Interactive UHF/UWB RFID tag for mass customization

Abstract

Mass customization (MC) under the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to reform the traditional mass manufacturing. To contribute to MC from information communication and user interaction aspects, this work proposes an Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) RFID tag with an Impulse-Radio Ultra-Wide Band (IR-UWB) transmitter and an inkjet-printed Electrochromic (EC) display. First, compared to the conventional UHF RFID tags, the proposed tag shows the advantage of higher transmission data rate with still low power consumption. The response time in multi-tag accessing scenarios can be reduced to less than 500 ms per 1000 tags by the pipeline of the tag responses in IR-UWB link and the reader acknowledgments in UHF RFID link as well as by reducing the length of empty slots. Second, the tag is integrated with a flexible EC display manufactured by inkjet-printing on the polyimide substrate. It works as an automatically refreshed paper label that offers an intuitive human-to-device interface to improve the efficiency of the offline workers. To conquer the material variations and make use of the long retention time of the printed EC display, its threshold voltage is utilized and a feedback comparator enabling the display driver by the threshold voltage is designed. A System-on-Chip (SoC) is implemented in UMC 0.18 μm CMOS process. According to the experimental results: 1) the IR-UWB transmitter achieves 1.02 V pulse amplitude and 900 ps pulse duration with 18 pJ/pulse energy consumption; 2) the EC display driver automatically refreshes the display when the image fades out, and consumes 1.98 μW per 1 cm 2 display size to retain an image. The UHF/UWB RFID display tag integrated on polyimide substrate is conceptually demonstrated at the end of the paper.

Connected Stores, Connected Brands, Connected Consumers, Connected Goods: On Business Model Ecosystems in Internet of Packaging

“…• UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) passive, semi-passive, and active tags with Gen2 standard based on automatic identification technology and widely used for smart warehouse, logistics, and realtime industrial location and surveillance operations [16]. An RFID tag embedded into packaging improves the way the data is handled since it can be altered and renewed wirelessly [17].…”

Technological Capabilities of Printed Electronics: Features, Elements and Potentials for Smart Interactive Packaging

“…Different techniques from screen printing to inkjet printing have been used to fabricate RFID tags directly on the selected substrate, like paper, cardboard, plastic and etc. [39] [40] [41]. Reference [21] has manufactured the RFID tag with an organic photodiode to control the exposure of packed products to light.…”

“…References [41] and [48] state that conventional display techniques such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and liquid crystal display (LCD) provide high-performance visual applications, but also consume a high amount of power, and are fabricated on conventional glass substrates. As a result, according to [49], the industry is keen to develop more flexible, lightweight, biodegradable, low-power consuming, and cost-efficient light-emitting devices.…”

“…In comparison to traditional paper display, EPD possesses preeminent qualities of light reflectivity, flexibility, cost-efficiency, and image bistability which refers to keeping the color for a particular length of time without energy supply [41].…”

“…Comparing to EPD devices with the driving voltages over 10V, EC displays can be refreshed by 1.5 V. As a result, EC displays save the complexity of charge pump design [41].…”