RFID Gazette

RFID Roundup - Sat Dec 30, 2006

Walgreen's Expanding RFID Use
Drugstore chain Walgreen's started an RFID trial project in late 2005, in which 50 of their 5500+ stores took part in. They are now deploying another RFID system, Wireless Asset Net from I.D. Systems, for materials handling vechicles. The system will help control access to these vehicles, which is a requirement of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

RFID Aids Process Improvement
Managing Automation reports on a ChainLink Research survey finding of 275 manufacturers that RFID use is tending towards operational efficiencies. Another important finding of the survey is that many of the companies plan to spend twice as much on RFID in 2007 compared to 2006.

RFID 2007: NFC Contactless Payment Use To Grow
Mohammad Khan, President and founder of ViVOtech, Inc., says that contactless payment has become a worldwide phenomenon, with North America leading. There have been over 18M cards issued in the US and Canada, and over 250,00 POS (Point of Sale) systems accepting those cards. By the end of 2007, there is expected to be 40-50M cards and 400,000 POS systems. Then there's the rest of the world, with several dozen countries already in the middle of trials, and many more millions of cards lauched.

Options For Disabling Your E-Passport's Chip?

A couple of weeks ago, there were a couple of articles around the blogosphere talking about how to disable the RFID chip in your new e-passport. Engadget has a great photograph of a simple, low-tech option. Now, while one article said that a passport is still valid even with a disabled chip, The Inquirer says that a tampered passport might get you "25 years in prison and a special customs search with rubber gloves.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. The security issues have yet to be resolved and might be worse than formerly thought. Two European tech consultants found that cloned e-passport data can be purchased on the Internet. Not only that, the RFID reader they bought on eBay had a blank chip and software for cloning and copying the data onto the chip.

RFID For Predictive Maintenance

For the most part, many industries such as aerospace fix things when they need fixing (beyond any scheduled maintenance). That's mostly out of a lack of options. However, RFID's use in MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) is growing, and the technology can be used for predictive maintenance. This means that costly, even deadly, maintenance problems can be caught before they happen, simply by allowing easier data collection of maintenance checks and equipment status. Boeing is employing RFID in a similar fashion on their new 787 Dreamliners, each of which will have around 2,000 high-memory passive tags.

Nortel Adding RFID To Wireless Services

Nortel, the telecom equipment maker, is making it easier for wireless ISPs (Internet Service Providers), to offer RFID-based services. Nortel offers a municipal wireless platform, and now plans to enhance this with solutions for RFID applications. An example use might be for a municipal fleet management (cars, trucks, school buses, small aircraft?), monitored through RFID tags integrated with GPS receivers.

This could be where the ROI for municipal networks comes in. Municipal networks either have to be paid for by taxes, subscriptions, or advertising - or some combo. If RFID-based services could produce a return on investment, the savings could subsidize part of the infrastructure costs.

Nortel's Municipal Wireless Solutions combines a number of technologies including Wi-Fi, wireless mesh and WiMax.

Gentag Wins RFID Patent For Sensor Networks

Gentag, Inc., has received a broad patent entitled "RFID Based Sensor Networks" that apparently covers a wide range of wireless devices including cell phones, PDAs, and laptops. Such devices, if RFID-enabled, would be nodes in sensor networks such as those used in crowdsensing applications. [via MoreRFID]

It's hard to say right now what the implications of this patent are, by my own personal opinion is that this could be a coup, as sensor networks based on mobile devices will very likely grow in importance in the medium to long-term. This would be both for experimental community-based projects and commercial applications. Combined with Internet databases, some very powerful applications could result.

The patent is actually co-owned between Altivera (Gentag) and Symbol (Motorola).

Tagging Tokyo With RFID + Wireless Tech

Ginza shopping district is being blanketed with 10,000 RFID tags and infrared + wireless transmitters as part of the Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project. Each beacon has its own unique code and the tags and transmitters will supply location information. The beacons are synced with an Internet server, and the idea is that, eventually, the system will help shoppers navigate this very popular shopping area. And in four languages, no less: English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (three of the big four Asian languages, typically labelled CJKV - though Vietnamese seems not to be part of this trial. [Korean is no surprise, as South Korea has been investing in RFID.]

