Sharing RFID training materials which i developed for assignment in my MSc for software systems , in Heriott Watt University

1. RFID Applications
March/2014
Presentation
1
• Introduction
• components
• Layers
Presentation
2
• Regulations
• Standards
• Protocols
Presentation
3
• RFID Software
Developer
• Middleware
• Labs
Presentation
4
• RIFIDI
Emulator LAB
Mouhanad Alkhaldi | Postgraduate Taught Part Time - Information Technology (SS), MSc |ma1049@hw.ac.uk

2. RIFIDI Emulator
to test your programs
March/2014
http://www.transcends.co/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/rifidi/
Mouhanad Alkhaldi | Postgraduate Taught Part Time - Information Technology (SS), MSc |ma1049@hw.ac.uk

3. Background
RIFIDI Training :
• Helps RFID Middleware developer in testing.
• Helps RFID developer testing the LLRP layer.
• Helps RFID implementer doing RFID POC, test , prototype
implementation.
• Shows how to connect to reader using telnet client.
• Also it shows how to verify the reader using Microsoft BizTalk RFID.

4. RIFIDI
• Rifidi is a middleware and development platform for
RFID.
• With Rifidi you can prototype an RFID application down
to the core RFID Hardware
• using Rifidi Edge you can develop business rules to turn
RFID events into real business applications

5. RIFIDI Architecture Overview

6. Getting started
http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Edge_Server_Getting_Started
Run it
1. Download the Edge Server from our sourceforge page. The download comes bundled with two programs:
the Edge Server which does the core work of connecting to sensors (such as RFID readers), collecting tag
information, and making that data available. It ships with adapters for Alien, LLRP, Awid, and several other
types of RFID readers. It also ships with ALE support. The second program isWorkbench which is a user
interface that allows you to control the edge server and view tag information that it is collecting, as well as
experiment with ALE.
2. Download Rifidi Emulator. This program allows you to virtualize several popular types of RFID readers on
your desktop.
3. Follow the quick start guide to start getting tag reads back from virtual readers.
Develop Your Own Application
The edge server by itself allows you to connect to sensors and collect tag data from them, but if you really want to
put it to work, you will need to develop your own applications that run on the edge server.
1. Download our SDK (Standard Development Kit). This provides our API, sourcecode and examples to help you
get started. You can find out how to set up a development environment here: Edge Server Development
Environment.
2. Develop an application. There are several example applications which ship with the Rifidi Edge Server. You
can read about them in detail in the developer guide that is included in the release
3. Export your application
4. Deploy the application you've built. Once you've built and tested your application, you can deploy it onto the
edge server that you've downloaded.

7. Rifidi’s Repositories
• To access Subversion via traditional clients, please
use the following address:
https://svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/rifidi
• To browse the repository using a web-interface,
point your browser to
http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/rifidi/
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/rifidi/

8. Rifidi Help
• Main Help
http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
• Emulator User's Guide
http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Emulator_User%27s_Guide
• RIFIDI LLRP Reader
http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=LLRP_Reader
• LLRP XML Messages
http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=LLRP_XML_Messages

9. LAB – Step by Step
All the lab steps are done by me on my machine
• The purpose of this lab is to learn how to create a virtual LLRP reader
through “RIFIDI Emulator”.
• Use “MS BizTalk RFID” Server to communicate with this virtual device
(same way as Biztalk is used with real devices).
1- Start Rifidi Server
2- Start Rifidi Emulator , Add virtual LLRP reader
3- Adding virtual tags
4- attach tags to reader antenna
5- Start the reader
6- RIFIDI with LLRP
8- Your Reader is ready !
9- connect the virtual reader through MS BizTalk RFID middleware
10- Enable The reader
11- View Tags
12- Check Request & Response in RIFIDI

10. 1- Start Rifidi Server
RIFIDI Server Running

11. 2- Start Rifidi Emulator ,
Add virtual LLRP reader
1. Start RIFIDI Emulator
2. click on create new reader
3. then select LLRP reader from the list
4. Define the reader properties: name, number of antennas , IP addresses , Ports..

12. 3- Adding virtual tags
1. Click on add tags
2. Select the tag data type , generation , and number of tags
3. You have also to define the tag prefix

13. 4- attach tags to reader antenna
Drag the tags to the antenna ….

14. 5- Start the reader
Right click on the reader and “start reader”

15. 6- RIFIDI with LLRP
In command line:
telnet ip port
In telnet:
mode client [IP] [PORT]

16. 8- Your Reader is ready !
You can try to connect to the reader
through your code …
or any other middleware
In next slides we are going to connect through another middle ware
Microsoft BizTalk RFID Server

17. 9- connect the virtual reader through MS
BizTalk RFID middleware
1. Open MS BizTalk RFID “RFID Manager” Console
2. Right Click on devices
3. Click add new device wizard

18. 10- Enable The reader
• Now the reader is defined in RFID Manager
• Right click and enable the device

19. 11- View Tags
• Right click, and view tags…
• You will see the communication happening in RIFIDI (next slide)

20. 12- Check Request & Response in RIFIDI
• We can see the data flow (Requests & Responses) through “RIFIDI”
• When sending the commands like “Read Tag” from “BizTalk RFID“ , xml commands
are sent behind the scene , and RIFIDI helps you seeing the message content
• Request in red , response in green

21. Sample LLRP request & Response
from RIFIDI
Request (LLRP Sample Request):
<Messagetype="GetReaderCapabilities">
<RequestedData value="0"/>
</Message>
Response (LLRP Reader Response to the above request)
File:
Sample Request & Response:
Full LLRP communication sample from RIFIDI console ,
helps to show different LLRP commands in XML
File:

22. End of RIFIDI Lab

23. RIFIDI for non LLRP Readers
Get TagList on “Alien” Reader
Rifidi supports LLRP and some non-LLRP RFID readers
• get TagList - Displays the tags currently detected by the reader.
• get $PROPERTY - Returns the value for the passed property.
• set $PROPERTY=$VALUE - Sets the passed property to the passed value. q - Close the connection

24. Similar open source Projects
– Tag Centric -
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tag-centric/
TagCentric is RFID middleware that controls
heterogeneous RFID devices and gathers RFID-related
data into a user-specified database. It's cost (free!)
and simplicity make it ideal for use by small
businesses, RFID testing facilities, and universities.

25. References
• http://www.transcends.co/
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/rifidi/
• https://svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/rifidi
• http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.cgi/rifidi/
• http://www.rifidi.org/documentation_architecture.html
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Edge_Server_Getting_Started
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Emulator_User%27s_Guide
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=LLRP_Reader
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=LLRP_XML_Messages
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Alien_Beginners_Guide
• http://wiki.rifidi.net/index.php?title=Alien_9800
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/tag-centric/
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/rifidi/

26. Thank You