RFID Gazette

RFID is arguably a very efficient technology, made for multiple purposes, useful for private and public sectors. The benefits of RFID are far too numerous to mention in a single article, as the potential applications are seemingly endless. Many in the industry and elsewhere feel that the technology will become ubiquitous and replace older technologies because of its efficiencies and extra functionality. The problem is, it is also a very controversial technology for many reasons, which are thus a barrier to widespread adoption of RFID.

Is this a great idea or what? Faced with the future shortage of skilled workers in the RFID industry, Academia and a group of skilled professionals are offering certification courses at newly-opened training centers in the larger cities in Canada. This includes Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, Quebec City and a few others. Basically, if there's a professional sports team (hockey, basketball, baseball), there's a training center in that city.

Head office in Montreal has both a classroom and a state-of-the art lab. The courses are part of the CompTIA program, which includes certification. And it's not just technical courses but also RFID Project Management. Some RFID vendors are offering courses to their clients as a result of the program. This is a brilliant idea that I hope catches on elsewhere, especially in the USA, where the shortage of skilled workers could affect the supply chain.

[sources: RFID News]

Aside from issues of privacy and security, one serious factor holding back a wider adoption of RFID is the lack of skilled professionals. While the general principles of radio frequency technology may be many decades old (varies depending on whom you ask), its current uses are mostly limited to the past 15 or so years. Those professionals who do have the skills are already employed. And those few that are learning are apparently not learning fast enough, with recruiters feeling that some grads are not skilled enough to handle more complex installations.

There are a lack of degree/ diploma programs, beyond a handful of workshops,  courses and programs (Middlesex College, Oakton Community College, Indiana University), at least in North America - some of which are government grant-supported. Self-learning is not always easy going. Even a person like myself, with extensive technical background, has difficulties understanding all of the aspects of RFID - and there is a lot to learn, with new facets being introduced into the industry on a weekly basis.

The industry could spur the learning by helping establish "trade" programs in community colleges, supply equipment, and even loan/hire out their own professionals to teach courses. Aside from promoting the opportunity of a career in RF technology, I don't see how the future-lack problem can be nipped in the bud. Look at India. They are currently short of qualified engineers and other professionals for all the outsourced work that is assigned to the country. They're now running fast-track study programs to graduate people faster, and actually inviting students from other countries. Something similar will probably have to happen for the RFID industry - maybe including short-term contracts for retired/ semi-retired programmers and database administrators, not to mention technicians.

If you have an interest in getting involved in the RFID industry, two sites you may want to visit are OTA Training and RFID Recruiters. OTA will be debuting their RFID on the Web e-learning program this Fall, for those want to learn independently. RFID Recruiters has an article explaining how to earn a career opportunity in RFID and how to get started (including a list of the hot areas of RFID opportunities).

The market for the business software needed to manage RFID implementations is expected to grow significantly this decade. According to a Venture Development study, last year's market was US$24M, and should reach about $192M in 2010. That's an increase of seven times, an approximate 50% compounded annual growth rate.

Who is expected to dominate in the market? Giants like Cisco, IBM, WebMethods, and possibly NCR. What's more, IBM and WebMethods are expected to be acquiring a number of RFID software start-up companies.

Fact is, if you're in the software business and are forward thinking, there are numerous industries that use RFID and can all benefit from custom middleware to manage the data collection and management. There's also the analysis and reporting afterwards, which is a different category. And the middleware functional parameters for each industry are already inherently defined by their needs. If you know where to look, the answers are available.

So opportunities will abound in the near future, if you get started now in your software design. Pick one of the hot industries for RFID implementation, study functionality requirements, and start designing code and testing your systems. While I'm not going to pretend to give you a coding lesson, the biggest hurdle in designing new RFID middleware, besides the lack of standards, will be understanding all of the "exception conditions" that will arise from collecting data in real time. If you get this sorted out, and have useful software, chances are that you may just get a courtship letter from IBM or others. But the competition will be fierce. See the SDA India article linked below for a breakdown.

[sources: The Register UK, SDA India]

Hackers are usually labelled a disruptive lot, but sometimes they are exactly what you need to test a system. Enter the guys from Pure Hacking, professionals who perform what is called ethical hacking - hacking by permission - to test flaws and find potential security problems. While they cover a number of industries, they are focusing expertise in RFID systems, which have been the subject of much media coverage in relation to security issues. [via RFID Journal]

The Pure Hacking team actually uses a structured auditing process for all their tests, RFID-related or otherwise, and even offer an accredited anti-hacking course (non-RFID specific). I'm making an educated guess and saying that a lot of the techniques used to test software is very applicable to RFID systems. An RFID system may be the sum of its parts, but most especially it's the middleware that drives everything. Thus the many system vulnerabilities likely lie in the latter, in terms of allowing access to data. (I'm focusing on in-house issues, not what happens to a tagged item outside of your company. That's another aspect I'll try to discuss later.)

