Reboosting RFID Research: Trends for the Next Decade

Organizers

Gaetano Marrocco, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Gregory Durgin, Georgia Tech, Pavel Nikitin, Impinj

Workshop Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been a thriving field of research for over two decades, with its first significant publications dating back 20-25 years ago. Since then, the field has experienced exponential growth, contributing to advancements in several sectors. However, recent years have seen a plateau, raising the question: is RFID still a fertile ground for new research, particularly for the next generation of scholars?

This workshop seeks to explore this question by bringing together both pioneering researchers who have shaped RFID over the past two decades and emerging scholars charting new paths. Together, they will envision key research directions for the next 10 years, leveraging expertise in areas such as sensing, localization, propagation, antennas, readers, security, coding, artificial intelligence, new materials, manufacturing, and innovative applications. The goal is to spark a dialogue that bridges past achievements with future innovations, addressing the increasing complexity and opportunities.

Workshop Structure

This will be a half-day event featuring 10 presentations. Each presentation will last 20 minutes, providing concise but comprehensive coverage of various important topics in RFID research.

When accuracy counts! Approaches to deploying RFID in highly-regulated manufacturing environments

Organizers

Alessandro Cattaneo, Brendon Parsons, Justin Strait – Los Alamos National Laboratory

Workshop Abstract

This workshop will focus on methods for the testing and evaluation of RFID equipment to be deployed in highly-regulated and high-consequence environments. The panelists will direct the discussion to cover topics like building effective mock-up environments, rigorous statistical evaluation of RFID performance, and the design of testing procedures that respect regulatory constraints. The workshop is organized as a roundtable to allow the participants to elaborate on these topics and share their own experiences in the field. The panelists will share their own experience in implementing RFID for nuclear material accountability at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The panelists will highlight strategies they have used to reliably test RFID tags and readers in a “cold” environment, expand on the conclusions they were able to draw from their testing, and provide a retrospective on the cultural change that is triggered by the introduction of a “new” technology. The workshop is aimed at emphasizing statistically-sound design, testing, and modeling principles that can be used transversally across many different industry sectors to evaluate the soundness of RFID products currently available on the market, demonstrate performance against a baseline, and adapt to future RFID offerings in a constantly evolving landscape.

Workshop Structure

90-minute event: presentation and roundtable