Implementation of Novel EPC UHF RFID Tag with Sensor Data Transmission Capability

This paper proposed a novel EPC (Electronic Product Code) UHF RFID tag architecture to transmit both EPC code and sensor data. The RFID tag module contains a RF transceiver, command interpreter and digital anti-collision finite state machines, and sensor data input interface. The demo circuits were realized by combining an ALTERA Cyclone II EP2C5T144C7 FPGA chip with a hybrid RF front-end circuit and antenna. The digital anti-collision technique was adapted with the “Slotted Random” anti-collision algorithm and implemented in the FPGA chip. The EPC standard compatibility of anti-collision function is successfully verified by an Alien ALR-9780 UHF RFID reader. Furthermore, when we use the microprocessor to send internal temperature sensor data into the RFID tag interface, the tag will insert the data to MSB of EPC code. The experiment shows that Alien ALR-9780 UHF RFID reader can continuously receive the temperature information from the EPC code of proposed demo tag and the EPC code from the other standard UHF tags simultaneously.