rfid in banknotes

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IDTechEx Limited, 2002. Downing Park Innovation Centre, Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridge, CB5 0NB, UK.Tel: + 44 1223 813703 Fax: + 44 1223 812400

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The IDTechEx Web Journal

Issue 19 August 2002

Smart Labels AnalystWebsite: www.idtechex.com Email : [email protected]

Inside this issue:

RFID in Banknotes 1

A Focus on Philips 3

Progress With the Worlds largestRFID card project

5

News SnippetsRFID tag monitors medicationcomplianceCar SecurityNew RFID startup addressesRFID for packaging, vehicles andsupply chainRapid Growth of RFID cards inKoreaWorld First for Fitzwilliam

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News Snippets

Motorola using chipless RFID toprotect barcodes and other datacarriersThe worlds thinnest chipless tagMarconi InfoChain

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Background to The Internet ofThings, part 2

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Case Study: Liebherers smartfreezer

13

Guest Commentary: The monitor-ing and control of chemical in-puts to arable farming systems

14

Jewellery tag counters phonetheft

14

Smart Labels 2002 15

Publications 17

Order Form 19

Smart Labels Analyst is writ-ten and produced for privatecirculation among subscrib-ers only, and may not be for-warded to any third party, nor

parts or all of any article re-produced, without prior per-mission by IDTechEx Limited.

The little old lady went to the Post Of-fice to get her Government pension. Shetook the banknote down the road to buyfood. It was refused: it was a counter-feit. She took it back to the Post Officewho refused to replace it, saying that shecould not prove it came from them. Asa consequence, she ate very little thatweek. Some years ago a newspaperreport alleged that all that happened inthe UK some years ago.

Secrecy

Official figures for banknote counterfeit-ing in the UK are kept secret. That wastrue in all countries of Europe exceptGermany, where the Bundesbank pub-lished alarmingly increasing figures upto the 1980s. Nowadays the EuropeanCentral Bank has taken over and eventhe Germans are denied access to thecounterfeiting figures.

Court Cases

Court cases give a glimpse of the con-tinuing problem. Most countries have atleast one such case every year.

Global Repertoire of Counterfeit

For example, in the UK last year aforger was jailed for seven and a halfyears. He helped to create 10 million($16m) of counterfeit notes that fooled

banks and were dispensed from cash

machines. He took orders from under-world figures around the world and pro-duced English, Northern Irish, Scottish,US, and Spanish currency. A fellow

printer was also jailed. The operationwas described as being skilled, verywell equipped, meticulous and persis-tent. They became the first counter-feiters to successfully forge the Bankof Englands new 20 note, which hasa complex hologram.

Main Target the Dollar

However, it is the US dollar that is

widely accepted as the worlds mostdefrauded and defraudable currency.Three men who took part in the larg-est counterfeit US dollars scam were

jailed for a total of 19 years thismonth. The trio, which included aformer KGB agent from Armeniawere part of a European wide networkwhich stretched to a leading IRA dis-sident and the Russian mafia. Theywere sentenced following a joint op-eration between the US secret serviceand British national crimesquad detec-

tives to uncover the distribution ofcounterfeit $100 bills. Official esti-mates for the total distribution of so-called super dollars worldwide isover $27m. Is the true figure muchhigher? Many experts think it is.

Trouble for the Euro

The Euro makes things tougher formany reasons. It is more widely usedso counterfeits are easier to unload. Ithas very high value notes, so vast

amounts of money can be carried in asuitcase, counterfeit or otherwise. It isunfamiliar and uses very tired, oldsecurity printing features in the main,

RFID in Banknotes

For additional uploads this month go to: www.idtechex.com/journal/upload/sla19.html


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Smart Labels Analyst Issue 19 August 2002

so the national printers could minimiseany costs of re-equipment .

Predictions Look Bad

There is going to be an increase inforged money in circulation, andforged notes held in stock will be re-leased, a German interior ministersaid last year, in the run up to thelaunch of the Euro. Police in Italy,where more fake notes are producedthan in any other EU country, saidgangs with piles of counterfeit lire thatwill soon be useless to them are likelyto make a last attempt to introduce

them to the market. In France, the bigretailer Carrefour was also worried.Patrick Armand, director of finance,said the focus of anti-counterfeiting efforts onforgery of euro notes wouldcreate an opportunity forcriminals to forge the notesof legacy currencies. TheGerman minister said thatcriminals might also attemptto exchange forged D-Marksfor euros in the large number

of east European countrieswhere the German currencyis widely accepted. TheBundesbank said 15,000fake notes were detected inthe first six months of 2001, doublethe number in the same period in 2000.This has prompted the countrys mainretailers federation to launch an inter-net-based scheme to guard againstforgeries being passed.

Stores will be able to contribute and

access information on attempts to passoff forged D-Marks within seconds ofincidents being logged. Retailers alsofear a flood of fake euro banknotes ascriminals try to exploit consumers andshop assistants unfamiliar with thenew currency. So far the figures thatare available show only a modest

problem but this may be the calm be-fore the storm. Within the eurozone,

banknote forgeries fell by 93% in thefirst six months of use in 2002, accord-ing to the pan-European police agency,

Europol. Europol had originallyfeared east European counterfeitersmight flood the markets with false

currency when the euro was introducedin January 2002, but now thought thatthe incidence of forgery was far less

than anticipated. Only 211,965 forger-ies were reported to Europol during the

period to the end of June 7% of thetotal reported in the first half of 2001.

National police authorities arrested 116people in connection with 400 separatecounterfeit operations.

Tough Courts: Poor Products

All this adds up to strong action againstcounterfeiters across the world, but amore leisurely response in terms of

redesign of banknotes to give themrapidly verifiable visual and electronicfeatures that could embarrass the coun-

terfeiter.

That little oldlady with her dud20 ($32) bill isnot receiving

prime attentionanyway. It is thehigh value notesused and abused

by drug runnersand, closely asso-ciated, the newterrorism thatgovernments are

energetically reviewing.

Action in Japan

The Bank of Japan has backed theworlds smallest RFID chip the Hi-tachi Mew Solutions product specifi-cally for high value notes and it is said

that the first notes with the chip in willappear next year. We expect prices ofchip RFID in banknotes to start at 10cents or so and drop to four cents atlowest so they will probably only ap-

pear on notes worth at least $100 andtherefore sell globally at no more than10 billion yearly still a good boost toRFID volumes. Also, we understandthat a high value Euro banknote will betrialled with an RFID chip next year inThe Netherlands, presumably with oneof the new Philips ultra small chips, as

we reported in SLA 14. It has beenreported that chip makers, Philips andInfineon are both involved in this pro-

ject backed by the European CentralBank (ECB) and targeted for full roll-out in 2005.

Hidden Agenda?

This is interesting because it wouldenable bank notes to be covertlytracked and counted. It would not justdeter counterfeiters. Flying Null (FN)in the UK has a bank note securityribbon detectable a few centimetresaway with digital encoding and nochip. The company says it coulduniquely code every Euro for decadesto come at a fraction of the cost of a

chip. Others in Europe are about toannounce ultra low cost chipless RFIDin the form of printed ink detectable ata few centimetres (the FN product ismade by a vacuum process. Inkodeseems to have got some of its micro-wave RFID Taggents into the paperof some banknotes as has NHK in Ja-

pan with magnetic fibres, but neitherof these processes are directly digitallyencodeabel. Is the digitally-encoded,covertly monitored banknote about toarrive?