So if you are considering implementing RFID in your organization, it's important that you understand the data access process, even in broad terms. How do you want tag information to be accessed and updated? Do you need to implement layers of authorization for different roles in the company? Do you want a different layer of data available to the companies you supply parts and goods to? Human workflow is just as important as machine workflow. How do you intend for humans and machines to interact in terms of your RFID system? These are the kinds of questions consultants will ask you, before they even consider RFID solutions for implementation.

I know I'm being a bit vague here, but your company needs will vary by industry. I'll try to get into specific case studies in the future. For now, you can write out your intended workflow details, sketch out rough diagrams, and most certainly make a list of any questions that occur. If you can think of your own "penetration testing" test suite items, jot them down as well. There's a lot to consider here, but assessing your workflow ahead of time, before bringing in any consultants, helps you to be prepared with questions to ask. Knowing potential vulnerabilities ahead of time will help ease you through future hiccups.

DSI (Data Systems International) and Lawson Software announced a co-marketing agreement last week which would promote DSI's RFID and other data capture devices and applications. The agreement lists DSI as a Lawson Complementary partner and targets Lawson customers. [via Automation]

These partnerships are an ongoing trend in the RFID industry. Amongst other teamups, Intermec and Sybase recently announced a partnership of their hardware and software, respectively. OmniNuri and Soft Solutions announced a partnership back in January. OmniNuri was originally involved in mobile communications devices (i.e., cell phones) but is now edging their way into RFID solutions, particularly electronic shelf labelling systems.

More team-ups in the RFID industry. software giant Sybase is marrying their RFID Anywhere software platform to Intermec's RFID hardware. They will jointly provide their services to create RFID solutions for their customers in Australia and New Zealand. [via RFID Blog]

Sybase had previously teamed up with AeroScout to provide RTLS middleware solutions. Intermec was formerly known as UNOVA has had a number of partnerships within the industry.

The new Gen2 RFID chips from STMicroelectronics support over 10,000 write/erase cycles and can sore data for up to 40 years. [via RFID Update] The Gen2 chip market has been recently joined by Texas Instruments, who used to purchase chips elsewhere to make inlays, a product they've since ceased making.

The Asian nations appear to be having very positive RFID markets, and Malaysia is among them. In fact, according to an IDC report, RFID spending in that country is estimated at a CAGR of nearly 46% yearly from 2005 to 2010. [The Edge Daily via RFIDNews]

A new report written by Stanford University professors confirms that RFID technology can help implement security in a business' supply chain, especially coupled with other technologies such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems). [ (PDF, 38 pgs) via RFID Law Blog]

Philips is selling more than 80% of their stake in their semiconductor division for a reported US$8 billion. The new majority owner is a private equity group, KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.). Apparently, Philips is moving towards being a "healthcare and lifestyle product company." [via Contactless News]

IBM is now offering a suite of software and services for pharmaceutical companies to track drugs in the supply chain. [via RFID Journal] Recently, IBM announced their free RFID system modelling software to help businesses get up to speed with RFID.

IBM is offering free tools to help businesses model RFID-enabled solutions. The tools are aimed at businesses who are reluctant to move to RFID systems, and feel they're being pressured into RFID use by large companies such as Wal-Mart or even the DoD (US Dept of Defense). [via iSeries Network]

The tools give businesses a chance to model their RFID requirements and determine how they can benefit. Amongst the tools, available from IBM's alphaWorks site, are: a graphical tool (RISE) for drawing solution models; a device development kit for students and developers, for understanding how RFID works; and a preview of IBM's ALE (Application Level Events) for RFID.

In the past, IBM's "free" tools require not so free tools running as well. Unfortunately, that's also the case here. Just to run RISE, you need several WebSphere modules and other IBM tools, as well as Windows 2000 Professional or XP Professional, a minimum of 1.3 Gb of hard disk space, minimum 512 Mb of RAM, etc.

You can find more details at the alphaWorks site, which also has RFID papers and tutorials, as well as links to other IBM RFID development environments.

IBM has been appearing in the news for RFID a fair bit lately, including the RFID Clipped Tag technology they introduced with Marnlen, as well as a number of other RFID innovations.

Additional sources: IBM alphaWorks.

RFID is expected to be a booming business in numerous industry sectors, and the backend infrastructure is as important, if not more so, than the actual hardware. The right backend will make or break the efficiency of an RFID application. So, if you're considering an RFID project and need some software to try out some ideas, Sybase is offering their iAnywhere RFID development software for free.

The iAnywhere Developer Edition is set up to work with their RFID Network Simulator, which means you do not need any hardware. It even comes with a couple of sample applications. I had a browse through the installation document and it appears that you do need a few pieces of Microsoft software installed in order to run IAnywhere:

(1) MSMQ Messaging Service
(2) IIS (Internet Information Services) V5.1 or later
(3) Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 SP1

If you don't have these components installed on your computer, the iAnywhere docs give you instructions. Currently, iAnywhere only runs on Microsoft Windows XP.

Some other companies offering RFID software development kits/ tools are RF Code, iSign, and Microsoft.

Sources: Sybase iAnywhere [via RFID Update e-newsletter]