Applied Sciences

Research

17 pages, 1970 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digitalization of Fresh Chestnut Fruit Supply Chain through RFID: Evidence, Benefits and Managerial Implications

by Marialuisa Menanno, Matteo Mario Savino and Riccardo Accorsi

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 5086; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13085086 - 19 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1470

This study provides evidence of supply chain (SC) management based on the digitalization of a fresh fruit-supply chain (i.e., chestnuts) using a radio-frequency identification technology (RFID). This research adopted the value-chain operation reference (VCOR) to assess the implications, issues, and benefits of the [...] Read more.

This study provides evidence of supply chain (SC) management based on the digitalization of a fresh fruit-supply chain (i.e., chestnuts) using a radio-frequency identification technology (RFID). This research adopted the value-chain operation reference (VCOR) to assess the implications, issues, and benefits of the SC digitalization, and to explore how RFID can be configured regarding the VCOR blocks. Within this framework, the SC stages, processes, and operations were assessed using a tailored performance measurement system (PMS) including a set of metrics tracked, quantified, and evaluated alongside a monitoring field campaign. The results indicated that: (i) the benefits deriving from the RFID are constrained by specific organizational procedures adopted in operations management; (ii) the PMS Indicators of the centralized warehouse, balancing the inventory between the processing line and the distribution channels, presented the most significant improvements across the whole SC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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20 pages, 4549 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Open-Set Specific Emitter Identification Based on Prototypical Networks and Extreme Value Theory

by Chunsheng Wang, Yongmin Wang, Yue Zhang, Hua Xu and Zixuan Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3878; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063878 - 18 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1323

Abstract

Much research has focused on classification within a closed set of emitters, while emitters outside this closed set are misclassified. This paper proposes an open-set recognition model based on prototypical networks and extreme value theory to solve the problem of specific emitter identification [...] Read more.

Much research has focused on classification within a closed set of emitters, while emitters outside this closed set are misclassified. This paper proposes an open-set recognition model based on prototypical networks and extreme value theory to solve the problem of specific emitter identification in open-set scenes and further improve the recognition accuracy and robustness. Firstly, a one-dimensional convolutional neural network was designed for recognizing I/Q signals, and a squeeze-and-excitation block with an attention mechanism was added to the network to increase the weights of the feature channels with high efficiency. Meanwhile, the recognition was improved by group convolution and channel shuffle. Then, the network was trained with the joint loss function based on prototype learning to complete the separation of intra-class signals and the aggregation of inter-class signals in the feature space. After the training, the Weibull model was fitted for pre-defined classes by incorporating the extreme value theory. Finally, the classification results were obtained according to the known classes and the Weibull model, effectively completing the open-set recognition. The simulation results showed that the proposed model had a higher recognition performance and robustness compared with other classical models for signals collected from five ZigBee and ten USRP 310 devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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15 pages, 691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fast and Effective Tag Searching for Multi-Group RFID Systems

by Na Yan, Honglong Chen, Kai Lin, Zhe Li and Yuping Liu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3540; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063540 - 10 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1080

Abstract

In RFID-assisted applications, the customers often request to provide the tag searching service to determine which specific tags are present in the system. In practice, tags are usually divided into different groups to represent different categories or brands. We found that the traditional [...] Read more.

In RFID-assisted applications, the customers often request to provide the tag searching service to determine which specific tags are present in the system. In practice, tags are usually divided into different groups to represent different categories or brands. We found that the traditional tag searching protocols are not very appropriate for multi-group RFID scenarios because they cannot ensure that the searching results of each group satisfy the predefined reliability requirements. Therefore, we develop a series of effective multi-group tag searching schemes. B-Search is a basic method that leverages the filter vector and the indicator vector to perform tag searching for each group sequentially. G-Search and A-Search are two parallel multi-group tag searching schemes. G-Search selects the longest frame length as the frame length of all groups, while A-Search can adaptively adjust the frame length of each group to improve the searching efficiency. We evaluate the performance of the proposed protocols through theoretical analysis and discuss the optimal parameter settings to minimize the execution time. Extensive simulations illustrate that both G-Search and A-Search can achieve fast and effective multi-group tag searching. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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22 pages, 690 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Admission-Control-Based Dynamic Query Tree Protocol for Fast Moving RFID Tag Identification

by Jiabin Peng, Lijuan Zhang, Mingqiu Fan, Nan Zhao, Lei Lei, Qirui He and Jiangcheng Xia

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 2228; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042228 - 9 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1205

Abstract

As one of the key techniques used in the perception layer of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), radio frequency identification (RFID) has been widely applied for object tracing, smart warehouse management, product line monitoring, etc. In most applications, conveyor belts are prevalently [...] Read more.

As one of the key techniques used in the perception layer of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), radio frequency identification (RFID) has been widely applied for object tracing, smart warehouse management, product line monitoring, etc. In most applications, conveyor belts are prevalently implemented to accelerate the sorting efficiency for goods management. However, in such a system, tags quickly go through the reader’s reading range resulting in constant changing of the tag set and limited participating time of moving tags. As a result, it poses more challenges to the tag identification problem in mobile systems than in traditional static applications. In this work, a novel admission-control-based dynamic query tree (ACDQT) protocol is proposed for fast-moving tag identification. In ACDQT, two main strategies are developed, i.e., multi-round admission control (MRAC) and dynamic query tree recognition (DQTR). In MRAC, the reading process of multiple rounds is analyzed, and the number of admitted tags in each round is optimized. Thus, the tag lost ratio is guaranteed, and the identification process can be effectively accelerated. In DQTR, colliding tags are grouped into multiple subsets with the help of consecutive colliding bits in tag responses. By constructing a dynamic query tree, the number of collision slots is greatly reduced, and the identification efficiency in a single round is improved significantly. With MRAC and DQTR, ACDQT can support higher tag flow rate in mobile systems than existing works. Both theoretical analyses and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of ACDQT. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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17 pages, 3169 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RFID Authentication System Based on User Biometric Information

by Yuanmu Huang, Bin Fu, Ningwei Peng, Yanwen Ba, Xuan Liu and Shigeng Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12865; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412865 - 14 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2130

Abstract

Traditional authentication technologies usually perform identity authentication based on user information verification (e.g., entering the password) or biometric information (e.g., fingerprints). However, there are security risks when applying only these authentication methods. For example, if the password is compromised, it is unlikely to [...] Read more.

Traditional authentication technologies usually perform identity authentication based on user information verification (e.g., entering the password) or biometric information (e.g., fingerprints). However, there are security risks when applying only these authentication methods. For example, if the password is compromised, it is unlikely to determine whether the user entering the password is legitimate. In this paper, we subdivide biometric information into physiological and behavioral information, and we propose a novel user authentication system, RF-Ubia, which utilizes the low-cost radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to capture unique biological or behavioral information rooted in the user and can be used in two schemes for user authentication. Consisting of an array of nine passive tags and a commercial RFID reader, RF-Ubia provides double assurance for security of identity authentication by combining user information and biometric characteristics. It first verifies the user’s password, and then identifies the biometric characteristics of the legitimate user. Due to the coupling effect among tags, any change in tag signal caused by the user’s touch will affect other tag signals at the same time. Since each user has different fingertip impedance, their touch will cause unique tag signal changes. Therefore, by combining biometric information, the tag array will uniquely identify users. The evaluation results show that RF-Ubia achieves excellent authentication performance with an average recognition rate of 93.8%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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16 pages, 2358 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RF-Access: Barrier-Free Access Control Systems with UHF RFID

by Xuan Wang, Xia Wang, Yingli Yan, Jia Liu and Zhihong Zhao

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11592; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211592 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2592

Abstract

Traditional RFID-based access control systems use flap barriers to help manage pedestrian access and block unauthorized staff at any entrance, which requires visitors to swipe their cards individually and wait for the opening of the blocking body, resulting in low-frequency pedestrian access and [...] Read more.

Traditional RFID-based access control systems use flap barriers to help manage pedestrian access and block unauthorized staff at any entrance, which requires visitors to swipe their cards individually and wait for the opening of the blocking body, resulting in low-frequency pedestrian access and even congestion in places with large passenger flow. This paper proposes a barrier-free access control system (RF-Access) with UHF RFID technology. The main advantage of RF-Access is that it provides non-intrusive access control by removing flap barriers and operations of swiping the card. The visitors just go across the system without any stay at the entrance. Meanwhile RF-Access performs the authentication, which greatly improves time efficiency and quality of service. RF-Access addresses two key issues of the non-intrusive access control: motion direction detection and illegal intrusion detection. In RF-Access, we first propose a dual-antenna system setup together with a time-slot-based model to monitor users’ moving directions, which is robust to different environmental factors, such as multi-path effects. Afterwards, we use a tag array to detect illegal intrusion in case attackers do not carry any RFID tags. We implement a prototype of RF-Access with commercial RFID devices. Extensive experiments show that our system can detect the moving direction with 99.83% accuracy and detect illegal intrusion with an accuracy of 96.67%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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16 pages, 907 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Filter-Based and Parallel Unknown Tag Identification Protocol in Open RFID Systems

by Xia Wang, Xianghong Tian, Shoubao Su, Ruijun Gu, Caiping Hu, Haiqiang Liu and Jia Liu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11349; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211349 - 8 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1218

Abstract

Unknown tag identification plays a pivotal role in radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, but it has not been fully investigated. This paper proposes a filter-based and parallel unknown tag identification protocol (FPUI) for open RFID systems. The FPUI adopts an RSQF-based fingerprint filter [...] Read more.

Unknown tag identification plays a pivotal role in radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, but it has not been fully investigated. This paper proposes a filter-based and parallel unknown tag identification protocol (FPUI) for open RFID systems. The FPUI adopts an RSQF-based fingerprint filter to reconcile the collision slots and discriminate the known tags from unknown tags. Meanwhile, it collects the IDs of unknown tags in parallel. FPUI achieves high performance through the following three steps: (1) adopting the RSQF-based filter to build an indicator vector, thus improving the space efficiency; (2) building a fingerprint filter to discriminate known tags from unknown tags, thus reducing the false positive rate; (3) employing a parallel identification scheme to collect the IDs of unknown tags, thus improving identification efficiency. The identification time of our protocol was minimized by conducting a theoretical analysis of the relevant parameters. Furthermore, the performance of our protocol was evaluated by conducting a wide range of simulation experiments. The theoretical analysis and simulation results indicated that our protocol significantly outperformed the current advanced protocols. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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14 pages, 3152 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simulation of Radio Signal Propagation for UHF RFID Technology in an Indoor Environment Using Ray Tracing (Graphics) Method

by Tomas Straka, Lukas Vojtech and Marek Neruda

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(21), 11065; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122111065 - 1 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2009

Abstract

RFID systems are often used in industry to reduce costs, increase process efficiency and minimize human intervention. The challenge is to design an RFID system before it is implemented in a specific environment in the shortest possible time and at minimum cost while [...] Read more.

RFID systems are often used in industry to reduce costs, increase process efficiency and minimize human intervention. The challenge is to design an RFID system before it is implemented in a specific environment in the shortest possible time and at minimum cost while maintaining the accuracy of the results. In this paper, a new approach to predicting indoor UHF RFID signal coverage is presented. It is based on a graphical ray tracing method. Simulations are performed based on spatial analysis of the illumination of a 3D indoor environment created from a 2D floor plan. The results show a heat map representing the predicted RSSI radio signal levels using a color range. The approach is validated by comparison with the results of the empirical Multi-Wall model. The time complexity of the approach is presented. The proposed approach is able to generate a heat map with the accuracy of the empirical Multi-Wall model. The interior room equipment required to refine the results ought to be investigated in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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22 pages, 6399 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electromagnetic Assessment of UHF-RFID Devices in Healthcare Environment

by Victoria Ramos, Oscar J. Suárez, Samuel Suárez, Víctor M. Febles, Erik Aguirre, Patryk Zradziński, Luis E. Rabassa, Mikel Celaya-Echarri, Pablo Marina, Jolanta Karpowicz, Francisco Falcone and José A. Hernández

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(20), 10667; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122010667 - 21 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3570

Abstract

In this work, the evaluation of electromagnetic effect of Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) passive tags used in the healthcare environment is presented. In order to evaluate exposure levels caused by EM field (865–868 MHz) of UHF-RFID readers, EM measurements in [...] Read more.

In this work, the evaluation of electromagnetic effect of Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) passive tags used in the healthcare environment is presented. In order to evaluate exposure levels caused by EM field (865–868 MHz) of UHF-RFID readers, EM measurements in an anechoic chamber and in a real medical environment (Hospital Universitario de Canarias), as well as simulations by 3D Ray Launching algorithm, and of biophysical exposure effects in human models are presented. The results obtained show that the EM exposure is localized, in close vicinity of RFID reader and inversely proportional to its reading range. The EM exposure levels detected are sufficient to cause EM immunity effects in electronic devices (malfunctions in medical equipment or implants). Moreover, more than negligible direct effects in humans (exceeding relevant SAR values) were found only next to the reader, up to approximately 30% of the reading range. As a consequence, the EM risk could be firstly evaluated based on RFID parameters, but should include an in situ exposure assessment. It requires attention and additional studies, as increased applications of monitoring systems are observed in the healthcare sector—specifically when any system is located close to the workplace that is permanently occupied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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15 pages, 2185 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sing-Ant: RFID Indoor Positioning System Using Single Antenna with Multiple Beams Based on LANDMARC Algorithm

by Ping Tan, Tinaye Hamufari Tsinakwadi, Zhe Xu and He Xu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(13), 6751; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12136751 - 3 Jul 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2399

Abstract

RFID localization methods have been widely used in indoor positioning systems (IPS). Most localization techniques involve the use of multiple antennas and the placement of antennas and readers in order to ensure accurate positioning results. However, most localization techniques are complex and require [...] Read more.

RFID localization methods have been widely used in indoor positioning systems (IPS). Most localization techniques involve the use of multiple antennas and the placement of antennas and readers in order to ensure accurate positioning results. However, most localization techniques are complex and require high overhead costs in terms of needing multiple antennas and RFID readers. In this paper, we proposed a method to use a single antenna to perform all the reads and rely rather on the antenna beams to acquire multiple positioning data. A single array of antennas is configured to have multiple angles of operation and rely on different power levels as compared to regular antennas. By manipulating the beam pattern, direction and power, multiple sub-antennas can be conceived and the method utilizes antenna beams and relies mainly on one antenna to realize two-dimensional localization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) Localization and Application)

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