For further information:

Flying Null: www.flying-null.comHitachi Mu Solutions:[email protected]

NHK: [email protected]: [email protected]

For more information on the HitachiMeu chip, see the Hitachi Smart La-

bels USA 2002 conference lecture inthis months downloads section:

http://www.idtechex.com/journal/upload/sla19.html

We expect prices of chip

RFID in banknotes to start

at 10 cents or so and drop

to four cents at lowest so

they will probably only

appear on notes worth at

least $100

New IDTechEx Associates

Adrian Becks, an academic member ofthe Auto ID Center and lecturer atLeicester university, Dr Robb Clarke,of Michigan State University and An-drew Howe, formerly of Sentec, haverecently become IDTechEx Associ-

ates, and will write guest articles andaid our consultancy work. Seewww.idtechex.com for more details ofour associates and consultancy.


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Philips expertise lies within makingRFID ICs (integrated circuits) forcontactless devices. Their position inthe value chain is horizontal: they donot make complete labels themselves,this is done by their partners and resel-lers. This strategy has been clearlysuccessful, with Philips ICs marketshare being over 50% for contactlesssmart cards. This also allows end usersto second source smart labels based onthe same chip, and means Philips hold

a strong position in progressing uni-versal standards.

Products

With the recent addition of a UHF IC

(described below), Philips portfolionow covers all the chip RFID frequen-cies. The I.Code chip is primarily forsmart label use, , while hitag is typi-cally used in robust tag applicationsand mifare for epurse and transportapplications.

Kienzl said Philips have now soldabout 500 million RF ICs into threecategories:

1. Vehicle immobilisers (car click-ers)2. Contactless smart card applica-tions (mainly transport)

3. Tag/label ICs

Vehicle Immobilisers

The use of RFID for vehicle immobi-lisers was one of the early successes ofRFID, since tag cost was not criticaland this is a closed application. De-spite 40 to 50 million new vehiclesmade yearly (not all with immobilis-ers), and Philips being not the onlysupplier of RF ICs for this applica-tion, this market has demanded a high

number of tags since each vehicle typi-cally has two keys (hence two tags) but more lucratively also requires areader, for which Philips also sells thenecessary silicon components. Katjatold us Philips have sold 100 milliontransponders for car immobilisers todate. This area also differs from thetwo other RFID business units at Phil-ips since it employs a vertical ap-

proach they supply the complete carkey transponder.

Smart cards

Transport has been a very successfulapplication of RFID, more so than

people realise, if you include the num-ber of RF tags and cards sold for roadtolling, combined transport and epursecards, passports and so on. Earlier thisyear Philips announced they had sold200 million RF chips for contactlesssmart cards mainly transport. Philipssee this as a growing market, once

banks and others are sure that the con-

tactless versions are as secure as theircurrent contact ones, contactless cardscould replace most contact ones mean-ing more convenience for users.

A Focus on PhilipsInterview with Katja Kienzl, marketing manager of RF tag and label ICs, Philips Semiconductors

Figure 1: Philips technologies for tags and labels


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Tags and labels

Kienzl told us that one of the quickestgrowing businesses is now with tag

and label ICs, especially for supplychain management. Sales of their tagshave mainly been into closed applica-tions, where standards are not re-quired, and long trials are not neces-sary as ROI is now quickly achieved(and in many cases by 6 months). Be-cause closed systems are generallytypically relatively small in size, theinfrastructure is often simpler and lesscomplex than open systems whichgenerally need to cope with manymore tags and a much more complex,

spread infrastructure.

One example of a closed applicationproving a fast ROI are rental systemswhere the RFID tags can be reused.The national library of Singapore, forinstance, uses 6 million RFID tags(based on Philips ICs), which tageach library book to reduce the labourof stock counting and to help automatecheck in and check out of books. Asthe tag is used for the life of the book,tag price is not as critical had the tag

needed to be disposable. This example parallels others such as Chep(UK/USA), Blockbuster (USA), Scot-

tish Courage Brewing (UK) and Athe-lia (France), tagging crates, videos,

beer kegs and gas cylinders respec-tively for improved rental control.

Philips have sold approximately 200million ICs used as smart labels. Cur-rently their IC price for the most basicchips (I.Code) start at under 20 cents

per chip for one million, but their de-velopment of a scaleable productionline means they expect to be able to

produce billions of tags yearly whenthis volume is in demand, and, consis-tent with the Auto ID Centre, they saythey can achieve 1 cent per IC oncevolume demand is high enough (tens of

billions).

Progression with Standards

Philips, a member of the Auto ID Cen-tre, are actively pursuing standards foruse of smart labels in supply chainlogistics applications. The GTAG ap-

proach is inline with their strategy, andthey intend to be one of the first tomarket with an ePC compatible tag.Already they have released a tag com-

pliant to the draft GTAG specification,the I.Code HSL (High frequency smart

label chip complying with the ISO18000-6 and ISO 18000-4 draft stan-dards), meaning their product range

now covers all frequency bands forpassive chip RFID.

Developing scaleable, high volume

production methods

Philips have invested into Alien Tech-nology, but have also recently an-nounced their own IC connection tech-nique, I-Connect. This techniqueuses a flip chip method to bond the ICto a larger connector strap. The proc-ess works almost independent of ICsize, and removes the need for custom-ers to connect the RFID ICs in a cleanroom environment themselves. Theconnector area to the antenna from the

package is larger than those directlyfrom the chip, meaning antenna attach-ment is simpler and many differentconnection strategies to the antennacan be used, such as soldering, gluing,crimping etc. Flip chip processes areoffered by other companies, but Phil-ips capabilities include high through-

put (10,000 units per hour) and theirlarge customer base means that theirresellers can perform fewer and sim-

pler steps to make the final RFID de-vice, reducing their resellers costs.

Reducing the size of the IC is a neces-sary development to reach ultra lowcost smart labels, since many more ICswill be fabricated for one silicon waferif the ICs are smaller. Kienzl told usthat on a chip size and functionalitycomparison, Philips now offer one ofthe smallest ICs - their current chipsizes are less than 1 square mm, butPhilips will soon offer chips just a fewtenths of a square mm in size. Cur-

rently, Hitachi have the worlds small-est IC the Meu chip which meas-ures 0.4mm, but with less functionalitythan some of the I.Code specifications.

Polymer Electronics

Philips demonstrated the first smartlabel based on polymer transistors

back in 1999. Due to the poorer con-ductivity of polymers compared withsilicon, the data transfer was slow, andthe molecules broke down after sev-

eral months. However, that was fouryears ago, and Kienzl explained thatPhilips have still been extensively

Figure 2: Philips RFID roadmap


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Is it 970 million adult Chinese that

must hold the RFID (contactless) na-tional smart card by 2010 or is thenumber 800 million? There is stillsome vagueness about this and otheraspects of the project.

For a number of years, governmentofficials have publicly discussed plansto replace the existing paper identitydocument with a more secure and dura-

ble chip card. The ID card projectseems to be taking shape at last. Thecard will be a hard-wired 4-kilobyte

memory card and not a higher-pricedmicroprocessor card that can be loadedwith additional features, says Pan Li-hua, a deputy director of a governmentchip card agency and secretary generalof the Smart Card Society of Chinatrade association.

