Large scale RFID system emulator

Abstract

The radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has evolved tremendously in the recent years, and thus poses a multitude of research challenges, such as throughput optimisation and interference mitigation. The purpose of this project is to provide an analytical and experimental tool that simulates the RFID environment, intended to be used by developers in the Computer Science fields who are engaged in the research of RFID systems and applications.

The software approach makes it possible to simulate the RFID environment based on tag identifications strategies and signal propagation models. The output results will include logs of the inventory process, and configuration efficiency scores - based on some performance metrics. The determinant of these results is the user’s input on the physical and technical characteristics of the simulated environment. This report also contributes by providing a theoretical presentation on the taxonomy of RFID, the anti-collision protocols and signal propagation models. This information offered in the report could serve useful as a brief introduction to a reader new to RFID technology. It will also serve as a reference to the underlying architecture design in the simulator software.