UHF RFID Prototyping Platform for ISO 29167 Decryption Based on an SDR

Abstract

Ultra high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) is becoming a key technology in the Internet of Things. It allows the implementation of batteryless and wireless nodes, including sensors and actuators. Due to its possible transmission range of >10 m and potential to carry critical information, security is a highly important topic. For this reason, the International Organization for Standardization has published several crypto suites for UHF RFID within the ISO-29167 standard in 2014. Recently, research has focused on implementing those encryption features on the transponder side. However, currently no crypto enabled UHF RFID readers are available. In order to cope with the rapid development in this field, ‘open’ and flexible readers based on software defined radios are needed. They make it possible to quickly adapt the protocol and to test new functionalities such as encryption. This paper deals with the first implementation of the ISO 29167-19 standardized RAMON decryption on a software defined radio. The programming of this hardware is done in LabVIEW which allows for controlling the built-in transceiver modules. However, first measurements show that the decryption takes 51 s. This is because LabVIEW is not suitable for handling very large numbers like they are utilized in cryptography. Because such a long processing time is not feasible in experiments nor in a real-life scenarios, this method is not suitable for a prototyping platform. Thus, a different approach is chosen to optimize the decryption processing time. LabVIEW still provides the framework for handling the protocol and controlling the transceivers, but the decryption is performed in a Java application. In that way, the entire decryption process takes only about 2.2 ms, which is 23,318 times faster than the implementation in LabVIEW. Thus, this new approach meets the necessary timing requirements and is suitable for realistic application scenarios. The shown method allows development and testing of new functionalities in UHF RFID systems but may also be employed in any application that require long processing times in LabVIEW. Furthermore, the implementation of decryption features is the first necessary step towards a fully compliant, crypto enabled interrogator for UHF RFID, featuring a high adaptability.

The Role of RFID in Green IoT: A Survey on Technologies, Challenges and a Way Forward

“…• The authors suggested a shared authentication scheme for IoT RFID-based applications in fifth generation of mobile networks (5G) by providing a cache to the user, storing the keys (used for authentication) for the tags recently visited, speeding up authentication, minimizing computation costs and the storage security. On the other hand, the authors in [91] has been proposed authentication methods for heterogeneous networks which can be applied to RFID systems as well. Therefore, a prototyping platform intended to conduct practical experiments in the creation of new technology in UHF RFID systems is not suitable.…”

Suffix-based double reader tag movement RFID anti-collision method

“…In actual applications, such as the scanning of shipments in an express warehouse, the shipments at the beginning are scattered on a conveyor belt. The UHF reader [27] is selected as it has a very long working distance (its working frequency is 862 (902)~928 MHz, and it fully supports electronic tags that comply with the EPC CLASS1 G2 and ISO18000-6B standards [28]. Its working distance is usually greater than 1 m, typically 4~6 m. Two readers are built and fixed on the upper end of the conveyor belt.…”