wilamowski-b-m-irwin-j-d-industrial-communication-systems-2011

8-20 Industrial Communication Systems
8.26 role Reversal
As demonstrated in the receiving and the dispatching system of the armed forces, a pallet with a valid
RFID label would be directed to the designated location while one without a tag would be rejected.
Should a carton with no tag be bundled on a pallet with a valid label, it will also be stopped because
the number of carton tags detected is not equal to the number of cartons on the declaration and that
confirmed by visual inspection.
This sequence represents a marked difference from that of an HF RFID system. The access control
currently adopted in most mass transit systems works, if and only if a passenger presents a valid card
for examination, a strictly volunteering process. A UHF RFID reader, on the other hand, detects a tag
at a distance even when visual contact is blocked by an obstacle, a proactive scheme. In other words, the
gatekeeper in a HF system does nothing but wait passively for the black sheep to show up, while its UHF
counterpart actively looks for it and acts accordingly.
The role reversal has induced drastic changes in the manufacturing and service industries. In fact, its
impact will be felt in other sectors too, as the RFID will find many government and civilian applications.
Although the present change is merely a simple augmentation, it makes some impossible tasks feasible;
while some of the permissible current practices would be forbidden for legal and other reasons.
8.27 Historical Development
Strictly speaking, “interrogation” is not a new technique, as it had been used in World War II for determining
whether the incoming flying object was a friend or a foe. Analogous techniques are still used
today to search for the transponder carried by a fighter pilot. Moreover, clumsy 8.2.MHz 1 bit passive
electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags are still found in many boutiques and haberdashers for deterring
shoplifting. Surprisingly, this technique was launched 46 years ago and it has been working continuously
without a break, an extremely rare phenomenon in the history of technological developments.
In fact, RFID technology has been used in registering domestic animals ever since the 1980s. Using
sophisticated packaging technologies, a passive 134.2.kHz HDX tag is squeezed into a rice-size capsule.
Registration is completed by implanting the capsule beneath the skin of an animal. Similarly, by attaching
a large 125.kHz FDX transponder on the back of an endangered wildlife species, its movement in
the natural habitat could be tracked via a low-orbit satellite. Similar RFID technology has been used by
farmers who have experienced difficulties in counting their cattle wandering in a mammoth range in
Canada. The latter tags are also used in shipping animals for slaughter and other business transactions.
In fact, the true ancestor of the modern passive RFID with memory was invented by Mario Cardullo
in 1971 and a U.S. patent was approved in 1973 [21]. The idea was sound but the technologies at that
time were not ready. Ironically, the needed technologies were ready after the expiry of Cardullo’s patent.
8.28 Privacy Infringement
After years of passionate debates, fierce quarrels, and occasional fights in parliamentary chambers and
at informal gatherings on the probable privacy infringement, most people in liberal countries have
finally accepted that the current trend of RFID developments cannot be stopped. The claimed privacy
infringement may be valid but it is not due to the use of HF RFID technologies in making a reliable and a
versatile identity card or passport. Today, the heated debate has been reopened as a result of the planned
upgrading of the HF RFID to the UHF RFID, probably due to role reversal.
Claims of privacy infringement are a complete fallacy because we have already deliberately chosen
to inform the service provider of our exact locations by turning on our mobile phones. The network
operator needs to keep track of our movement, otherwise we could not receive any incoming call. Using
the latest technologies, our locations could be accurately assessed to within a few meters. For accurate
billing, the operator has a complete record of our locations in months. It is totally illogical to claim that
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC