptive tuning of operational frequency or reactive components. Furthermore, the regulated output voltage of the rectifier is a direct measure of the DC load impedance when using a regular DC/DC converter to supply the load circuits, so that this quantity can be tuned to maximize efficiency. A prototype implementation demonstrates the algorithms in a 40.68 MHz inductive link with load power levels from 10 to 100 mW and tuning time constants of 300 ms, while allowing for a simplified receiver with a footprint smaller than 200 mm2 and a self-consumption below 1 mW. Hence, the presented concepts enable adaptive impedance matching with favorable characteristics for low-energy sensor systems, i.e., minimized footprint, power level and reaction time.

Paper-Based Competitive Immunochromatography Coupled with an Enzyme-Modified Electrode to Enable the Wireless Monitoring and Electrochemical Sensing of Cotinine in Urine

This paper proposes a combined strategy of using paper-based competitive immunochromatography and a near field communication (NFC) tag for wireless cotinine determination. The glucose oxidase labeled cotinine antibody specifically binds free cotinine in a sample, whereas the unoccupied antibody attached to BSA-cotinine at the test line on a lateral flow strip. The glucose oxidase on the strip and an assistant pad in the presence of glucose generated H2O2 and imposed the Ag oxidation on the modified electrode. This enabled monitoring of immunoreaction by either electrochemical measurement or wireless detection. Wireless sensing was realized for cotinine in the range of 100–1000 ng/mL (R2 = 0.96) in PBS medium. Undiluted urine samples from non-smokers exhibited an Ag-oxidation rate three times higher than the smoker’s urine samples. For 1:8 diluted urine samples (smokers), the proposed paper-based competitive immunochromatography coupled with an enzyme-modified electrode differentiated positive and negative samples and exhibited cotinine discrimination at levels higher than 12 ng/mL. This novel sensing platform can potentially be combined with a smartphone as a reader unit.

Wearable Metasurface-Enabled Quasi-Yagi Antenna for UHF RFID Reader With End-Fire Radiation Along the Forearm

We present a quasi-Yagi antenna mounted on a periodic surface for a wearable UHF RFID reader operating in the UHF RFID frequency band centered at 915 MHz. The periodic surface was co-optimized with the antenna to enhance the launching of surface waves to enable the end-fire radiation along the forearm so that a user can identify objects by pointing her/his hand towards them. In addition to the radiation pattern modification, the ground plane of the periodic surface serves the second purpose of isolating the antenna from the human body. We optimized the antenna in a full-wave EM simulator using a simplified cylindrical model of the forearm and in the simulation, it achieved the end-fire directivity of 5.9 dBi along the forearm. In the wireless testing, the quasi-Yagi antenna provided the read range of 3.8 m for a typical UHF RFID tag having 0 dBi gain when the reader’s output power was 32 dBm that corresponds with EIRP =0.56 W and SAR =0.191 W/kg in our simulations. Considering both, the RFID emission regulations with EIRP = 3.28 W or 4 W and the SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 gram of tissue, the read range could be further enhanced for reader units with higher output power.

Passive RFID-Based Diaper Moisture Sensor

Low-energy battery-less passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags will be an integral part of the upcoming IoT (Internet of Things) revolution. Applications for such tag-systems include medical applications, inventory management, security, localization, household application, etc. Currently, there is a growing demand for passive RFID-based diaper moisture sensors in the market. The target populations for such technology include infants, disabled individuals, and senior citizens. The goal of the moisture sensor is to eliminate the risks related to infection and other issues caused by the failure to remove a wet diaper in a timely manner. Desired characteristics of such a sensor include low cost, easy integration, good dynamic range in sensing metric, a long read range, as well as being comfortable to the wearer. We propose a passive UHF (Ultra High Frequency, 902-928 MHz) RFID-based diaper moisture sensor that is low-cost, user-friendly, reusable, washable, environment-friendly and comes with an extended on-body read range of 3.6 meters with baby diapers and 4.4 meters with adult diapers. The external reader unit is connected to the internet or a local network, and will automatically notify the parents or caregivers as soon as the presence of moisture is detected.

Hierarchical network of pulse coupled chemical oscillators with adaptive behavior: Chemical neurocomputer.