This a brilliant, innovative use of RFID and wireless technologies. I'm assuming that besides the 3.5 inch touch panel terminal displays they're using in the trial, suitable RFID-enabled wristbands/ watches or even smartphones might possibly used in the future. For a different look at RFID-enabled grids, see the badge-tracking array experiment conducted at the latest Chaos Communication Congress.

Now Here's How To Track People With RFID

Wired's Quinn Norton writes about the Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Berlin, Germany, and how attendees are paying 10 euros each for an RFID badge that reports their location. There's an array of 35 monitoring stations that pick up badge locations and produce a constantly updated public XML feed.

The badges are part of an experiment and are voluntary, but it reflects exactly what I've been saying as to how RFID could be used to track people, given the right technical environment. There have been vocal naysayers here on this blog, but the CCC is proving exactly that it's possible. If you doubt me, consider that electronic civil liberties pioneer John Perry Barlow, one of the founders of EFF (Electronic Frontier Founddation), is talking at the CCC. One of this badge project's leaders also openly states:

The idea was most of this surveillance technology slowly faded into your lives, and we accepted them.... [we want to] make it possible to bring it into people's heads.

Meaning, if I've interpreted everything correctly, they want the general populace to be aware of what's going on and the potential misuse of RFID. Before you get your knickers in a knot, noticed I said potential, not actual. And that's all I've really been trying to do. Embrace the good, legit uses of RFID. Beware the questionable. You'll have to define the latter for yourself, but I partially define it as anything that violates a citizen's privacy and gives them no benefit whatsover.

RFID World Map

RFID Tribe has put together an RFID map of the world (via The RFID Weblog) using Google Maps. The map geocodes uses of RFID by companies, associations, universities, etc. And you can add your own RFID points of interest. There are 233 points as of this writing What would be interesting is to cross-reference this map with IDTechEx's RFID case studies database containing over 2400 instances of projects in 92 countries around the world (as of Dec 23/06). The database is also categorized by industry.

Now assuming IDTechEx's information at least has city data, these points could be cross-referenced with the CIA's worldbook, which would include Latitude/ Longitude values for each city's geographic center. Grab a Google Maps API developer code, massage the IDTechEx data, and you have a great starting point for an auto-generated world map. Such a map would also provide a nice overview of where the most activity in RFID is.

The only drawback is that IDTechEx database is probably internal and the case studies themselves cost many hundreds of dollars each. Though who knows. Maybe IDTechEx will launch their own Google Map of studies.

RFID Roundup - Fri Dec 29, 2006

RFID In Our Car Tires
RFID has been in used in the automotive industry for quite some time, both in vehicles and for SCM (supply chain management). Tag have also been used in tires by NASCAR. Now they're being used in tire pressure gauges, which seems to worry Bruce Schneier (a writer for Wired) but not Techdirt or Engadget.

Why Not Use RFID?
Boing Boing points to a story about a new mounted scanning camera being used in San Francisco to help the Dept of Parking and Traffic catch cars with unpaid parking tickets. Given that the system costs 92,000 for each outfitted vehicle, it seems like an opportunity to consider an RFID-based parking solution for the future, like Hoboken, New Jersey.

New Villanova RFID Lab
Villanova University will be getting a state-of-the-art RFID lab courtesy of a partnership with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/ SEP). They'll also be getting a three other high-tech labs in the new 12-year partnership.

RFID Roundup - Tues Dec 26, 2006

Hybrid RFID: GPS Receivers
Fujitsu Software Technologies has a hybrid tech device that combines an RFID tag with a GPS receiver. The receiver is accurate within 3-5 meters (10-16.5 ft) and the unit sends out a unique ID and geo info to an RFID reader up to 200 meters distant. The device is about US$170. [Nikkei via RFID in Japan]

Contactless Vending Machines
If you live in Dallas, New York or Chicago, that can of Dr. Pepper or Snapple that you're thirsting for can be paid for with your MasterCard contactless credit card. Cadbury Schweppes vending machines are going contactless and will also accept all major credit cards. [via Storefront Backtalk]

Worst RFID Uses?
Just catching up on my RFID reading and came across Gemma Simpson and Jo Best's Top 10: the best, worst... and craziest uses of RFID. I gotta say, pretty much all of these would have made it to my own similar list, with the exception being Dutch bookstore chain BGN, who have already proven the value of their conversion to radio frequency technology.

