Radio Frequency Identification Technologies
A Workshop Summary
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this project was provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES
GAETANO BORRIELLO,
University of Washington,
Chair
DANA CUFF,
University of California, Los Angeles
CHRIS DIORIO,
University of Washington
BILL SCHILIT,
Intel Corporation
STEVEN SHAFER,
Microsoft Corporation
PAUL ZIPKIN,
Duke University
Staff
LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Senior Program Officer
DAVID PADGHAM, Research Associate (until May 7, 2004)
PHIL HILLIARD, Research Associate (until June 4, 2004)
JANICE SABUDA, Senior Program Assistant
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
DAVID LIDDLE,
U.S. Venture Partners,
Co-chair
JEANNETTE M. WING,
Carnegie Mellon University,
Co-chair
ERIC BENHAMOU,
Benhamou Global Ventures, LLC
DAVID D. CLARK,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
CSTB Member Emeritus
WILLIAM DALLY,
Stanford University
MARK E. DEAN,
IBM Systems Group
DEBORAH ESTRIN,
University of California, Los Angeles
JOAN FEIGENBAUM,
Yale University
HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA,
Stanford University
KEVIN KAHN,
Intel Corporation
JAMES KAJIYA,
Microsoft Corporation
MICHAEL KATZ,
University of California, Berkeley
RANDY H. KATZ,
University of California, Berkeley
WENDY A. KELLOGG,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
SARA KIESLER,
Carnegie Mellon University
BUTLER W. LAMPSON,
Microsoft Corporation,
CSTB Member Emeritus
TERESA H. MENG,
Stanford University
TOM M. MITCHELL,
Carnegie Mellon University
DANIEL PIKE,
GCI Cable and Entertainment
ERIC SCHMIDT,
Google, Inc.
FRED B. SCHNEIDER,
Cornell University
WILLIAM STEAD,
Vanderbilt University
ANDREW J. VITERBI,
Viterbi Group, LLC
CHARLES BROWNSTEIN, Director
KRISTEN BATCH, Research Associate
JENNIFER M. BISHOP, Program Associate
JANET BRISCOE, Manager, Program Operations
JON EISENBERG, Senior Program Officer
RENEE HAWKINS, Financial Associate
MARGARET MARSH HUYNH, Senior Program Assistant
HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Scientist
LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Senior Program Officer
JANICE SABUDA, Senior Program Assistant
GLORIA WESTBROOK, Senior Program Assistant
BRANDYE WILLIAMS, Staff Assistant
For more information on CSTB, see its Web site at <http://www.cstb.org>, write to CSTB, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001, call at (202) 334-2605, or e-mail CSTB at cstb@nas.edu.
Preface
The day when each discrete manufactured object in our everyday environment comes with an embedded computer chip is arguably getting closer. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is currently one of the most powerful forces moving us in that direction. RFID technology uses three main components: (1) a microchip with a radio antenna (often referred to as an RFID tag), (2) a device to send and receive a signal from such tags (called an RFID tag reader), and (3) the hardware and software environment that enables useful information to be derived from the interactions of tags and readers.
The technology has already shown promise in uses involving transportation (for example, SmarTrip and E-ZPass for parking fees or transit fares and highway tolls) and commerce (for example, Mobil's SpeedPass). A number of other uses for the technology are under development and in some cases deployed, including applications such as real-time inventory management and “smart” checkout in stores and libraries. Current technical issues with the technology include such matters as the size and production cost of individual tags, interference between readers and other devices in their spectrum range, and the effective range of tags and readers.
Many industry leaders look forward to the benefits and cost savings that RFID technology might bring to their operations. However, on the consumer and regulatory side, there are many concerns and unanswered questions about the technology—for example, what are the ramifications for personal privacy of embedding RFID tags in consumer products? Indeed, more than one company has had to change or rethink its plans for RFID technology because of the concerns of consumers and privacy advocates about how the technology would be used.
Currently, RFID technology seems to be at a crucial point—in the development of the technology itself, on the one hand, and in the development of the policies and standards that will affect its use and deployment, on the other. In addition, with the recent entrance into the RFID arena of two major participants—the U.S. Department of Defense and the nation’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart—the technology may be on its way to becoming ubiquitous in American society.
As a follow-on activity to the project that produced the report Embedded Everywhere: A Research Agenda for Networked Systems of Embedded Computers,1 the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council (NRC) conducted a short workshop that explored RFID technology and related technical and policy issues. Workshop participants included representatives from industry, academia, government, and relevant non-governmental organizations.
To conduct the workshop, the NRC appointed a steering committee—the Committee on Radio Frequency Identification Technologies—with expertise in the following areas: technical and engineering aspects of RFID and related technologies; the practical and business uses of these technologies; the implications of RFIDs for personal privacy, anonymity, and so on; and the policies, standards, and regulations surrounding RFIDs. The committee developed the workshop agenda, participated in the workshop, and composed this workshop summary report. The committee met in person twice (during and immediately after the workshop), as well as via teleconference. Committee members also did a great deal of work electronically via e-mail.
This report is the committee’s synthesis of key points made in presentations by the workshop panelists and in subsequent discussions. Although the summary is a report prepared on the basis of presentations and discussions at the workshop and among committee members, the comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the committee, nor are they findings or recommendations of the National Research Council.
The committee thanks the individuals who contributed to its work, including the workshop panelists (listed in the workshop agenda in Appendix A) and participants. The committee appreciates their willingness to address the questions posed to them and is grateful for their insights. The reviewers of the draft report provided insightful and constructive comments that contributed significantly to the clarity of the report.
Neither this report nor the workshop itself would have been possible without the dedicated and professional efforts of CSTB staff. David Padgham was involved in organizing the event and was instrumental in bringing the excellent collection of panelists together. The logistics of the event were flawless, thanks to Janice Sabuda. Phil Hilliard provided excellent notes on the workshop discussions. Dorothy Sawicki from the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences’ editorial staff made significant editorial contributions to the final manuscript. Extra special thanks go to Lynette Millett, who developed the idea for this workshop and went beyond the call of duty in keeping overcommitted members of the steering committee on task. Without her, none of this would have been possible.
Gaetano Borriello, Chair
Committee on Radio Frequency Identification Technologies
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Bruce Eckfeldt, Cyrus Innovation
Deborah Estrin, University of California, Los Angeles
Randy H. Katz, University of California, Berkeley
Ravi Pappu, ThingMagic
Gregory J. Pottie, University of California, Los Angeles
Sumit Roy, University of Washington
Fred B. Schneider, Cornell University
William Stead, Vanderbilt University
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Richard Rowberg, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, National Research Council. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.