We consider theoretically a network of pulse coupled oscillators with time delays. Each oscillator is described by the Oregonator-like model for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. Different groups of oscillators constitute five functional units: (1) a central pattern generator (CPG), (2) a "reader" unit that can identify dynamical modes of the CPG, (3) an antenna (A) unit that receives external signals and responds on them by generating different dynamical modes, (4) another reader unit for identification of the dynamical modes in the A unit, and (5) a decision making unit that switches the current dynamical mode of the CPG to the mode that is similar to the current mode in the A unit. We call this network a chemical neurocomputer, since chemical BZ reaction occurs in each micro-oscillator, while pulse connectivity of these cells is inspired by the brain.

Low-Frequency RFID Signal and Power Transfer Circuitry for Capacitive and Resistive Mixed Sensor Array

This paper presents a contactless measurement system for a mixed array of resistive and capacitive sensors exploiting a low-frequency radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based approach. The system is composed of a reader unit which provides power to and exchanges measurement data with a battery-less sensor unit. The sensor unit is based on a transponder operating at 134.2 kHz and a microcontroller. The microcontroller sequentially measures the elements of the sensor array composed of n capacitive and m resistive sensors which share a common terminal. The adopted technique measures the charging time of a resistor–capacitor (RC) circuit, where the resistor or the capacitor can be either the sensing element or a reference component. With the proposed approach, the measured values of the resistive or capacitive elements of the sensor array are first-order independent from the supply voltage level. A prototype has been developed and experimentally tested with resistive elements in the range 400 kΩ–1.2 MΩ and capacitive elements in the range 200 pF–1.2 nF showing measurement resolution values of 1 kΩ and 5 pF, respectively. Operative distances up to 3 cm have been achieved, with readings taken faster than one element of the array per second.

Deciding on Appropriate Telemetric Intracranial Pressure Monitoring System

The clinical advantage of telemetric intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring has previously been limited by issues with inaccuracy and zero-drift. Today, 2 comparable telemetric ICP monitoring systems are available performing adequately in these parameters. The objective of this study is to identify appropriate uses of each system. The 2 telemetric ICP monitoring systems from Raumedic (implant: Neurovent-P-tel) and Miethke (implant: Sensor Reservoir) are compared in terms of fundamental differences, sensor survival, monitoring possibilities, complications, and cost/benefit. Two illustrative cases are presented highlighting clinical advantages and disadvantages of each system. Both systems provide transdermal (telemetric) ICP measurements through external application of a reader unit cabled to a portable data sampler. Thereby, they allow several ICP monitoring sessions without multiple surgical insertions of a cabled ICP sensor. The Miethke implant has a high sampling frequency (40 Hz) and a long CE (Conformité Européenne) approval (3 years) but cannot be used for long-duration monitoring sessions. In comparison, the Raumedic implant has a lower sampling frequency (5 Hz) and shorter CE approval (90 days) but can be used for long-duration monitoring sessions. The standard 3-year cost for a patient with a Neurovent-P-tel is 17,380 €, and for the Sensor Reservoir it is 15,790 €. The Miethke system is useful in outpatient clinics where patients have sequential point measurements of ICP performed, whereas the Raumedic system is ideal for long-duration ICP monitoring outside the hospital. When choosing between the 2 systems, it must primarily be decided if the clinical situation requires long-duration monitoring sessions or continuous repeated ambulatory follow-up sessions.

Measuring fluorescence-lifetime and bio-impedance sensors for cell based assays using a network analyzer integrated circuit

Cell culture assays for therapeutic drug screening today are fully automated. Vitality of the cells is monitored by different sensors. For such a system, we propose a new reader unit, which is capable of reading two different fluorescent sensors and electrical impedance in 24-well-plates. Main goals are to reduce cost, complexity and size while achieving a similar performance as the existing reader unit. To achieve this, measurement electronics and signal paths for frequency domain fluorescence and bio-impedance measurement are combined. Central component is an integrated circuit for impedance spectroscopy. A new compact and economic optical setup is developed to read two different sensor spots on the bottom of the well. Measurement errors introduced by different components like DFT leakage, and frequency dependent signal delays are evaluated and compensated. A set of commercially available fluorescence sensor spots is used to verify the read out performance. The results are usable, with noise slightly higher than commercial readers. To verify the impedance measurement accuracy, measurements of known resistances are conducted. In the relevant impedance and frequency range for biological applications a suitable accuracy is achieved. Due to the higher sampling rate of the new reader, the higher noise can be reduced through averaging. The new system is significantly smaller and cheaper to manufacture than commercially available devices.