Green RFID Guy

Green RFID Guy is a new weblog with the tagline "sustainability through Radio Frequency." There aren't all that many posts yet, but there are a few "green" ones including Why Should Environmentalists Care About RFID, Real Time Regulation, and What's the Recipe for Green Engineers?

Definitely an interesting approach, and one that hadn't crossed my mind, despite my own personal attempts to be as green as possible. This is probably a very timely blog, as even a few RFID manufacturers have been listening to their customers and changing the materials they use in their RFID inlays. And there's the use of RFID to detect potential brush fires. In fact, there are countless applications for RFID in Environment Management.

RFID SurvivalTags For EMS Workers

RFID, Ltd., is completing the design of uniforms embedded with RFID tags. The uniforms would be worn by firefighters, EMTs, and police. In the event of a high-risk situation, the tags can be used to pinpoint the wearer's location, making rescue easier. The design was spurred on by fire chiefs, whose squads are typically at high risk. Said Nicholas Chavez, president of RFID, Ltd.

...not only monitor locations of their squads but also their heart rates, respiratory developments, and skin temperatures.

This could in fact be an incredibly groundbreaking application of RFID, if it saves even one life. The uniforms are been targeted at the one million US firefighters.

source: Biz Yahoo.

5 RFID Issues

RFID Update has a 3-part series on RFID trends for 2006. Number 10 was "RFID and the Citizen: Passports, Privacy, and Politics". I would have have put this as number 1 myself, in terms of public concern. Their number 1 was "The Industry itself". Each item has a number of links to related articles, and the series is definitely worth a read to get a perspective of what's happening. These types of articles are never easy to write - I know first hand. But here are my 5 issues in RFID (not quite the same type of list).

1. RFID and identification. Should citizens be concerned? Is it all fear-mongering or do we really need RFID citizen cards between Canada and the US?
   
2. The industry itself. How's the industry doing? Can it support RFID IPOs?
   
3. Item-level tagging. I'm referring to the retail industry and the intent of giants such as Wal-Mart to tag everything. A reduction in price for item-level tags should push this application forwards.
   
4. RFID in the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA D-Day, Dec 1st, has come and gone, but in fact, a US Federal Court judge apparently issued an injunction lifting the e-pedigree requirements on certain drugs. The pedigree requirement is a good idea, especially for fighting drug counterfeiting, by the industry has been self-admittedly behind the curve. Will they catch up in 2007? Well, it's been 10 years since an e-pedigree solution was mandated. What's taken so long? (Item-level tagging costs, technological hurdles, etc.)
   
5. RFID in payment systems. Do we need contactless credit cards? Are they secure? And should it be legal for merchants to refuse cash?

Of these, three concern me, but only because of my own personal feelings about them. I've written about them often enough, so I'm not going to repeat myself. You'll notice, though, that I'm talking less about the technology and more about issues.

RFID Roundup - Mon Dec 25/06

More RFID Training Options
A number of RFID courses will be offered in 2007 at Penn State Erie's RFID Center of Excellence. The dates are Jan 17-18, Feb 7, Mar 7-8. They are prep courses for the CompTIA RFID+ certification examination. PRWeb/ Biz Yahoo and RFID Solutions Online have more details. RFID training options are finally popping up all over the place.

McKesson RFID Real-Time Location System
The Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in South Carolina recently installed the Horizon RTLS (Real-Time Location System) from McKesson, a healthcare service provider and technology company. The system will be used to wirelessly monitor the location of over 500 IV (intraveneous) infusion pumps. [via Gen Eng News]

Fish Olympics?
Fish Olympics is a university project (USC Interactive Media) which lets people construct a virtual tropical fish and test it against other creations. There isn't much more info, and the main site is under construction.

