Page 40 - EE Times Europe September 2021

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OPINION | GREENER FUTURE

Self-Powered Sensing

Technology in Industrial

IoT: UHF RFID Shows

the Way

By Frédéric Maricourt, Asygn

THE COMBINED CONSUMER and industrial IoT market is expected
to reach US$11.1 trillion by 2025, according to a 2020 report by
researchers at Prudour. The dramatic expansion of IoT applications
is already raising some issues related to the batteries that power
IoT devices — not only in terms of sustainability and environmental
protection but also from a predictivity and cost perspective. Industry
4.0 developers are therefore looking to enable battery-less solutions.
That’s where UHF RFID technologies like the approach embraced by
the RAIN RFID Alliance come into play.
RAIN is both an industry alliance, much like the Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi Alliance, and a
technology. As described on the alliance’s website, the acronym RAIN (for RAdio-frequency
IdentificatioN) “is intended as a nod to the link between UHF RFID and the cloud, where RFID-
based data can be stored, managed and shared via the Internet. A RAIN RFID solution uses a
reader to read and write a tagged item, manage the data, and take action.” Membership in the
alliance is open to any organization that has an interest in passive UHF RFID.
Today’s manufacturing systems use the data stored in RFID tags to enable more flexible and
efficient customized products. The application of RFID technology on the factory floor has led to
much higher levels of automation and standardization and has widely contributed to the ”Lean”
processes of the modern supply chain. Compared with established identification technologies
such as active tags and bar codes, passive RFID tags don’t need their own power supply and do
not require a line of sight to operate.
Because it is an emerging technology, very few stakeholders today are able to offer solutions that
turn passive RFID chips into the smart sensing devices required for RAIN RFID. Those IC families
can measure parameters such as temperature, humidity, motion, ambient light, electrical continu-
ity, and material malleability completely passively, without requiring additional components, and
can transmit the acquired data to a conventional RAIN RFID reader over ranges of 5 to 10 meters.

NO SPECIAL HW/SW REQUIRED
The data transfer from the chip to the reader takes only a few milliseconds and is completely
compliant with the current EPC Gen2 protocol. The advantage for the user is that no special
hardware or software is required to acquire and process measured values. Readers currently
available on the market can capture and interpret the data from the chip and forward it to

higher-level systems. When integrating tags
based on the chip into a logistics application,
for example, the asset ID and EPC number can
be captured together with the sensor data.
Inlays are convertible into numerous tran-
sponder formats, from flexible labels to hard
tags. A classical package version such as QFN IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
with integrated sensor IC is suitable for use
even in harsh environments.
Comparison of communication technologies used for Industry 4.0 (Source: Asygn)

SEPTEMBER 2021 | www.eetimes.eu