‘Plug-and-Power’ Point-of-Care diagnostics: A novel approach for self-powered electronic reader-based portable analytical devices

This paper presents an innovative approach in the portable Point-of-Care diagnostics field, the Plug-and-Power concept. In this new disposable sensor and plug-and-play reader paradigm, the energy required to perform a measurement is always available within the disposable test component. The reader unit contains all the required electronic modules to run the test, process data and display the result, but does not include any battery or power source. Instead, the disposable part acts as both the sensor and the power source. Additionally, this approach provides environmental benefits related to battery usage and disposal, as the paper-based power source has non-toxic redox chemistry that makes it eco-friendly and safe to follow the same waste stream as disposable test strips. The feasibility of this Plug-and-Power approach is demonstrated in this work with the development of a self-powered portable glucometer consisting of two parts: a test strip including a paper-based power source and a paper-based biofuel cell as a glucose sensor; and an application-specific battery-less electronic reader designed to extract the energy from the test strip, process the signal provided and show the glucose concentration on a display. The device was tested with human serum samples with glucose concentrations between 5 and 30 mM, providing quantitative results in good agreement with commercial measuring instruments. The advantages of the present approach can be extended to any kind of biosensors measuring different analytes and biological matrices, and in this way, strengthen the goals of Point-of-Care diagnostics towards laboratory decentralization, personalized medicine and improving patient compliance.

Feasibility of Telemetric Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is crucial in the management of acute neurosurgical conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, pathological ICP may persist beyond the admission to the neuro intensive care unit (NICU). We investigated the feasibility of telemetric ICP monitoring in the NICU, as this technology provides the possibility of long-term ICP assessment beyond NICU discharge. In this prospective investigation, we implanted telemetric ICP sensors (Raumedic Neurovent-P-tel) instead of conventional, cabled ICP sensors in patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy. We recorded ICP curves, duration of ICP monitoring, signal quality, and complications. Seventeen patients were included (median age 55 years) and diagnoses were: severe TBI (8), malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (8), and spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (1). In total, 3015 h of ICP monitoring were performed, and the median duration of ICP monitoring was 188 h (interquartile range [IQR] 54-259). The ICP signal was lost 613 times (displacement of the reader unit on the skin) for a median of 1.5 min, corresponding to 0.8% of the total monitoring period. When the signal was lost, it could always be restored by realignment of the reader unit on the skin above the telemetric sensor. Sixteen of 17 patients survived the NICU admission, and ICP gradually decreased from 10.7 mm Hg (IQR 7.5-13.6) during the first postoperative day to 6.3 mm Hg (IQR 4.0-8.3) after 1 week in the NICU. All 17 implanted telemetric sensors functioned throughout the NICU admission, and no wound infections were observed. Therefore, telemetric ICP monitoring in an acute neurosurgical setting is feasible. Signal quality and stability are sufficient for clinical decision making based on mean ICP. The low sampling frequency (5 Hz) does not permit analysis of intracranial pulse wave morphology, but resolution is sufficient for calculation of derived indices such as the pressure reactivity index (PRx).

RFID enabled safer cards for new gerneration ATM machines

The newer generation of ATM card is introduced for the current ATM machine. Instead of the ATM card, machine can be operated through the RFID tags. These RFID tags put an end to the usage of many number of ATM cards and provides a facility to integrate it into a single card named RFID Safer cards. When the safer card is inserted in the ATM machine the reader unit present in the machine, then the information about the card holder will be sent to the server. Information related to the user such as their account details, photo will be fetched from the server. Meanwhile the camera embedded in the machine will capture the image of the user and it will be compared with the image stored in the server. Hence the enhancement of security will be benefited when compared to the current ATM machine since it offers both the password and biometric capacity. If the particular image matches with the database it requests for the pin number and the transaction processing will be initiated. Otherwise the transaction will be aborted. When the user’s image matches with the database the system generated OTP will be sent to the user’s mobile. Then the user has to enter the obtained OTP to continue the banking process. Thus by using this system ATM card usage will be completely eliminated and it can be done by the RFID safer card. System malfunction can also be avoided which will make our transaction more secure.