Contactless Payment Fobs At Bank of America

Bank of America (BoA) is testing out contactless payment fobs provided by Oberthur Card Systems. This particular fob is actually a "sub-card" that would be included in a MasterCard PayPass, and can be popped out and then included in a keychain. This is said to be a first in the US. It's being predicted that alternate form factors will further the adoption of contactless payment.

BoA recently threw out a non-customer who wanted to cash a check drawn on a customer's account. Seems BoA forces non-customers to undergo fingerprinting. The man politely refused, stating that Federal laws mandated the bank to cash checks drawn on their bank. They said that their own rules indicated fingerprinting, but refused to show him proof when he asked. They then ignored him until he left, with a security guard tailing him. Talk about getting right into identification methods.

British ID Database Dropped

Silicon wrote earlier in the week that the UK ID card database, NIR (National Identity Register), has been ditched. This includes dropping the plan for iris-scan biometrics. There are still three systems sharing the same information; it just won't be one big database. Fingerprint and facial biometrics are also still part of the national ID plan, which will see the first cards being issued in 2009, with mass issuance in 2010.

This is an interesting turn for the UK, which some civil liberties group Privacy International has ranked as being as bad as China in Russia in terms of surveillance. Though this turnabout is still in risk of failure. I'm speculating here and am somewhat uninformed, but I'm wondering if this change of direction has anything to do with the fact the current Prime Minister Tony Blair's term is ending soon. Despite being a Labour Party leader, he took a very right-wing leaning.

MasterCard Contactless PayPass On The Ohio Turnpike

The Ohio Turnpike is testing MasterCard's NFC-based contactless PayPass payment cards for toll plazas. According to a Telematics Journal report, this is the first toll road in the US to accept payment cards in self-service lanes. It should be noted that other toll roads have used pre-paid contactless cards for several years, though these are not credit card based. RFID in toll road systems have been in use in Toronto, Canada for nearly a decade and are also being tested in Argentina and other parts of South America. The same NFC technology in the PayPass started off in key fobs, which were introduced to consumers to pay for gas at some stations in North America (at least Esso in Canada and Exxon in the US).

Nokia RFID Phones To Monitor Security Guards

Here's watching the detectives. Well, security guards at any rate. (Anyone else remember that old British TV show, which pseudo-nebbish angry young intellectual punk Elvis Costello immortalized in his 1970s new-wave song Watching The Detectives?) It seems Nokia   feels the need to watch their secruity guards, so they're issuing them RFID phones to  keep track of assigned work within some of their US premises.

Each Nokia handset has an embedded 13.56 MHz RFID tag and a reader. As soon as a guard enters the work premises, s/he waves an RFID-enabled employee id in front of the provided Nokia handset. This enables guards to log their in-time/ out-time.

The phone is carried in the open position while guards patrol the Nokia premises. This allows the embedded reader to pick up information in RFID tags installed at various locations on the premises, which will stand as a record of the posts the guard has supervised on that day.

At the end of the work shift, the handset is closed and data on the phone's RFID tag is transferred via the cellular network to a web-based application termed the Service Manager. Supervisors can retrieve the records in the Service Manager to get information about any guard's assigned and actual work.

RFIDJournal  reports:

The RFID system has been in use for just four months at Nokia's U.S. facilities in Atlanta, Dallas, New York and Seattle. Thus far [...] ithas collected well over 5,000 reads on the guards' activities.

Nokia, who not long ago bought RFID manufacturer Symbol Technologies, is pushing the technology into other applications, including a collaboration with JCDecaux  Finland. The latter provides billboards and other marketing materials. Nokia RFID-enabled phones will be used to track the installation and removal of billboards and posters.

[UPDATE: It was Motorola, not Nokia, that bought Symbol. Apologies for the error.]

