Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Chip Technology Analysis

Giant companies such as Intel, Microsoft, IBM, NEC, Hitachi, Symbol, etc. have all poured great enthusiasm on RFID technology. American IC manufacturers such as TI and Intel are all investing heavily in RFID chip development in the RFID field. IBM, Microsoft and others are also actively developing corresponding software and systems to support the application of RFID, while Philip Electronics is the RFID chip manufacturing industry. Leading producer. Therefore, this article takes Mifare lS50 produced by Philips as an example to analyze the structure of RFID card and the communication and storage technology of its chip. The unique MIFARE RF (radio frequency) contactless interface standard of the RFID chip of this card has been formulated as the international standard ISO / IEC 14443 TYPE A standard, and its application is very wide.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is praised by the global high-tech field as the most promising technology with the most market prospects, the most changing human lifestyle and the appearance of high-tech industry.

 

What are some RFID Tecchnology Companies?

Intel, Microsoft, IBM, NEC, Hitachi, Symbol and other giant enterprises have poured great enthusiasm for RFID technology. American IC manufacturers such as TI and Intel are all investing heavily in RFID chip development in the RFID field.

IBM, Microsoft and others are also actively developing corresponding software and systems to support the application of RFID, while Philip Electronics is the RFID chip manufacturing industry leading producer.

Therefore, this article takes Mifare lS50 produced by Philips as an example to analyze the structure of RFID card and the communication and storage technology of its chip.

The unique MIFARE RF (radio frequency) contactless interface standard of the RFID chip of this card has been formulated as the international standard ISO / IEC 14443 TYPE A standard, and its application is very wide.

 

L Mifare lS50 Card Structure and Main Features

Mifare 1 S50 card is a non-contact IC card, also known as RFID card (radio frequency card). RFID card is a new technology that has developed vigorously in recent years in the world.

He successfully combined radio frequency identification technology and IC card technology to solve the problem of no power supply and contactless use in the card, which is in the field of electronic devices. A big breakthrough.

 

The electrical part of the Mifare 1S50 card consists of only one antenna and one RFID chip. Among them, the antenna is a coil with only a few windings, and it is encapsulated in an ISO card.

The data storage period is 10 years, which can be rewritten 100,000 times and read unlimitedly. The communication between the card and the reader uses the internationally-secured DES and RES security cross algorithm, which has extremely high security performance.

 

Its main features are  as follows:

Working frequency: 13.56 MHz

Communication rate: 106 kb / s

Anti-collision: multiple cards can be processed at the same time

Reading and writing distance: within 100 mm (related to the shape of the antenna) can easily and quickly transfer data

Handshake half-duplex communication method

 

In the wireless communication process, the following mechanisms are used to ensure data integrity and anti-collision mechanism:

• Each block has 16-bit CRC error correction
• Each byte has parity
• Check the number of bits
• Use coding to distinguish between "1" and "0" Or no information
• Channel monitoring (through protocol sequence and bit stream analysis)
• Support multi-card operation
• Material: PVC
• Size: conform to ISO10536 standard
• No battery: wirelessly transfer data and energy
• Chip processing technology: using high-speed CMOS E2PROM process
• Security: 3 mutual authentications (ISO / IEC DIS 9798-2). All data is encrypted during communication to prevent signal interception. Each sector has independent passwords
• Each card has a 32-bit globally unique serial number. Transmission Mima protection.
• Support one card multi-purpose storage structure
• Typical transaction process "100 ms
• 2 Mifare 1S50 card RFID chip internal structure
• The chip of Mifare 1S50 card is composed of RF-Interface (radio frequency interface) and Digtal SecTIon (digital module)

 

The RF interface part is composed of rectifier, voltage regulator, POWER ON RESET (POR) module, clock regenerator, modulator / demodulator and other parts.

There are 4 main functions:

(1) Provides the energy required for the operation of each part of the internal circuit of the RFID chip.

 

(2) Provide the POR signal to make each part of the circuit start synchronously.

