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Test & Measurement

RFID Testing Challenges for


Complex RF Environments
A brief overview of RFID technology and testing challenges for complex
operating environments where throughput and communication issues may be
caused by multiple readers, dense-mode environments and pre-existing non-
RFID signals

 Courtesy: Tektronix RFID systems may need to function, the reader and the tag share the same
when integrated into the same device, frequency, these must take turns send-

T
he applications of radio-fre- with cellular, WLAN, Bluetooth or ing information. Backscattering restricts
quency identification (RFID) Zigbee technologies. Finally, interfer- communications between the reader
are growing rapidly as equip- ence from other users in the same band and the tag to a half-duplex system.
ment prices drop and global markets needs to be considered. Since the uplink from tag T to read-
expand. The use of embedded RFID is The result is a need to simulate er R (denoted by T→R) is modulated
increasing. Coordinating bodies such complex RF environments and analyse from the interrogator’s CW signal, it
as the Ubiquitous ID Center and the T- the performance of the RFID system is possible to use spread-spectrum
Engine Forum have been formed. And under these conditions before deploy- techniques such as frequency hop-
the GSM Association now supports ment. The pulsed nature of RFID and ping. Any spreading or hopping on
embedding of RFID-based near-field the typical interference sources make the interrogator’s signal is automati-
communications capability into cel- this task all the more difficult. cally removed in the homodyne down-
lular phones. conversion of the receiver, as it shares
However, a big challenge in RFID RFID technology overview the same local oscillator signal.
is optimising throughput (data reading An RFID system at its simplest consists This simple system turns complex
of a tag, which may be passive, and a when multiple tags, multiple readers
reader. Architecturally, reading pas- and interference are present. Let’s take
sive tags is somewhat different from a look at two RFID design challenges
the traditional full-duplex data link. that come from these deployment is-
Unlike traditional active data links, sues.
passive tags rely on the received RF
energy to power themselves. These Multiple-reader and dense-
also do not generate their own mode environments
transmit carrier signal. The broadband nature of passive RFID
Rather, they modulate tag presents some challenges for dense
some of the energy being (multiple) reader sites. Since the tag
transmitted by the interro- reader sets the system’s frequency of
gator to the tag in a process operation, and the tag is a broadband
speed) in com- known as backscattering. device that responds to any reader, the
plex, or even harsh, By changing the loading of the tag’s tag has limited ability to respond to a
RF environments. Pas- antenna from absorptive to reflective, a specific reader. Passive tags may try to
sive RFID tags may respond continuous-wave (CW) signal from the respond to all readers that are inter-
to any reader or readers in interrogator can be modulated. This rogating them.
range. Protocols exist to work with process is very similar to using a mir- Many RFID systems are imple-
this behaviour, but the result is a com- ror and the sun to signal someone at a mented in a multiple-reader or dense-
plex communications behaviour that distance. It also eliminates the need for mode environment. Here are some
can be difficult to test without the right precision frequency sources and power- definitions:
equipment. In addition, embedded hungry transmitters in the tag. Since 1. Single-reader environment: A