If These Walls Could Talk: RFID + Smart Concrete

And now they can. It sounds like something out of science fiction. Imagine if your walls could store infomation and then, with the help of a suitable scanner, speak its data. Pink Tentacle has an illustration of a room made of cyber-concrete. The concrete, developed by researchers at a cement company in Japan, is "smart" in that it has embedded RFID tags in it. Their chips are endowed with more memory than usual.

Applications being touted are for monitoring of structural integrity. Data that could be stored includes safety inspection dates, etc. Now, if these tags were combined with environmental sensors like some newer RFID chips have, they could also record information about heat or moisture, which could prove very valuable for structural integrity monitoring. They could also components of fire monitoring systems or for detecting chemicals.

I Am Not A Number: Scaring People Into RFID Implant Submission

[commentary] Way back when, noted actor Orson Welles was a radio personality. Quite possibly his most famous radio performance was a reading of "War of the Worlds" (which was made into a Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Cruise just a few years ago), which gave the impression of an invasion from Mars. Except some hapless Americans didn't know it was just a radio play, despite station breaks. And as some people tend to overreact, several families met their demise at their own hands, in family pacts, rather than be captured by these Martians. It gives me chills right now thinking about how people buy into fiction.

And I get the exact same chills when I read about insane press releases from companies like LimbID System suggesting that everyone not only implant themselves with RFID, but do it multiple times, for each limb of your body, so that you can be identified should the worst happen. And the worst, of course, is easy to guess at given the current climate of fear we live in.

What's really tacky is the home page, which has a banner of a smiling woman with wind-blown hair beside a picture of four men carrying coffin. Sickening that they would prey on the the fears of Americans like this, and have the gall to include a "testimonials" section. If you decide to buy into nonsense like this, you could get their Deluxe Option, which supplements the Standard Package (forehead, solar plexus, inside elbows, shins) by adding 8 more RFID tags, for a total of 14 tags in your body.

I'm hoping that, as RFID Buzz suggests, that this might just be some sort of kooky joke.

RFID Ltd Shares To Split

RFID must be doing well. RFID Ltd. that is, whose shares (NASDAQ: RFDL) will undergo a six-for-one stock split on Monday, Dec 11, 2006 (payout date Fri Dec 15/06). There are currently just over 26 million shares outstanding, and after the split there would be nearly 130M. The last trading price for the share (as of Fri Dec 8/06) was US$2.10. It's a pretty low share price to be undergoing such a high-volume split, but I think this is good news as it suggest executive confidence in their own company. That in turn might spark investor confidence on speculation that the company expects good things coming their way - which has been happening anyway. It makes me wonder why another "pure play" company, Alien Technology, decided to postpone their IPO.

sources: Business Wire via Biz Yahoo.

Nike + iPod Sport Kit RFID Flaw

You've no doubt seen them: those fitness buffs jogging in the neighborhood or park with their Nike shoes and the tell-tale white iPod earwires, listening to music while getting healthier. They might just be the owner of the RFID-enabled Nike / iPod Sport Kit, which lets runners monitor their efforts.

But researchers from the University of Washington think that a security flaw in the Sport Kit (which uses an active RFID tag) lets stalkers also monitor runners. They claim that someone with a scanner can track a jogger's regimen from a distance of up to 60 feet, even from a car. They could go as far as  skimming RFID data and recording jogging times and even plotting routes on Google Maps for later use. [Info Shop via RFID News]

While this potential threat shouldn't be taken lightly, one thought comes to my mind. The average human being isn't going to go to such lengths. Anyone who does go to all that effort to stalk someone doesn't need to utilize the Sport Kit flaw to do so. Their sickness would prompt them into doing it by other methods. In this scenario, I think, it's the person and not the technology that's to blame. On the other hand, this flaw can be exploited by more than just stalkers, possibly encouraging borderline personalities into surveillance activities that they might not otherwise bother with.

