RF2ID: A Reliable Middleware Framework for RFID Deployment

The reliability of RFID systems depends on a number of factors including: RF interference, deployment environment, configuration of the readers, and placement of readers and tags. While RFID technology is improving rapidly, a reliable deployment of this technology is still a significant challenge impeding widespread adoption. This paper investigates system software solutions for achieving a highly reliable deployment that mitigates inherent unreliability in RFID technology. We have developed (1) a virtual reader abstraction to improve the potentially error-prone nature of reader generated data (2) a novel path abstraction to capture the logical flow of information among virtual readers. We have designed and implemented an RFID middleware: RF²ID (reliable framework for radio frequency identification) to organize and support queries over data streams in an efficient manner. Prototype implementation using both RFID readers and simulated readers using an empirical model of RFID readers show that RF²ID is able to provide high reliability and support path-based object detection.