Second Generation ID Card

He says the card, known in China asthe second generation ID card willonly carry personal identifications. It

will operate in contactless mode thatis by waving it within a few centime-tres of readers to avoid wear and tearon cards and readers from repeated

insertions. This ISO Proximity mode

is already the norm on mass transitsystems using smartcards in China andelsewhere.

Many uses

Citizens will use the card to identifythemselves in many settings, includingwhen they make bank deposits, checkinto hotels and at airports, and whenthey trade stocks, Pan calls it, Morethan 100 areas Pan says the govern-ment has chosen four Chinese smart

card vendors to supply the card. Chinawill not rely on foreign vendors for a

project that is viewed as a nationalsecurity priority, observers say.

Rollout This Year

The government will issue the cardlater this year in Shanghai and a hand-ful of other cities, Pan says. He saysthe government might issue 10 millionchip cards this year, 70 million to 80million cards in 2003 and more than

100 million per year after that. Withinfive years, he says, 800 million Chi-nese citizens will carry the chip-basedIDs.

Doubts

Other Chinese smart card industryexecutives, however, remain scepticalthat the programme will get under waythis year. you can never tell what thegovernment will do. shrugs one. AndJacek Kowalski, president and CEO of

French contactless smart and generalRFID manufacturer Inside Contactless,recently visited China. He reports thatChinese vendors seem unsure whatwill happen. He feels that a rolloutcould still be two to three years away.

Card Technology magazine notes that,Adding to the uncertainty is the ex-

pected retirement within the year ofChinas president, Jiang Zemin, who islikely to be replaced by Vice PresidentHu Jintao. The government may wait

for the new chief to take over beforemoving forward with a program assweeping as a new national ID card.

working on development of polymer

electronics, with promising results.However, she felt that certainly in theshort to medium term polymer elec-tronics does not pose a threat to siliconRFID because they believe that withadvancements in silicon IC production

processes they are developing they canachieve silicon IC prices very close tothat of polymer IC prices. As a result,Kienzl feels that the better functional-ity of silicon will mean that chip RFIDwill still be the preferred option, and

polymer electronics still has several

significant milestones to reach beforerobust samples can even be demon-strated.

Other product developments within thenext year include work on batterytechnology and eventually tags andlabels incorporating sensors (whichwould require a battery powered la-

bel). Details of their road map areshown in Figure 2. For more informa-tion Philips will be presenting at SmartLabels 2002, 4-5 September, Churchill

College, Cambridge University, or seewww.semiconductors.philips.com .Katja Kienzl can be contacted [email protected]. Also seethis months download section.

Progress with the Worlds Largest RFID Card ProjectA Focus on Philips

Smart Labels based on Philips I.Code chip


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inventor of magnetic tagging technolo-

gies, announced the release of whatthey believe is the thinnest, remotelyreadable, non-line of sight smart tag-ging system in the world. At only 3-micron thick and a millimetre wide thenew FN Transfer Tag is 25 times thin-ner then a human hair. The hot foilstamped tags can be laminated, embed-ded, applied directly to the surface,over printed or even form part of thefinal packaging design.

Developed for brand protection or

document security the transfer tagsprovide the same security levels of theexisting Flying Null technologies.Once applied they provide each itemwith a permanent ID which can be readremotely using the Flying Null handheld reader.

Although thinner than Flying Null'sother EMID (Electromagnetic IDatype of Chipless RFID) tags, the newTransfer Tags offer the same durabil-ity. They can survive a host of harsh

environments varying from high tem-peratures at +200C to very low tem-perature and many atmospheres ofpressure. They can also withstand ex-posure to high levels of radiation, mi-crowaves, and electrostatic and electro-magnetic fields.The tags can be supplied in variousformats to cater for product authentica-tion, batch control, warranty control orTrack & Trace applications. Suitably

positioned and applied the tags willalso provide machine readable tamper

evidence functionality. When used intandem with other technologies FNTransfer Tags can add a covert ma-chine-readable feature to security printfeatures or optical technologies such asHolograms.

The new FN Transfer Tag is also beingconsidered for recycling applications.The low metallic content and smallsize of the tags means that they intro-duce less then 0.3 parts per million intoglass when recycled, also there is no

danger of inclusions occurring.

For more information contact RobKarsten: [email protected] orsee www.flying-null.com

Marconi InfoChain

Marconi InfoChain, responsible fordeveloping tags and antennas towork in typically unfriendly RF en-vironments, such as metal and liq-uids, are sadly closing down afterfailing to find a buyer for the unit.

RFID tag monitors medica-tion compliance

A new RFID tag has been devel-oped, claiming to monitor medica-tion usage with any standard blister

packaging format. Developed byCanadas Information MediarysMed-ic ECM, the RFID tag recordsthe time when the contents of the

blister pack are expelled from the blister, logging and following thepatient use of the medication.

The doctor and pharmacist can then

at a later date download the informa-tion and make a judgement based onthe patients compliance levels.

Information Mediary says the devicecan be incorporated into existing

blister packs without needing spe-cialized tooling or packaging design.Visual and auditory reminders could

be added if required.

Non compliance with medication isestimated to add more than US $100

billion yearly to the US healthcaresystem and results in 125,000 deathsand 1 million hospitalizations.

News SnippetsMotorola using Chipless

RFID to protect barcodesand other data carriers

Motorola are developing a chiplessRFID tag which is aimed for trackand trace applications. The tag couldalso be used as an alternative to EAS(one bit anti theft devices), but Mo-torola say they can extend this toseveral bits by providing a PINcode like solution, i.e. protectinginformation carriers rather than car-rying the information.

The read distance is up to 10 mm,and price is very competitive withother solutions in the same class. Itis between


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Continued from last month(Smart Labels Analyst 18)

Internet and wireless network con-

nectables

Three, almost unrelated trends have-been important in making the dream ofthe Internet of Things both realisticand necessary. We will look at eachof these in detail. They are:

1. The beginning of thing-to-thingcommunication on the Internet.2. The rapid adoption of wireless net-works with a wide variety of connect-ables,3. The sharpening need for total assetvisibility.

Things electronically communicat-

ing on a small scale today

Today there are many examples of

things communicating with thingselectronically. Some employ the Inter-net while others autodial down tele-

phone lines with no computer in-volved. For instance, an unoccupiedhouse may have various sensors todetect burglary or fire and even flood-ing. In the case of a problem beingdetected, the equipment may dial thenumber where the residents are onholiday and leave a synthesised voicemessage. There are many variants onthis.

Linear systems

On the other hand video cameras in achain of shops may send images toheadquarters via the Internet for re-cording and late examination. Whatthese have in common is that they aresmall scale and linear - one sensor toone destination in the main. They arenot usually capable of forming ad hocnetworks in the way people communi-cate in a crowd to find a lost child -

lots of short-range messages achieve along-range search. When the task iscompleted the network is dissolvedforever. Even where various inputs

are processed to send one simple mes-sage, as with the various burglar andfire alarms mentioned earlier, the proc-essing is relatively unsophisticated.Hard wiring, with all its limitations, isoften used entirely or in part. Thus, thesensors can rarely be mobile or eveneasily reconfigured and the small num-

ber of inputs means the informationgained is skimpy at best. The node that

pools the inputs rarely has to coordi-

nate with other nodes. It is all a longway from tracking fast moving con-sumer goods or even vehicles, yet thesetypes of challenge are, as we shall see,central to the dream of the Internet ofThings.

