Transcript RFID Reader Management Requirements

RFID Reader Management
Requirements
Margaret Wasserman
ThingMagic
[email protected]
Overview
• Taxonomy of Readers
• Reader Requirements for:
– Configuration
– Monitoring
– Control
• Ongoing Reader Management Work
Fixed RFID Readers
• “Pizza box” readers with
~2-8 antennas
• Typically used in supply
chain applications
– Dock doors and conveyor
belts
Fixed Reader Systems
• Wide range of system capabilities
– Similar to home gateway or wireless access point
• Processors:
– Low-end 16-bit to mid range (~266MHz) 32-bit processor
plus DSP or FPGA for signal processing
• Operating Systems:
– Proprietary, embedded, WinCE or Linux
• Networking:
– Stand-alone TCP/IP network nodes running DHCP, HTTP,
Telnet (or SSH), NTP, SNMP and proprietary API and/or
control protocol
Integrated Reader/Antenna
• Single antenna with
integrated reader capability
Reader/Antenna Systems
• Wide range of system capabilities
– Very low-end access control point to higher-end “smart
antennas”
• Processors:
– DSP only to low-end 16-bit CPU
• Operating Systems:
– Proprietary or embedded
• Networking:
– Low-end: no standard networking, proprietary control
system perhaps based on RS-232 or USB
– High-end: Stand-alone TCP/IP node, might user Power over
Ethernet (PoE), DHCP, proprietary control protocol
Handheld Readers
• Handheld systems with integrated RFID
reader and antenna
• Sometimes integrated into
an existing barcode
scanner product
Handheld Reader Systems
• Handheld RFID scanner built into a handheld PC
• Processors:
– Low-end to mid-range 32-bit processor plus DSP or FPGA
for signal processing
• Operating Systems:
– Typically WinCE
• Networking:
– Wireless TCP/IP network nodes that use DHCP and connect
to servers (perhaps intermittently) using proprietary data
transfer applications
Embedded Readers
• “Credit Card-sized” module, used to add
RFID to a special-purpose device
• Examples: RFID
printer/encoders, package
sorters and POS terminals
(AKA cash registers)
Embedded Reader Systems
• Embedded reader is hosted in a special-purpose
device
• Processors:
– No general purpose CPU -- DSP or FPGA for signal
processing
– Host system provides general purpose CPU
• Operating Systems:
– None.
• Networking:
– None. Accessed via USB, Serial interface or PCMCIA
– Host processor may have networking capability
Configuration Requirements
• Networking configuration similar to any endnode infrastructure device
– DHCP, configuration and firmware downloads
• Small amount of persistent RFID-specific and
device-specific configuration
– Power level, active antennas, possibly some
protocol and search settings
– Set/get administrative status
RFID Configuration Challenges
• Minimal system requirements
– Lower-end “smart antennas” may not have much
processor or memory available
• Needs to be configurable as a stand-alone
device or as an entity within another device
– Printer, cash register, handheld PC, etc.
• Good fit for an SNMP MIB?
– Minimal agent system requirements
– Subagent and Entity MIB allow configuration of an
RFID “device within a device”
Monitoring Requirements
• Monitoring of network connectivity similar to
any other infrastructure device
• Monitoring of RFID-specific parameters
–
–
–
–
Operational status
Antenna connection faults
RF problems/interference
Perhaps some thresholding on read counts or
other parameters?
Monitoring Challenges
• RFID market is in early stages, so there
hasn’t been much time for de facto
standardization
– Readers (even within a single category)
have significantly different
hardware/software capabilities
Control Requirements
• Most readers do not change roles regularly
– Examples of reader roles:
• A reader continuously reads a fixed set of protocols
• A reader is set to read a fixed set of protocols, in a fixed cycle
whenever the dock door is open (detected via GPIO)
• A reader reads a fixed set of protocols for a defined time period
whenever an electric eye is triggered
• Challenge is not in controlling reader search
parameters, it is in collecting, parsing and collating
RFID data from multiple read points
– A standard way to collect RFID “reads” from multiple readers
would be useful
Control Requirement Questions
• Applications are needed to control the RFID reader,
but at what level of abstraction?
– Individual read cycle vs. set and forget?
• Where are the applications hosted?
– May be hosted on workstation (reached over network), on a
fixed reader, on a handheld PC or on the host processor for
an embedded reader
• Are there any “real-time” requirements?
– Regulatory requirements demand real-time (sub-millisecond)
control over RF functions
– Control at a higher levels may not be real-time at all
Ongoing Related Efforts
• Reader Configuration
– De facto standard set of DHCP options with bootfile and
configuration file download mechanisms emerging due to
network vendor/system integrator efforts
• Reader Monitoring
– EPC Global Reader Management Group
• Defining MIBs for reader monitoring and RFID-specific
configuration
• Reader Control
– EPC Global Reader Protocol Group
• Defining an XML/Web Services interface for reader control
See: http://www.epcglobalinc.com