Pacific Rim Initiatives Involve Industry, Universities, And Governments

By Jim Farrell

Many Asian and Australian RFID projects are advancing to large extent with government support and involvement. In the Pacific Rim area, the privacy concerns surrounding RFID projects in the West seem to get a lot less airtime. In the Far East, many RFID initiatives are being developed by local governments, local universities, Renesas Systems Solutions Asia, Pty. Ltd. (RSS) along with the Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory, associated with the T-Engine Forum (TEF).

Japan

Japanese RFID technology is advancing rapidly, in no small measure due to the efforts of the technology advances of the YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory located in the Shinagawa area of Tokyo, Japan. A recent RFID technology advance involved the trucking industry and shipment identification for transport in Japan. An automatic recognition trial using passive tags had been performed in the past, but poor accuracy in identification was a problem. The new RFID-based automatic cargo recognition system boasts an identification rate of over 99% using electronic tags with built-in batteries.

These electronic "dice" are micro-active electronic tags, in the form of small dice-size cubes, developed by the YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory, that use very low-power 315 MHz radio waves for full-duplex communication with base stations. The RFID dice operate for over two years with button batteries and communicate at a visible distance of over 10 meters (nearly 33 feet). The system's built-in sensors can also monitor information on its surrounding environment, such as temperature and moisture during transportation. This way the quality of the shipped products can be assured.

Australia

The Tasmanian state government, in collaboration with the University of Tasmania and TEF, is researching new RFID traceability projects. Two key initiatives involve forestry and fisheries. Lumber poaching is a worldwide problem, greatly contributing to desertification of large tracts in several countries. The Tasmanian government intends to protect its forests. The proposed RFID tagging would insure that finished lumber was legally harvested and transported. The second initiative involves the shipping of live lobsters. The RFID tag would insure the legality of the shipped crustacean, and monitor its heartbeat to verify that it does not expire en route to its destination.

Dr. Thambipillai ("Sri") Srikanthan of NTU, Director of CHiPES, (left) greets Dr. Ken Sakamura, Director of TEF at a CHiPES exhibition.

Singapore

The Singapore government has established the Economic Development Board (EDB) to advance commercial technology in its country. The EDB, in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), has established The Centre for High-Performance Embedded Systems (CHiPES) for the development of new systems, including RFID systems. CHiPES is lead by Dr. Thambipillai ("Sri") Srikanthan of NTU. Additionally, TEF has established the T-Engine Application Development Centre (TEADEAC) to work closely with NTU, CHiPES, and RSS to develop RFID and other embedded systems.

China

The YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory has engaged Fudan University in China, in collaboration with the provincial government, to help advanced ubiquitous identification and RFID technology in this fast-developing nation. The Fudan University UID/RFID Open Laboratory has been established jointly by TEF and Fudan University along with the collaboration of The University of Tokyo Sakamura Laboratory, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. This Open Laboratory has been founded as the center for research, development, and promotion of ubiquitous ID as well as other RFID projects in China. In addition, within the Open Laboratory, a permanent exhibition space was opened to introduce technologies of UID (Ubiquitous Identification) and TEF.

Fudan University uID/RFID Open Laboratory provides an open door for new RFID projects in China.

In addition, RSS and TEF are working with The University of Beijing and the China Household Appliance Research Institute (CHEARI) on RFID and related traceability projects. As in many countries, "e-waste" is a problem being addressed by the Chinese government. Obsolete or worn-out televisions, cellular telephones, computers, refrigerators, and other "white box" and "black box" consumer electronics products provide landfills with large amounts undesirable (and frequently toxic) waste. RFID tag traceability is being examined as a methodology for monitoring and controlling obsolete or defunct consumer electronics to insure that e-waste is disposed of properly or recycled.

An RFID tag utilizing the Hitachi mu chip. This older version incorporates the 0.40 mm x 0.40 mm version of the chip. The new 0.15 mm x 0.15 mm mu chip version is only 14% of the area of the chip shown on this tag.

Another concern of the Chinese government is fraudulent admission tickets for the many athletic venues of the 2008 Olympic Games. Fraudulent sports events tickets are a problem in many parts of the world. The Olympic Games are an especially difficult situation. In addition to dozens of venues at different locations, many thousands of fans must be processed very quickly at different places, while verifying the validity of their tickets. Hitachi and Oracle are working with Fudan University in collaboration with the TEF to develop an RFID event ticket to thwart fraud. The ticket would contain the Hitachi "mu" chip a wireless RF microcontroller chip only 0.15 millimeters by 0.15 millimeters in area. The extremely low cost of this chip will permit its use in hundreds of thousands of valid Olympic 2008 event tickets.

Other Asian Activities

TEF is actively working with Ho Chi Minh City University in Vietnam as well as KITA (Korean International Trade Association) in Korea on several embedded applications.