Wireless LANs and their new con-nectables

Let us now look at a different, thoughrelated industry, that of computer net-

working, and see where that is leading.

Hard-wired networks

Computer networking - connectingcomputers and computer-like equip-ment - is traditionally achieved withhard wiring, originally with copperwire but more recently with fibre op-tics and combinations of fibre opticsand copper. It is done in order to savemoney and time and make new things

possible, such as several small com-

puters temporarily collaborating toperform a task previously only possiblewith a large computer.

Fibre optics

The fibre optic cable increasingly usedin computer networking can cost moreup-front but handle far more informa-tion far faster and thus make newthings possible and saves money in themedium term. Fibre optics can bemore secure against intrusion and elec-

trical interference as well. Nonethe-less, all wiring and cabling has the dis-advantage of needing extensive instal-lation and it is useless for mobile

equipment. Indeed it is poor forequipment that has to be repositionedregularly. That is where wireless Lo-cal Area Networks (LANs) come in.

Wireless LANsFor example, in an airport, the cost ofdigging up a runway to connect toequipment on the other side can beenormous, particularly if the disrup-tion is factored in as well. Connecting

to mobile ground support equipment istotally impossible with hard wiring. Inboth cases, wireless LANs come to therescue. These can be very simple. AtVienna International Airport, one ae-rial serves the wireless LAN over al-most the whole campus. That does notreplace the hard wiring: it enhances it.The two are connected. This is be-cause wireless networks handle datamore slowly - their capacity is limited.They are not always cheaper than hardwiring over life and there can be prob-

lems with crowding out the airwaves, particularly in locations like airportswhere safety is also involved. This iscompounded by the fact that for veryshort ranges of a few metres or lessthere is a new and very popular globalstandard for wireless connection calledBluetooth. This will often eliminatethe need for wiring between com-

puters, printers, and other equipmentin offices and make it much easier toreconfigure everything. However, itwill further congest the airwaves.

New connectables

In all this evolution of computer net-works, including a trend to so-calledTCP/IP protocol which mimics theway the Internet works, comes anotherradical change. What is connected tothe network is no longer mainly com-

puters or computer terminals. A pro-fusion of sensors, human interfaces,display devices, transaction systemsand even vending machines are con-

nected to an increasing number ofcomputer networks and these networksare even subsuming telephone net-works. Information Technology IT

Background to The Internet of Things

Part 2


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departments are increasingly being

called Information and Communica-tions Technology ICT departments toreflect this change and some are beingconverted from cost centres to profitcentres.

The future

So what comes next? One trend istowards vastly more numerous,cheaper input devices to wireless com-

puter networks. To take the airport

example again, these ubiquitous, low-cost input devices will not replace the present LAN connectables. In anairport these include intelligent videocameras that can recognise faces, thevending machines, payphones, flightdisplay systems, card access terminalsand automated ticket dispensers.

Connectables en masse

The cheaper, and therefore potentiallymore ubiquitous wireless input devices

can include Radio Frequency Identifi-cation (RFID) tags on passengers, bag-gage, freight, trolleys, vehicles andmuch more. Indeed RFID tags are thearchetypal ubiquitous wireless LANconnectable. At todays prices of 30cents to $10 each they are beginning to

be used in millions just in airportsalone. At the lower prices (sub 5cents) that will be possible in future,they will be used in billions in air-

ports. Across all of society, it is possi-ble to envisage RFID tags being used

in trillions particularly if they can bereduced in cost below 1 cent. Orches-trating such a profusion of wirelessLAN connectables is going to be radi-cally different from the managementof the few million wireless LAN con-nectables in use today. However, if itis achieved efficiently, totally new andamazing benefits to society will beachieved. This is another trend that isleading towards what we shall call theInternet of Things.

Total Asset Visibility

Coming from a third direction is an-other trend towards The Internet of

Things. In the Gulf war, the US mili-

tary had to open 30,000 containers justto find what was in them. The paperlabels and manifests had been de-stroyed by sand and by handling. Thiswas clearly a very serious and mission-critical failure of asset visibility andit is one of the things that has led theUS military to become one of the mostenergetic pursuers of so called TotalAsset Visibility, TAV, the dream beingto know the location and status of eve-rything in real time and at all times,right down to the cheapest, least-

important consumable.

There are obvious potential benefits.They include less danger, greater effec-tiveness, and lower costs. Less man-

power is needed and tasks can be de-skilled. However, in many situationsTAV, or some progress towards it, canmake new things possible. For exam-

ple a rapid response force may be ef-fective in some distant land when itwas previously impossible to mount anoperation in the necessary timescale.

Manufacturing industry, the medicalservices and many other organisationsare keenly interested in TAV for rea-sons that include competitive advan-tage, service improvement, and theneed to survive on slashed budgets.We shall see that many of these organi-sations need to develop the concept ofthe Internet of Things to achieve theseobjectives. Indeed organisations suchas Mars and Gillette in the fast movingconsumer goods sector are already

heavily involved.

Low cost RFID Smart Labels

can make it possible

Potentially the mostubiquitous LANconnectable of all

One essential piece of the jigsaw that isneeded if our three trends - things com-municating with things, wireless LANsand TAV are to progress further is avery low cost identification device, to

ID individual items. Today, barcodesgo someway in doing this, but haveseveral serious limitations, line-of-sight, short read range, limited data and

lack of robustness being just a few.

Therefore the solution to this problemis seen to lie with Radio FrequencyIdentification. As the name implies, itmay provide just identification to anelectronic wireless interrogator. How-ever, the name can be something of amisnomer because RFID can involvemuch more. Because RFID is so im-

portant to the subject of this report, wenow look at it in some detail.

Definition

Radio Frequency Identification is theuse of radio frequencies, or similartransmissions such as microwaves, tointerrogate small portable objectsknown as RFID tags. These containdata. Anti-theft EAS tags in shopsare not RFID because they do not con-tain data.

Big differences

In the last few years, the term lowcost RFID has begun to be used and

this may seem an artificial distinctionat first sight. However, low cost RFIDtags, typically taken as those costingless than one dollar each, are differentfrom conventional tags in several im-

portant respects. These differencesmean that low cost RFID tags can beapplied in very different, new applica-tions and interest very different groupsof suppliers and end users. Most im-

portantly, they are usually cheapenough to be disposable and thinenough to go in new locations, even

inside sheets of paper in some cases,so they are usually called smart labels.They also create new markets. Forexample, over 200 million RFID tagshave been used in car immobilisers(clickers) and 30 million in a HasbroSpace Wars toy, neither of which re-

place anything. Over 20% of all RFIDtags sold in the world today do newtasks, replacing nothing.

Uses of smart labels

The applications of RFID are verywide but most consist of one or moreof the following:



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Security, such as secure access cardsthat work at a distance.

Safety, such as controlling dangerousmedical disposables. Traceability, including product recall. Anti-counterfeiting, banknotes beingan example.Product handshaking making surethe right things are together. Onecould auto reject counterfeit aircraft

parts for example. Logistics eg. postal service. Carrying information from one placeto another, such as warranty and repairhistory in a copier.

Transactions, such as contactlessfinancial cards. Positioning and locating, eg. lost ani-mals, children, prisoners, the elderly. Entertainment a feature of a toyrobot for example. Fast track eg. of frequent flyers at anairport. Doors open and details arerecorded without action on the part ofthe passenger.