RFID + Big Yellow Taxis

Joni Mitchell's famous song Big Yellow Taxi (covered by The Counting Crows) talks about "paving paradise and putting up a parking lot." Well in Philadelphia, they're not discovering paradise, but half of the taxi cabs are making the city more like paradise for riders who don't have cash on them. As long as customers have MasterCard's PayPass contactless payment card or keyfob, they can pay for their fare. The wireless credit and debit card payments technology, supplied by VeriFone Transportation Systems, is actually expected to also help the Philadelphia Parking Authority determine if cabs are serving the entire city or only certain parts. [Digital Transactions via Loftwares]

Now all you have to worry about is actually finding a cab when you need one. While there was no mention of payments by NFC-enabled cell phones, this development in Philly is one more step towards the possible ubiquity of RFID-based mobile + contactless payment options for consumers.

RFID Cold Chain: Yes We Have No Bananas Today

How could I resist? Chiquita, well known for being a banana supplier, is now using refrigerated cargo containers for shipping their produce. That means the need for CCM (Cold Chain Managment) and RFID technology. So that's what they did, teaming up with the University of Arkansas' RFID Research Center to come up with a way to monitor temperature conditions and determine when produce might have been compromised. This would replace the current method, which produces false temperature readings at times, sometimes resulting in a full trailer of produce being rejected. Obviously, efficient CCM will reduce instances of lost revenue. [via RFID Journal]

Of course, if Chiquita's wholesaler partners also using RFID for SCM (Supply Chain Management), they'd know when they have no bananas.

Avery Dennison And RFID In China

Avery Dennison, who have put around US$175M into all Chinese operations since 1995, recently announced RFID technology transfer initiatives in that country, with total expenditures to total over $275M by 2010. Previous efforts include setting up the Avery Dennison Self Adhesive Label Converting College in Kunshan, China, in 2000. Imagine that school name on college jackets.

Avery Dennison created their RFID division in 2004, adding RFID systems, Gen2 inlays and wireless compact flash cards amongst their offerings. They later implemented a Qualified Converter program to certify partner companies. With their their Chinese RFID initiative, they are hoping to capture some of the 5.0+ Bln Yuan expected to be spent in China on RFID by 2009.

additional sources: China RFID News.

SMARTRAC Gains US e-Passport Contract

Despite concerns over the security of the new e-passports, the US and other countries are forging ahead with their issuance. And SMARTRAC has gained from that, with an order from Infineon Technologies for millions of RFID contactless inlays. The inlays will supply 70 of 95 e-passport projects. SMARTRAC has opened a fourth factory in Thailand to handle the demand. The US project alone could mean 13-18M inlays per year for SMARTRAC. Said CFO Dr. Christian Fischer

The US order allows us clear capacity planning. By the end
of 2006, we want to achieve a production capacity of approx. 13 million
high-frequency inlays per month.

[via Contactless News]

RFID Training Centers Across Canada

Is this a great idea or what? Faced with the future shortage of skilled workers in the RFID industry, Academia and a group of skilled professionals are offering certification courses at newly-opened training centers in the larger cities in Canada. This includes Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, Quebec City and a few others. Basically, if there's a professional sports team (hockey, basketball, baseball), there's a training center in that city.

Head office in Montreal has both a classroom and a state-of-the art lab. The courses are part of the CompTIA program, which includes certification. And it's not just technical courses but also RFID Project Management. Some RFID vendors are offering courses to their clients as a result of the program. This is a brilliant idea that I hope catches on elsewhere, especially in the USA, where the shortage of skilled workers could affect the supply chain.

[sources: RFID News]

RFID Implant Undetectable?

Earlier in the week, I wrote about a Law + Order TV episode in which one character unwittingly has an RFID chip implanted into her (on the back of the neck, I believe). I argued that this isn't possible, especially since the character is "septic", meaning susceptible to infection. That means she should have known right away that her husband tagged her.

Mark Roberti, Editor of the RFID Journal backs up my claim, indicating that it's very difficult to get away with a secret implant. Generally speaking, my observation over a decade (?!) of Law + Order viewing is that the scriptwriters do due diligence in understanding new technology. But in the case of RFID, they did not get it right/write. And planting the chip deep into the body so it's not detectable (except with an X-ray) would be useless since it would generally cease to function. (So vague references in the X-Files show were also quite fictionalized.)

[via RFID Weblog]