Towards RFID bulk reading
| PhD ceremony: | Mr H.S.H. (Hamed) Kenawy |
| When: | September 09, 2025 |
| Start: | 14:30 |
| Supervisor: | prof. dr. ir. G.N. (Georgi) Gaydadjiev |
| Co-supervisor: | R. Zare Hassanpour |
| Where: | Academy building RUG / Student Information & Administration |
| Faculty: | Science and Engineering |
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems use wireless communication to identify objects automatically. A key protocol, Framed Slotted ALOHA (FSA), enables RFID readers to inform tags of available time slots for communication. When multiple tags respond in the same slot, collisions occur, complicating the identification process. Traditionally, collision recovery methods assume all tags have identical Backscatter Link Frequencies (BLFs) and are time-synchronized, which is not practical.
In his thesis, Hamed Kenawy introduces a novel UHF RFID reader that leverages BLF tolerance to distinguish between two types of collided slots: those that are identifiable and those that are not based on slot duration. This differentiation significantly reduces tag reading times.
Experimental results show a 10% reduction in bulk reading time at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) above 20 dB compared to traditional systems. Additionally, the frame length is optimized by accounting for the reader’s ability to identify slot types, thus bridging the gap between the physical and protocol layers. Slot durations are also recalculated to reflect the reader’s improved identification capabilities.
The system incorporates a new algorithm based on the Matrix Pencil Method (MPM) to estimate critical tag parameters such as BLF, the number of tags per slot, and channel state information (CSI). These parameters enhance collision recovery when used by MIMO linear receivers. Despite varying sensitivity to CSI estimation errors, all receivers perform equally under the proposed system. Overall, this enhanced collision recovery approach reduces RFID bulk reading times by at least 13% compared to the state of the art.