Industry sectors addressed

Industry sectors using, or likely to uselow cost RFID tags include: Military Retail particularly supermarkets Industrial/commercial Life Sciences human and animal Logistics production lines, postaletc. Financial

However, so far, Military and LifeSciences applications tend to be someof the most sophisticated and therefore

expensive, examples being tags thatcan:

Hold alterable and unalterable dataand sense position, even communicatewith each other. Sense parameters such as glucoselevel while implanted in living tissue.

Nonetheless, even in these sectorsthere is a great interest in TAV evenfor high volume, low-cost items. Bycontrast, RFID is not commonly used

in general retailing, libraries and gar-den centres yet but six billion 2 to 6cent EAS anti-theft devices are con-

sumed yearly in these sectors. Somecompanies are beginning to combine

RFID and anti-theft in one label, pref-erably fitted on manufacture (sourcetagging) and success with these willtransform the situation.Horizontal applications

The reason why RFID is seen as themost desirable identification device forThe Internet of Things is because of itshuge number of applications, whichresult in multiple paybacks and savingsand its often low price. Some applica-tions cross most industry sectors, asset

tracking being one, where theft is de-tected and provable, stolen goods can

be returned to the rightful owners andeven the right location in their prem-ises if it is electronically recorded onthe tag. The tag or in the network mayalso permit inventory to be countedand identified easily for accounting

purposes, often without approachingthe product.

Features and benefits of smart labels

RFID tags help in these areas by pro-viding benefits such as some or all ofthese:

Lower system cost over life (eg. vsbarcode, manual or forensic systems) Greater reliability and accuracy Faster action Tougher for criminals to crack More tolerant of obstructions ormisorientation Will work under environmental ex-tremes

Can gather data during use and per-form several tasks (multi-functional) Does not deface product: can be cov-ert Can provide something new, such as

being the amusing feature of a toy

Detailed benefits

Let us now look in more detail at RFID benefits. Today, where RFID beatssecurity printing, barcodes, conven-tional (rubbed) magnetic stripes or

visible writing on products and labels itis usually because it has many of thefollowing capabilities:

Not limited to contact or line of

sight. Reads faster typically in 0.1 sec-onds and many can be read at thesame time or in a very short space oftime (anti-collision).

Is capable of being put in awkwardplaces, even buried in many productsduring manufacture.

Virtually maintenance free. Readersand tags are more robust. Most tagsdo not need a battery and have virtu-

ally unlimited life.

Reads almost 100 per cent accurately(almost no false reads or failure toread).

Reads through ice, dirt, paint, steam,water, wood and other non-metalsincluding humans and sometimesthrough or round metal obstructions.

Tough to counterfeit or emulate(mimic) particularly if designed spe-

cially for security.

Tag is capable of doing calculationsin some cases such as scrambling andunscrambling messages.

Capable of carrying more data thanbarcodes, handwriting etc.

Sometimes read-write remotely i.e.can capture data repeatedly, have dataremoved and replaced at a distance. Ifrequired can contain both alterable

and unalterable data.

Can have a lower system cost overlife. For instance, readers that rubmagnetic stripes wear them out, needregular cleaning and have fairly shortlife. Portable barcode readers oftenhave moving parts and break whendropped. RFID readers and read-writers are usually cheaper to buy andlast longer, with less maintenance.

None have moving parts.

Business cases for RFID are usually based on efficiency, productivity,safety, security or improved customer



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Smart Labels Analyst Issue 18 July 2002

satisfaction (eg. higher sales, lowerreturn of product). Creating new

forms of income can also give a pay-back such as making road tolling prac-ticable or selling advertisements on acontactless smart card, a form ofRFID.

New capabilities

In some ways RFID can be seen as amodern form of security printing, thehand-written or conventional printedlabel, the barcode or the conventionalmagnetic stripe but, being more expen-sive up front (though often lower totallife cost), they do not always replacethese directly. Rather, they solve pre-viously insoluble problems such as:

Batch details travelling on a car partthrough spray and bake.

Locating lost animals automatically.

Data and automated ant i -counterfeiting features in or on verysmall items.

Instantly sensing which sheet of pa-per has been removed from an archiveof millions, and at what time.

Proof of ownership of goods withoutdefacing them.

Preventing the copying and shreddingof secure documents and alerting whenone is taken out of a room.

Range

RFID now encompasses tags that workat anything from 20 micrometres tofour kilometres. This is because awide variety of problems are tackled,and having too long a range can be awaste of cost on tag and interrogatoryelectronics, mean unnecessarily high

power consumption by the interroga-tory electronics (perhaps ac mainsneeded instead of a button battery) or a

problem with the tag being too big. It

is also because the various inventionshave different limitations in terms ofrange. Inventions with limited rangemay be in demand because of other

unique features such as high security orseeing through thick metal. Some of

the potential applications replace bar-codes by doing more functions, inharsher conditions and without defacingthe product.

A Gross Simplification of the Ranges

Needed by Typical Applicationssee

table 1

Many technology choices

The many inventions in low cost RFIDsplit into tags that either do or do notcontain a microchip. There are radicaldifferences in cost and performance be-tween these two categories even to theextent that they should rarely competewith each other. Chip tags cost moreand do more with data. Roughly speak-ing, chip tags are not usually available

below 30 cents if ordered in quantities ofless than one million but chipless tagsare usually 1 to 20 cents even for orders

of as few as 100,000 or less. Somechipless tags are already available for

as little as 1 cent but it is difficult tosee how complete, protected chip tagscan get much below 10 cents in thenear future or below 5 cents in 5 years.

Low cost chip tags

Low cost tags are below $1 for 1mrange and below $5 for greater ranges.Low cost chip tags sometimes have thelongest range of the low cost options(eg. 30 metres) and some can be re-

written at a distance and store fairlylarge amounts of data. Large compa-nies offer low cost chip tag systemsand they have created the open stan-dards necessary for most of the bigapplications. It is easy to make everychip tag have a different identificationcode and to interrogate groups of themsimultaneously. However, they are themost expensive and often the largest

Anti-counterfeiting features buried in banknotesand cheques

Anti-counterfeiting and tamper detection featuresin packaging

20m or more

Dog licence implant

Asset management indoors eg computers Few mm or more

Mass transit and venue ticketing

Anti-counterfeiting documents, jewellery etc. 1-3 cm

Counting genuine products without unpackingsets

Asset management outdoors eg vehicles

Wheely bin and pallet tracking

Air baggage and freight processing

10cm 1 metre

Road vehicle non-stop tolling and parking 3-10 metres

Locating animals, stolen goods, lost children,elderly, freight, and cattle management

50m-4km

Table 1



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(because of the antenna) and thickest

and most delicate (because of thechip).

Low cost chipless tags

By contrast, low cost RFID tags thatdo not contain a microchip are thosethat rely on magnetic materials or tran-sistorless thin film circuits to store thedata. These are the cheapest and thin-nest, sometimes even to the extent of

being invisibly buried in cardboard packaging or a banknote. Some types

are only one micron thick and somecan be printed directly on a product,using a special ink. However, mostonly work below 0.5 metres and mostare read-only - or rewriteable only bycontact methods. There are no openstandards for mainstream ie. digitally-recordable chipless tags, partly be-cause it is only in the last two yearsthat big companies have entered the

field.

Chip vs chipless low cost tags

The relevance of the relative benefitsof chip vs chipless low cost tags can besummarised in this way:

There are two types of application forlow cost RFID.