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Test & Measurement
single reader is operating in an depending on the
environment. 20dB bandwidth
2. Multiple-reader environment: The of the signal. This
number of simultaneously operat- regulation may
ing readers is less than the avail- require the tag
able number of channels. reader to vacate
3. Dense-reader mode: It’s the most the channel after
challenging environment, where 400 ms and hop
the number of readers is greater to a different fre-
than the number of channels. Fig. 1: Block diagram of a typical homodyne interrogator, or tag reader.
quency even if
Reader and tag interference can Using a precision frequency source, the transmitted carrier is modulated and not finished with
sent to the tag. On the reader’s receive side, a single frequency conversion,
take place within the operating envi- to base-band, of the backscattered I and Q signals gets processed into the
reading at that
ronment—the zone within which the received ID data frequency.
reader’s RF signal is attenuated by less Readers and
than 90 dBc (a radius of approximately 1 tags operating in conformance
km in free space). Consequently, many to ISO18000-7 take a different
readers end up operating in a dense- approach. These use longer
mode environment whether by design RF transmissions with slower
or due to neighbouring RFID readers. transfer rates, which allows
A warehouse application with the signal to be more immune
fixed readers and accurate spectrum to interference. For shipping
planning is likely to have minimal container applications using the
interference from neighbours within commercial equivalent version
1 km. However, a mobile RFID device ISO 18185, this requires that the
should expect a dense-reader mode maximum transmission dura-
environment due the lack of control tion be increased to 60 seconds
over safe mitigation distances. In this while maintaining a 10-second
case, it becomes critical to discover Fig. 2. The passive tag backscatters the interrogator’s
minimum silent period be-
what signals may be present in the en- CW carrier, modulating it by changing the absorption tween transmissions (FCC part
characteristics of the antenna. The passive tag also
vironment where the RFID system will rectifies the RF energy to create a small amount of power
15.240). At such slow transfer
be, or is, deployed and understand the to run the tag rates, transferring the full 128
behaviour of the reader and tags in the kilobytes of data
presence of interference. needed to identify
To handle this environment, all the contents of
ISO18000-6C readers that have been a shipping con-
certified for dense environments often tainer can take up
switch to Miller-modulated sub-carrier to two minutes.
(MMS) encoding. This elaborate encod- The tags used in
ing provides more transitions per bit accordance to this
and is therefore easier to decode in standard are ac-
the presence of noise. But it is slower tive; they have an
for the same tag’s backscatter-link fre- on-board power
quency (BLF). supply and tend
Three different MMS schemes are Fig. 3. Arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs) can simulate RFID and other
to radiate at high-
available: Miller-2, Miller-4 and Mill- signal interference er power levels
er-8. The number specifies how many than passive tags.
BLF periods define a data symbol. For such as the forward link commands, Both of these techniques imply that
example, using the slowest BLF of 40 is included). Transmitting at this slow the testing solution needs to collect de-
kHz, the data rate for Miller-8 is BLF/8 rate is not desirable for throughput tailed RF data on pulsed signals over a
= 5 kbps. At such a slow rate, trans- reasons, but also because some regula- relatively long time period.
mitting a 96-bit EPC and 16-bit error tions (The United States FCCs’ Part 15,
check will take 22.4 ms, corresponding for instance) allow operation at a single Testing solutions for a
to less than 45 tag reads per second frequency only for an average of 400 dense-mode environment
(even fewer when all the overhead, ms within a 10- or 20-second period Simulating a dense-mode environment

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Test & Measurement
is possible using an arbitrary bit time, CW time, and response
waveform generator (AWG). time between the reader and the
Modern AWGs can be pro- tag (known as turnaround time)
grammed to directly generate give important insight into the
RFID signals across HF and reader and tag interaction and
UHF bands and thus be used throughput. Checking amplitude
to simulate a variety of signals glitches against frequency events
such as multiple reader or can help spot root causes of errors.
multiple tag signals with just If a particular bit is not decoding
one instrument. This reduces properly, is it because of an error
the time and cost of having in the FSK or ASK modulation?
to configure multiple signal Correlating data in various do-
generators. mains helps to answer these types
The analysis device often of questions.
needs quite deep memory to Fig. 4. Timing measurements of a 377ms hopping/burst signal, using
Latest RTSAs can correlate
capture all of these lengthy markers in the spectrogram display (on the right), with an RTSA data in frequency, time, symbol
interactions. Typically, the tag and other domains, allowing
reader tries multiple queries extensive and quick analysis of
and may command the tags to complicated RF environments and
reduce their link frequency to physical-layer interactions. For
verify that the tags are vacat- ISO18000-6C (EPC GEN2) signals,
ing the channel as required which automatically change their
in some implementations. data rate, these instruments can
Real-time spectrum analysers automatically detect the symbol
(RTSAs) are capable of analys- rate and highlight the preamble,
ing these types of transactions. making analysis even easier.
An RTSA can directly ver-
ify the 60-second transmission Monitoring RFID
and the 10-second silent period co-channel
of ISO18000-7, with memory
interference
depth of more than 100 sec- RFID transceivers must comply
Fig. 5. Auto data rate select when testing ISO18000-6C (EPC GEN2).
onds in this application. This Note the multiple-yellow ‘P’ indicates the preamble. A yellow ‘S’ is
with local regulations regarding
allows a thorough analysis of used to indicate frame synch when it is visible creating interference as well as
error conditions. be designed for optimal immu-
It is also possible to use nity to interference. Allocated
multiple acquisitions to ana- spectrum, for instance, varies
lyse hopping and bursting from 2 MHz in Singapore and
RFID signals. In this mode, the Europe to 26 MHz in North
RTSA is set up to capture data America. This makes different
for a user-defined period of modulation schemes and col-
time whenever a hop, and the lision avoidance techniques
associated trigger, occurs. This, favoured in different parts of
in combination with a very the world.
high frame rate (over 48,000 Two approaches taken to
fps), allows capture, analysis implement collision avoidance
and demodulation of a hop- and reduce self-interference are
ping RFID signal. frequency hopping and listen-
Once the signal is captured, before-talk (LBT)/synchronisa-
it can be analysed in a way that tion of RFID readers. Frequency
helps engineers to understand hopping is utilised in the United
whether the reader and tag are States according to FCC 47 CFG
performing as expected in the Fig. 6. A DPX display can show complex interactions between a tag Ch. 1 Part 15. LBT or synchroni-
reader and tags in the presence of many types of interference. This
current RF environment, and display shows that tags are responding when there is no interfering
sation is implemented in most
if not, why. Measurements of signal European countries according to