A 'reader' unit of the chemical computer.

We suggest the main principals and functional units of the parallel chemical computer, namely, (i) a generator (which is a network of coupled oscillators) of oscillatory dynamic modes, (ii) a unit which is able to recognize these modes (a ‘reader’) and (iii) a decision-making unit, which analyses the current mode, compares it with the external signal and sends a command to the mode generator to switch it to the other dynamical regime. Three main methods of the functioning of the reader unit are suggested and tested computationally: (a) the polychronization method, which explores the differences between the phases of the generator oscillators; (b) the amplitude method which detects clusters of the generator and (c) the resonance method which is based on the resonances between the frequencies of the generator modes and the internal frequencies of the damped oscillations of the reader cells. Pro and contra of these methods have been analysed.

New hardware and software platform for experiments on a HUBER-5042 X-ray diffractometer with a DISPLEX DE-202 helium cryostat in the temperature range of 20–300 K

Huber-5042 diffractometer with a closed-cycle Displex DE-202 helium cryostat is a unique scientific instrument for carrying out X-ray diffraction experiments when studying the single crystal structure in the temperature range of 20–300 K. To make the service life longer and develop new experimental techniques, the diffractometer control is transferred to a new hardware and software platform. To this end, a modern computer; a new detector reader unit; and new control interfaces for stepper motors, temperature controller, and cryostat vacuum pumping system are used. The system for cooling the X-ray tube, the high-voltage generator, and the helium compressor and pump for maintaining the desired vacuum in the cryostat are replaced. The system for controlling the primary beam shutter is upgraded. A biological shielding is installed. The new program tools, which use the Linux Ubuntu operating system and SPEC constructor, include a set of drivers for control units through the aforementioned interfaces. A program for searching reflections from a sample using fast continuous scanning and a priori information about crystal is written. Thus, the software package for carrying out the complete cycle of precise diffraction experiment (from determining the crystal unit cell to calculating the integral reflection intensities) is upgraded. High quality of the experimental data obtained on this equipment is confirmed in a number of studies in the temperature range from 20 to 300 K.

Tractor Noise Levels Impact on Operator Safety

Acoustic noise is one of the most persistent pitfalls of the operators of construction, mining and agricultural machineries, predominantly hearing loss or weak hearing. Also noise include decreased productivity, increased heart rate, and increased blood pressure, startle reaction, and other cardiovascular and psychophysiological system changes (Mansoor, et al. 2011, 2012). The aim of this reaserch was to investigate the impact of noise levels emitted from the agricultural tractors under field operations on the operator safety. Three types of tractors used in this study were Nasr, Belarus and Universal/UTB (Romani). They are without cabin and represent about 76% of the total number of tractors used in Egypt (Economic affair sector, 2012). The noise emitted from them was monitored and evaluated under plowing and land leveling operations as a heavy duty operation field. The data was collected at different engine speed and gears as recommended by the operator for each operation. Measurements of noise levels were taken with the use of Cirrus CR 110A doseBadge and RC 110A reader unit. The noise level measurements were performed in accordance with the Egyptian environmental law (EEL) number 4/1994 modified issue in 2012. Results show that the sound pressure level (SPL) in operator ear and the noise dose % from all tractors under all cases were more than EEL allowable 90 dBA criterion level for 8 hour of operation. The obtained results indicated that the noise levels with “A” frequency weighting (LAeqdB) for all tractors loaded with chisel plow were the highest measured values. The noise levels emitted from the Nasr tractor were the highest and ranged from 102 to 107 dBA, for Belarus tractor were ranged from 99 to 105 dBA and for UTB tractor were ranged from 96 to 104 dBA. The daily noise exposure levels (Lex(8)dB) from Nasr, Belarus and UTB tractors were 105, 102 and 100 dBA and the corresponding noise dose % as function of equivalent-continuous sound pressure level were 800%, 560% and 400% respectively. The results showed that there was highly significant difference in the systolic blood pressure (SBP) before and after work shift. Similar results were found for the diastolic blood pressure (DBP). For the classification of blood pressure among the operators before and after work shift, majority of the operators was under stage one hypertension (64.5 %), followed by pre-hypertension (28.4 %) and stage two hypertension (7.1%). This study showed that there was association between noise exposure and blood pressure among the operators. It is recommended that; the tractors operators must use one of hear protecting tool to increase working hours, arrange work schedules to let operators exchange work activities so that no one person is exposed to the noise for more than permissible hours in one day and proved tractors with a cabin for the tractors types under this study.