1. Where data handling is the primarychallenge, chip tags are usually best.

2. Where certain physical propertiesare vital and/or tag price is extremelycritical as with very high volumes anddisposable tags on very cheap prod-ucts. Here chipless tags are often best.

The opportunities being tackled by the proponents of chip vs chipless todaylook rather random. However, theabove fundamentals, and the price dif-

ferential, will lead to a polarisationwhere they compete less with eachother : they will be applied where theyare most appropriate. Both types ofRFID could be appropriate for TheInternet of Things : chipless is the beston price, a true contender for replacingthe barcode, but chip offer greater datahandling capabilities, and strong back-ing, with promises of reduced prices.

Many data carriers

The Internet of Things does not andwill not depend solely on one type ofdata carrier. Ubiquitous tagging willinvolve more than just smart labels.Perhaps there may be some optical(barcode) readers linked by Wirelessinterrogators and the Internet. Othertechnologies such as Global Position-ing System (GPS), Bluetooth, wirelessLANS and even biometrics, includingfinger prints and chemical/DNA tag-gants, may be used, most likely bynetworks within networks, allowingcomplete asset visibility and tracking.Barcodes, for example, still win oversmart labels in some circumstances,

because:

Barcodes cost almost nothing tomake, compared to the current price ofsmart labels.

2-D optical barcodes can store data ata higher bit density than some RFID.

There are no worries about radioregulations.

Readings are unaffected by adjacentmetal.

However, for item and pallet leveltracking, low cost RFID includingsmart labels will take most of the mar-ket, due to the advantages of the tech-nology aforementioned. This couldequate to a demand for trillions ofsmart labels yearly, but only if the

price is right.

The Internet of Things will employmany types of connectable

Cleverer RFID and GSM and GPS-

Primary Challenge Data Physical

Examples of demands Large memory

Long range

Rewriteable

Every tag has different ID

Need to read many tagssimultaneously.

Battery boosted

-100C to +250C working.

Can be embedded in paper.

Needs to see through metal.

Can be brutally treated

Not damaged by radiation or othersterilisation processes.

Best solution is often Chip tags Chipless tags

Examples of actual andpotential applications

Pallet status

Parts in manufacture

Road tolling

Smart cards

Animal implants

Car immobilisers

Library books

Brand protection

Bank passbooks

Banknotes

Medical disposables

Pharmaceuticals

FMCG logistics

Table 2



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based devices

Although cleverer and more expen-sive forms of transponder will not beused in the highest volumes in TheInternet of Things, they will have a

place. Some battery-driven (ie. ac-tive tags) no bigger than a credit cardcan be located to an accuracy of 20metres at 4 kilometres using UHF

beams and they are used to monitorcattle and vehicle movements. Acow not moving for 24 hours may beunwell for example. Appropriatedisposable batteries costing 2 centsand rechargeable ones costing 20cents are already available.

Adding positioning techniques basedon satellites (GPS) or radiotelephonetransmitters (GSM) permits moreaccurate location in real time, overlonger ranges (there is currently nohope of having real time locationwith trillions of one cent tags be-cause their short range would requirean intolerably large number of inter-rogators to be positioned so they arenever out of range).

One company in the US even claimsto have developed a $10 disposable

paper radiotelephone, so GSM-basedlow-cost identification devices may

be on the horizon that can be locatedat 10 kilometres. However, this isunlikely to be a product costingcents. If anything, it will be a mod-est-volume part of the jigsaw.

Sensor input and other devices

Also expensive, but having a placein The Internet of Things, are tagsthat monitor variables such as his-tory of temperature, time, shock,radiation sterilisation, bacteria, andgaseous environment. Some arealready implanted in humans tomonitor blood chemistry etc. and,

because this is done without humanintervention at the time, wirelessnetworking of these also comes

within the definition of The Internetof Things. Already firemen havetags that monitor heart rate, positionetc. in real time, radioing back the

data.

Sensor tags in machinery, buildingsetc. can monitor danger, theft, tamper-ing, identify the operator and so on.For example, every airside vehicle atan airport can be signalling its batterystate, driver identification, direction,speed etc. in real time. SITA and IBMare working on just this.

The Internet of Things is more than

just a clever connectable

Further to just the tag itself, is the in-frastructure of the back-end of thesystem; the way data is handled, thedriving software, and so on. This willall require an initial upfront cost usu-ally far outweighing the cost of the tagsthemselves (maybe from a half to nine-tenths of the total system cost), andrequires discussions of standards,methods of data handling, privacy con-cerns and implementation issues.

Further details about The Internet ofThings can be found in the IDTechEx

publication: The Internet of Things,www.idtechex.com/books.html

Case Study:Liebherers SmartFreezer

Cambridge Consultants has beenworking with Liebherer to help themdevelop an intelligent freezer. Thesystem is based around fitting smarttags to frozen food. A reader deviceidentifies the freezer drawer the foodis stored in, the date the food item was

placed in the freezer and its storagelife. A list management system enablesthe householder to keep a record ofminimum stocks and a current shop-

ping list. Data management optionssuch as menu planning and automaticre-ordering of shopping via a modemlink could also be included as futuresystem enhancements.

For more information contact NicolaMillar at Cambridge Consultants on:[email protected]

Intelligent & Smart PackagingConference, Miami, January

2003

IDTechEx and Pira International willjointly host a conference on intelligentand smart packaging. The conferenceaims to provide some good case studyapplications of smart and intelligent

packaging being used today, togetherwith technical review papers of thelatest technologies and some blue skyglimpses at what the future will bring.If you are interested in speaking orattending this event then please email:[email protected]

IDTechEx will also be hosting the annual

Smart Labels USA 2003 conference in

Cambridge, MA, USA in late March,

and a one day smart labels in Healthcareconference in London in April 2003.

Keep an eye on www.idtechex.com for

details of all these events.



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tion, and the reader must be clean andfree from damage. A 12 month experi-ment involving 30 sprayers/spreadersis currently ongoing to determine howmuch dirt and damage is likely to be

encountered. RFID tags are still expen-sive in comparison to barcodes (10p-1depending on volume). Other problemsinclude greater regulation on radioemissions, and less defined standards,although this is less so with ISO 15693

being released in September 2001.

In order to gauge possible uptake ofnew technology by growers, and tosource data with respect to their current

practices a questionnaire has beencompiled. Results from a small trial

sample of 20 growers and contractorshave yielded some interesting results.Examples include inadequate COSSHassessment completion, differentchemical storage practices and differ-ent input recording methods. A revisedquestionnaire will be sent to a muchlarger sample shortly.

Future work will concentrate on devel-oping an RFID based system, includinginterface between reader and tractorcomputer, a proposal for the architec-

ture of the system, guidelines for posi-tioning of the necessary electronicequipment, and expansion of the sys-tem to other operations.

For further information, please contact:Adrian WattsTel: 01525 860000Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Growers are currently under increasing pressure to manage and record moreinformation. This has been influenced

by enhanced consumer awareness, aswell as added environmental and em-ployee legislation. There are currentlya number of schemes and advisorygroups, which promote and inform thegrower of what to record, and how torecord it. These are all based on man-ual entry systems, which are totallyreliant on the grower and or operator.