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Test & Measurement
blue pulses are 0’s. DPX provides vis-
Latest RTSAs can ibility of signals that would not be seen
correlate data in on a conventional swept analyser.
frequency, time, In this screen capture, the reader
symbol and other was successful on frequencies with-
domains, allowing out much interference. This is shown
first, by seeing that the mostly blue
extensive and quick RFID pulses only occur on clear
analysis of complicated frequencies. Second, by looking at
RF environments the other colours on the mostly blue
and physical-layer RFID pulses, the extended dwell time
interactions. of a successful RFID transaction can
be spotted. It’s realistic to conclude
ETSI EN 302 208-1. that successful polling occurs at fre-
These signals are bursty by nature quencies where no interfering signal
in an environment subject to bursty is present and the signal-to-noise
interference from multiple readers, ratio is greater. This clearly shows
multiple tag responses, and even other that the chances of a successful tag
RF services such as Wi-Fi, Zigbee, read increase in an environment with
Bluetooth and similar short-range RF minimal interference.
communications. Effective analysis of When doing frequency planning to
RFID signals in a realistic environment restrict each reader to a certain chan-
can be a complex task. nel (or channels), DPX can be used to
One of the best available monitor- ensure that the modulation sidebands
ing techniques is RTSA digital phos- are not at such a level that would
phor capability known as DPX. This cause interference in those channels
technique uses a very fast frame rate being used by co-located readers.
in combination with indicating signal Note that the reader and tag signals
density, or dwell time, by colour. This in the centre of Fig. 6 have wide spec-
allows a unique view of pulsed RF sig- tral spreading and are dwelling for
nals in a complex environment. a longer period of time than in other
Fig. 6 shows a simulated complex channels. The brighter signal skirts in-
RF environment, created by placing a dicate a higher signal density and thus
number of tags within read range of a a longer dwell time. This could be a
reader. After only 30 seconds of moni- source of read failures in the adjacent
toring the frequency-hopping output channels, and action should be taken
of the reader, a lot of information can to ensure that filtering in the readers
be seen. is sufficient to have immunity to this
Red signals are always present. interference.
In this case, that means the noise
floor and several interfering signals To sum up
towards the bottom of the display. RFID signals, by their nature, may be
Green signals (mostly bursty interfer- subject to complex, and even harsh, RF
ence in this example) are present per- environments. In addition, the pulsed
haps 50 per cent of the time, and blue nature of RFID signals makes analysis
signals are infrequent, as indicated by difficult with conventional spectrum
the signal density scale in the lower analysers. AWGs and RTSAs make
right corner. effective simulation and analysis of
The blue signals are mostly RFID multiple-reader, dense-mode envi-
signals for communications between a ronments and common interference
reader and the set of tags. In this case, signals practical. This technique can
the modulation type is amplitude-shift be used to ensure reliable RFID com-
keying, and the higher narrow blue munications and throughput in harsh
pulses are 1’s and the lower narrow conditions. 

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