Introducing a Novel "Virtual Communication Channel" into RFID Ecosystems for IoT

Abstract

Purpose of this paper is to illustrate an innovative method to exploit an "RFID virtual channel" in future RFID ecosystems. Specifically, it describes a technique that allows groups of RFID readers to use the residual User Memory Bank (UM Bank) of nearby RFID tags to establish a piconet and to exchange data. The implications of such a use are extremely interesting in a perspective of future IoT applications designed for environments with a massive presence of conventional RFID tags and/or (EPCglobal compliant) sensorized RFID tags.

Tag-based cooperative data gathering and energy recharging in wide area RFID sensor networks

“…In the TDC solution, instead, WISPs are used as a sort of "virtual communication channel" [20] for real time data transfer between cluster and bus readers. This novel protocol defines the modalities to transfer messages between readers by alternating write and read operations on the memory of a shared tag, in compliance with the worldwide adopted UHF RFID air protocol, i.e., the EPCglobal UHF Class 1 Gen 2 Protocol [39].…”

“…The peculiarity of the TDC cooperative solution lies in a real time communication between the cluster and the bus readers based on the concept of a virtual communication channel over RFID tags proposed in [20]. The innovative idea is to use the memory of a tag to enable reader-to-reader communication.…”

“…The innovative idea is to use the memory of a tag to enable reader-to-reader communication. In particular, in [20] the interested reader can find the details for the virtual channel set-up, the optimized tag memory structure for reliable unicast communication, and the reader anti-collision algorithms that have been proposed to minimize the interference in accessing a shared tag.…”

“…Then, in a "delay tolerant" mode, the bus reader picks up the data stored in the relays and carries it to the sink. In the tag-based data channel (TDC), WISPs are used as a sort of "virtual communication channel" for data transfer between cluster and bus readers [20]. This unconventional use of the RFID technology for data communication allows for "real time" communication between RFID readers, thus enabling cooperative solutions without the need for additional hardware deployment in the mobile readers and, therefore, reducing their complexity.…”

Design and Implementation of a CoAP-Compliant Solution for RFID Inclusion in the Internet of Things

“…The concept of tag memory as a virtual communication channel has also been studied in [30,31], where the available memory of surrounding tags is used to enable communication among a group of readers.…”