This project is investigating the bestways in which the record creation

process could be automated. This

would result in records which are morecomplete, created on the appropriatedate, and above all correct. Automa-tion would mean giving the trac-tor/sprayer combination knowledge ofthe products in use. This has benefits,such as interlock operation to stop nonapproved chemicals being used, ensur-ing the operator is certified, and allow-ing automatic conformance toLERAPS and COSHH legislation.

The first year was concerned with

identifying suitable technology withthe ability to store and transmit dataabout chemical products, from con-tainer to applicator. The major criteriawere for the technology was that itmust not influence product price, must

be easily integrated into the packagingof the chemical product and that stor-age device must not require a powersupply. Two technologies emerged.These are 2D barcodes and PassiveRFID (Radio Frequency IDentifica-tion)

These two technologies have prob-lems. To successfully read a barcode,the code itself must be in good condi-

The monitoring and control of chemicalinputs to arable farming systems

Guest Commentary from Adrian Watts, Professor PCH Miller(Silsoe Research Institute), Professor RJ Godwin (Cranfield

University at Silsoe)

A jewellery student in the UK has combined fashion with technology in a bidto solve the problem of mobile phonetheft and his work has already at-tracted the attention of New York basedfashion house Donna Karan and others.

Billy Greenhalgh has just completed adegree in metalwork and jewellery atSheffield Hallam University. He hasdeveloped jewellery which featurestagging technology borrowed from con-tactless smartcards. A mobile phone is

modified so that it will only make out-going calls when it is within 60cm ofthe RF tag, worn in a necklace or ring.

The work has been shortlisted for thefinal round of a Design Against Crimecompetition co-sponsored by the UKHome Office and the Design Council ofthe UK. The competition aims to en-courage manufacturers to include crime

prevention and crime reduction in theirdesign processes.

Greenhalgh was assisted by the DigitalTechnology Research Centre at Shef-field Hallam to develop the jewellery.Siemens of Germany provided a hand-set for use in concept demonstrations.

Jewellery Tag CountersPhone Theft


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Sponsored by

Delegates from 22 countries registered at

time of print, at least 200 are expectedagain this year.

Day One: Big Issues, Big Potential Users [Wednesday 4 September 2002]

Chairman's Introduction - Smart Labels in the Year 2010: Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx, UK

"RFID Tagging within a Global Courier Express Network": Trevor Peirce, Manager, DHL, GERMANY

"Electrolux Master Cyber & Assistant Fridge: The gastronomic solution in food logistic and food care":Udo Baumann, Vice President, Dipl. Engineer, Head of Professional Innovation Centre Electrolux, GERMANY

"Tracking Gap Clothing Using Smart Labels": Neco Can, Director, Project Management, The Gap, USA

"Measuring Car Park Utilisation": Mark Percival, Head of Systems and Integration National Car Parks (NCP), UK

"Diamond and Gemset Jewellery: Need for Anti-fraud Tagging and Secure Archiving":Mr Julian Boles, Director General, British Gemmological Institute, UK

"Find Out How The UK 's Biggest Brewer Has Been Using RFID Over The Last Four Years": Graham DN Miller, ProjectDirector, Scottish Courage Brewing Limited, UK

"The World's Most Advanced Passports Thanks To Smart Labels": Charles Yap, Iris Technologies, MALAYSIA

"E.Val : The Contactless Ticket In Exploitation": Michel Barjansky, Paris Transport System, RATP, FRANCE

"Making It Real: The Internet of Things": Helen Duce, Associate Director Europe Auto-ID Center, EUROPE

"RFID Use in Japan": Masamitsu Miyake, Chief Executive, & Paul Groves Miyake, JAPAN

"Coordinated RFID Tagging Across The Netherlands": Martin Damen, Rigo, THE NETHERLANDS

"Healthcare, Theme Parks and Other Applications": Trevor Crotch-Harvey, Managing DirectorDataLabel, InnovisionResearch & Technology Plc., UK

"Convergent Retail Technologies": Phil Lazo - RFID Development Director, Sensormatic, USA

4-5 September 2002 (Optional Workshops 6 September)Churchill College, Cambridge University, UK

Smart Labels 2002 will be the third IDTechEx UK conference, with at least 200 delegates expected again following last years218 from 20 countries. The conference programme is now full with 28 speakers over two days.

From left to right: Kings College chapel (built 1481), Cambridge UniversityKings College Chapel in grounds: Kings College is the venue for the Meet the Experts dinner to be attended by all conferencedelegates.Churchill college auditorium (external view, with a tiered lecture hall with the conference and exhibition will take place).Churchill college conference centre at night.

Continued >>


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Day Two: New Announcements and Innovative Technologies [Thursday 5 September 2002]

Chairlady's Introduction - Implementing RFID in the Post Office:Jean Cooper-Moran, Consignia (The British Post Office), UK

"Smart Label Solutions Now and in the Future":Katja Kienzel, Marketing Manager for Tags and Labels, Philips Semiconductors, AUSTRIA

"Ecotag Pushes The Range Boundaries In UHF Passive Tags - 9 Meters In Isocard Format Low Cost Passive Tags":Mike Marsh, Chief Executive, Trolley Scan, Pty Ltd, SOUTH AFRICA

"Applications of RFID in Singapore": Lim Peck Hui, Chief Executive, Tunity Pte Ltd, SINGAPORE

"Readers for RFID Smart Labels - Breaking The Mould Of Traditional Proprietary Thinking":Clifford Horwitz, Chairman and CEO, Samsys, CANADA

"The Next Generation of RFID Tag Readers": Tom Grant, Chairman, ThingMagic LLC, USA

"Migration Route EAS To Chipless To Chip":

Douglas Karp, Senior Director, Operations and Strategic Marketing Checkpoint Systems Inc, USA

"Movement Powered Tags": Chris Richardson, Principal Consultant, Radio Devices, Siemens Roke Manor Research, UK

"Multi-Bit Chipless LC Tags: Design and Applications": Richard Fletcher, Researcher, MIT Media Labs, USA

"Ultra-thin Low Cost RFID Tags": James R Sheats, PhD, VP of Research & Development and CEO Rolltronics Corporation, USA

"Inks Beyond Contrast: Applying Graphic Arts Processes for a Printed Future":Dan Lawrence, Project Manager RFID, FlintInk, USA

"Smart Labels beyond EAS and RFID": Andrew Jackson, Applications Marketing Manager Sherwood Technology Ltd, UK

"Commercial Application of De-classified Technology in RFID Systems":Christopher Coomber, Director QinetiQ Metal Printing, UK

For full programmeinformation, and to see whois already attending, please

go to:

www.idtechex.com

Exhibitors at time of print include:

ADT Fire & Security

(Sensormatic), USA

activeRF, UK

Asset Tracker , South Africa

IDTechEx, UK

Innovision, UK

Miyake, Japan

Plastic Logic, UK

QinetiQ Metal Printing, UK

QuantumTag, South Africa Tunity Solutions, Singapore

Sygade, South Africa

PIRA International, UK

Plus: Two optional workshops will be held on 6 September 2002

Session 1: morning workshop: RFID Smart Labelsby Richard Fletcher, MIT Media Lab and Raghu Das, IDTechEx

Pros & cons of chip and chipless tag technologies and their applications

Market forecasts and trends

Examples of RFID being used, how many have been sold, and into whichmarkets

New potential applications and advice on entry to market

The Internet of Things: challenges, product design and opportunities

Hear about new inventions not covered in the conference, and examine manydifferent tag samples

Workshop materials include over 80 slides and some samples to take away

Session 2: afternoon workshop: Smart Labels Beyond RFID and EAS by Stuart Evans, Plastic Logic, Andrew Jackson, Sherwood Technologies, ReubenFuchs, PowerPaper and Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechEx. Slides and samples to takeaway.

