Friday, May 8, 2009



Week 3 Journal

This week journal is a mixture of what I have learnt during lecture and what I have tried out during the practical session. I will talk about the lecture 1st

Today, we learn about what exactly is EPC. EPC, in full, Electronic Product Code is a global unique identifier for physical objects analogous to globally unique IP (Internet protocol) addresses. The EPC was created as a low-cost method of tracking goods using RFID Technology (since RFID itself is already costly). It is designed to meet the needs of various industries, while guaranteeing uniqueness for all EPC-compliant tags. EPC tags were designed to identify each item manufactured, as opposed to just the manufacturer and class of products, as bar codes do today. The EPC accommodates existing coding schemes and defines new schemes where necessary.





Picture of EPC Code Description

An EPC code is being split into 4 segments accordingly. The version, the manager code, the object class and finally, the serial number. The Version is a 8 bit number with 256 possible combination. It specifies the format of EPC Number. The Manager Code is a 28 bit number with 268 million+ combinations. The object class is a 24 bit number with 16 million + combination. The serial number specifies the instance of the object. It has up to 68 billion + combinations, more than enough to store information from all products around the world.


RFID System


During the practical session, we tested out the tags. One is active tag, while the other is passive tag. We learn that a RFID tag cannot be detected if it is pasted on metals. Therefore, the question comes. What if the product is a metal ? No worries :) The solution is, place a form in between the metal and the RFID tag. Because it has a layer to separate both items, the RFID tag can then be able to be detected by the reader.

Similar Integrated RFID Reader used during pract session


This reader is one of the reader that is used during the practical session. Given a barcode reader, it needs to get very very near or even, touch the reader. For this, as long as it has about 20 - 30 cm distance, it can already detect the reader. How amazing it is.