Zigbee RSSI 기반의 위치추정 기능을 탑재한 RFID 시스템

RFID(: Radio Frequency Identification)기술은 무선통신 기술이 발전하면서, 그 응용분야가 산업 전반에 걸쳐 확대되었다. RFID 기술의 대표적 응용 분야로는 의료, 물류, 유통 등이 있으며, 라디오파를 이용하기 때문에 비접촉 환경에의 사용이 용이하다. 최근 들어 RFID를 사용하여 건축자재의 재고 관리를 위한 자재관리 시스템의 구축사례가 증가 하고 있지만, 자재의 재사용에 관한 관련 연구나 실험은 미비한 상태이다. 본 논문에서는 기존의 재고관리 시스템의 재고관리 기능에, 자재의 재사용을 효과적으로 관리할 수 있는 위치추정 유닛이 탑재된 RFID 시스템을 제안한다. 제안된 시스템은 RFID 리더부와 저장부로 구성되고, 자재 위치정보는 RFID 리더의 위치를 추정하여 획득하게 된다. 리더의 위치추정을 위한 거리 값은 Zigbee의 RSSI(: Received Signal Strength Indicator)값을 활용하여 계산되며, <TEX>$5m{\times}5m$</TEX>의 실내공간에서 제안한 시스템의 위치추정 성능평가를 진행 하였다. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has a significant attraction throughout various industry sites, along with the development of wireless communication technologies. The typical applications of RFID include medical, logistics, and distribution, and, specially, it is effectively applied to non-contact environments, because it employs radio waves. Although, recently, construction cases of the RFID management systems for the inventory management of the construction materials have been increased, the related researches and experiments for the reused materials are not actively performed. In this paper, we propose the RFID system with the localization function for effectively managing the reuse of the construction materials, adding to the conventional inventory management system. The proposed system consists of a RFID reader unit and a receiver unit, and the location information of the material with the attached RFID tag is obtained by estimating the position of a RFID reader. The distance value for estimating the reader position is calculated using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) value of Zigbee, and the performance evaluation of the proposed system is performed in the indoor space of <TEX>$5m{\times}5m$</TEX>.

Battery-Free Smart Sock for Abnormal Relative Plantar Pressure Monitoring.

This paper presents a new design of a wearable plantar pressure monitoring system in the form of a smart sock for sensing abnormal relative pressure changes. One advantage of this approach is that with a battery-free design, this system can be powered solely by radio frequency (RF) energy harvested from a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader unit hosted on a smartphone of the wearer. At the same time, this RFID reader can read foot pressure values from an embedded sensor-tag in the sock. A pressure sensing matrix made of conductive fabric and flexible piezo-resistive material is integrated into the sock during the knitting process. Sensed foot pressures are digitized and stored in the memory of a sensor-tag, thus allowing relative foot pressure values to be tracked. The control unit of the smart sock is assembled on a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) that can be strapped to the lower limb and detached easily when it is not in use. Experiments show that the system can operate reliably in both tasks of RF energy harvesting and pressure measurement.

Accurate Vehicle Location System Using RFID, an Internet of Things Approach

Modern infrastructure, such as dense urban areas and underground tunnels, can effectively block all GPS signals, which implies that effective position triangulation will not be achieved. The main problem that is addressed in this project is the design and implementation of an accurate vehicle location system using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in combination with GPS and the Global system for Mobile communication (GSM) technology, in order to provide a solution to the limitation discussed above. In essence, autonomous vehicle tracking will be facilitated with the use of RFID technology where GPS signals are non-existent. The design of the system and the results are reflected in this paper. An extensive literature study was done on the field known as the Internet of Things, as well as various topics that covered the integration of independent technology in order to address a specific challenge. The proposed system is then designed and implemented. An RFID transponder was successfully designed and a read range of approximately 31 cm was obtained in the low frequency communication range (125 kHz to 134 kHz). The proposed system was designed, implemented, and field tested and it was found that a vehicle could be accurately located and tracked. It is also found that the antenna size of both the RFID reader unit and RFID transponder plays a critical role in the maximum communication range that can be achieved.