Magic inks, non electronic & electronic laminates for brand enhancement &

diagnostics

The significance of transparent polymer electronics

The exploding market for indicating food doneness, temperature humidity,

risk of sunburn and many other excursions Intelligent packaging

Future trends with disposable timers, voice chips, electronic medical patches,

radios, cellphones and others


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IDTechEx PublicationsFull details of these publications (including a contents list) can be found at www.idtechex.com

The Complete Introductory Report in low-cost RFID and beyond

The Smart Label RevolutionBy Dr Peter Harrop and Raghu Das, IDTechEx

Totally new mid 2002 International case histories and company profiles Technologies evaluated252 pages Over 90 detailed tables and figures Forecasts by technology etc to 2010 Sales leads

The one stop guide to chip and chipless technologies, markets, standards, statistics, trends, lessons of success andfailures, future opportunities, and the RFID movers, makers and shakers. Your business needs this knowledge to getahead, whether you wish to make, install, or use these revolutionary devices. This 252 page report is illustrated with

over 90 detailed tables and diagrams.

Over 60 international case histories and company profiles from: Australia, China, Japan, Eastern Europe, Singapore,South Africa, USA and Western Europe

In Depth on Chipless

The Future of Chipless Smart Labels: Markets, Players and ForecastsBy Dr Peter Harrop and Raghu Das, IDTechEx

Totally new mid 2002 Forecasts by technology etc to 2010 Latest new products and inventions271 pages Over 105 detailed tables and figures Extensive sales leads

This report expands on The Smart Label Revolution, by looking in far more detail at chipless tags, including a muchwider range of technologies. These have enormous market potential. They are usually ultra low-cost from 0.1 to 10cents each, even in modest quantities. This second report also analyses how the silicon chip and even batteries inconventional RFID will become printed, to lower cost and improve ruggedness so eventually most forms of low costRFID become chipless.

In Depth on Chip

Chip Smart Labels: The Intelligent RFIDBy Raghu Das and Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechEx

This report completes the series by looking in far more detail at chip tags. Disposable chip smart labels have a hugepotential. At present there is a wide variety of technologies, including a diversity of frequencies and ranges, and this iscomplicated further by the evolution of standards. This report provides a comprehensive explanation of the technolo-

gies and standards involved, as well as analysing the potential of this industry, including new and conventional mar-kets. Whether you wish to make, install or use chip smart labels , or consider the business case of these revolutionarydevices, this report enables you to gain the knowledge to get ahead. The standards chapter is written by ProfessorAnthony Furness.

The IDTechEx Web JournalSmart Labels Analyst and Smart Packaging JournalNEW

These web journals are the first to concentrate primarily on low-cost RFID and other responsive devices, colloquiallyknown as smart labels and smart packaging. We try to give a balanced view of the subject. To this end we do not ac-cept paid advertising or sponsorship. Our text is not therefore advertising by another name. Further, we seek to pro-vide original useful material, not available elsewhere. For example, we attend many of the conferences you may missand we analyse their content. We visit faraway places where interesting work is being done and give you the newsfirst. We interpret future trends and regularly have guest columnists giving insights from their expertise.

Almost all articles are written by our own technical graduates as they travel the world, visiting the start-ups, the confer-ences and so on. However, to broaden the viewpoint we also commission experts from around the world to give theirown input on important topics. Above all, we wish to tune these journals to what you need. The Journals are an ideal

way to remain updated with the latest industry developments.

Mid 2002

New

Mid 2002

New


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IDTechEx PublicationsFull details of these publications (including a contents list) can be found at www.idtechex.com

Smart Transport: Smart labels, tickets and cards in land, air and watertransportBy Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechEx

Transport is todays killer application for RFID, with enormous growth potential remaining. In the past, buses, trains,private road transport, water and air transport were very separate industries. Their tagging and ticketing was suppliedby unrelated companies using different technologies and standards were few and far between. Now stored-valuecards, remotely-sensed tickets and other advances are starting to share the same or similar technologies. Standardsare evolving and interoperability is being energetically pursued.

This takes the form of intermodal transport passes in a city such as one stored-value card that gets you on any bus,

train or ferry, as in Hong Kong, or interoperable bus cards across a country. These smart card and ticket technologiescan be packaged into different shapes or electronically reconfigured. Then they are useful for a wide range of non-ticketing uses in transport. These include airport gold cards and frequent-flyer cards, and radio tags on taxis, buses,trains, baggage, freight, even people and airport ground support equipment.

These tags, often supplied by the same manufacturers, provide an enormous range of benefits from new earningstreams to cost-reduction, improved facilitation and enhanced security. Users are increasingly doing one-stop shop-ping for smart cards, tickets and labels. This report analyses all these opportunities and trends. It is your reference

The World's First Independent Report on

The Internet of Things:By Raghu Das and Dr Peter Harrop, IDTechEx

This report gives the reality, the dream and the emerging technology of The Internet of Things. Ultra low-cost smartlabels, tickets and cards will play a huge part in it. In addition, RFID is linked, without human intervention, to GlobalPositioning Systems (GPS), GSM radio location, Bluetooth and other services. Virtual super-computing will makecost-effective the necessary large and rapid computations, as will cheaper data storage.

The Internet of Things will enable:

Automated control of assets and people anywhere, anytime.

Eliminating queues, tampering, theft and counterfeits.

Large new markets for position-related services.

Fast-moving consumer business transformed.

Virtual supercomputing and other enabling technologies.

Trillions of one cent RFID smart labels sold each year.

Tens of billions of 5 cent RFID smart labels sold each year.

Now only 500for SLA or SPJ

readers


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IDTechEx Limited 2002 Downing Park Innovation Centre Swaffham Bulbeck Cambridge CB5 0NB UK

18


PublicationsNet

Price(GB)

NetPrice(US$)

QuantityTotal Price

(/$)

Web Journal : Smart LabelsAnalyst12 month subscription

399/Yr*(468.83 inc VAT)

$640/Yr*($752 inc VAT)

The Smart Label Revolution(Introductory Report)

600 $950

The Future of Chipless SmartLabels : Markets, Players andForecasts (In depth on chipless)

600 $950

Chip Smart Labels(In depth on chip)

600 $950

The Internet of Things 1250 $2000

Smart Transport **Discount** 500 $800

Electronic copy of any of theabove (only when bought at thesame time, or if already pur-chased). Per report.

199*(233.83 inc VAT)

$320*($376 inc VAT)

New Earning Streams forAirports

1250 $2000

Profitable New AirportTechnology

1250 $2000

I am paying in [GBP] / [US$] (delete as appropriate)All prices include Postage and Packaging Total

Smart Packaging Journal: 18month subscription (bi-monthly)

299* (351.33 inc.VAT)

$479* $562.83 inc.VAT)

499*(586.33 inc.VAT)

Payment Method Cheque or International Money Order, made payable to IDTechEx Ltd

Direct bank transfer free of all charges to: Royal Bank of Scotland, 82-88 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB21LG, United Kingdom. Sort code: 16 15 19; Account No: 10073700: Swift Code: RBOS GB 2L

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