 

(3) Extract the clock signal required by the circuit for normal operation from the carrier wave.

 

(4) Demodulate the commands and data on the carrier for digital module processing and modulate the data to be sent.

 

The digital module is mainly composed of the following parts:

ATR (Answer to Request) module: when the card is within the working range of the reader's antenna, when the reader sends a Request all (or: Requested) command to the card. This module of the chip starts, thereby establishing and reading and writing device, the first step of communication.

 

Anti-Collision module

to prevent cards from overlapping. The specific principle is as follows: If there are multiple cards within the working range of the reader antenna, the module of the chip starts, the reader first communicates with all the cards, obtains the serial number of each card, and then, according to the serial number Select a card.

Select Application module: Confirm the selection of the card.

Authentication & Access Control module: After the card confirmation is selected, start this module to perform mutual authentication between the card and the reader.

Only through mutual authentication can further operations be carried out.

 

Control & Arithmetic Unit module: This module is the control center of the whole chip, and the central processing unit built in the chip.

 

RAM: Cooperate with Control & Arithmetic Unit to temporarily store the operation results.

If there is data to be stored in E2PROM, then take out the data and store it in E2PROM.

If there is data to be transferred to the reader, take out the data and let the RF interface circuit process.

It is transmitted to the reader via the antenna on the card.

 

ROM: The necessary program instructions required for the operation of the fixed card.

 

Crypto Unit: This module completes the data encryption and password protection.

E2PROM Interface: This module is the interface circuit of E2PROM.

E2PROM Memory: E2PROM memory.

3 Mifare 1S50 card RFID chip communication technology

 

The communication rate between the card and the reader is 106 kb / s. When transmitting signals from the card to the reader, the subcarrier frequency used is 847 kHz (fc / 16), using Manchester encoding, on-off keying (OOK) modulated signal.

The reader transmits signals to the card at that time, the RF carrier frequency used was 13.56 MHz, using synchronous timing and improved: Miller coding method, ASK (Amplirude Shift Keying) signal with a modulation depth of 100%.

 

Miller coding uses any edge in half a bit period to represent binary 1, and the level unchanged in the next period represents binary O.

If a series of O is continuous, a level change occurs at the beginning of the O bit period. The improved Miller coding is a modification of the Miller coding, and each edge is replaced by a groove.

The Manchester encoding method uses a negative edge of half a bit period to represent a binary 1, and a positive edge of a half bit period to represent a binary 0. Figure 2 is the result of 10100110 using Manchester, Millerm Modified Miller encoding.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip technology

 

4 Mifare 1S50 card RFID chip supports one card multi-purpose storage technology

 

The E2PROM Memory capacity in the chip is 8 kh, which is divided into 16 sectors, each sector is 4 blocks (block 0 - block 3), that is, the entire E2PROMMemory is 64 blocks, the block number addressing is 0 - 63, each Block 16 bytes (0 - 15 B), one block is an access unit. Block 0 of each sector (Note: The exception is block 0 of sector 0, which is used to store the manufacturer's code, which has been solidified and cannot be rewritten. Among them: the 0th to 4th bytes are the serial number of the card. The 5th byte is the sequence.

The check code of the number. The 6th byte is the capacity of the card "SIZE" byte. The 7th and 8th bytes are the type byte of the card, that is, the Tag type byte. Other bytes are defined by the manufacturer), block 1.

Block 2 is a data block, used to store user data. Block 3 of each sector is a control block of each sector, used to store password A (0 - 5 bytes), access control (6 - 9 bytes) , Password B (10 ~-15 bytes).

 

In access control, each block (block 0, 1, 2, 3) is determined by 3 control bits for the operation authority of the data block or control block, the control bit representation is "CXxy". Among them: CX represents the control bit number (X can be 1, 2 or 3, for example: C1 represents the first control bit). z represents the sector. y represents the block number.

For example: "C2x1" indicates the second control bit of a sector block 1). The position of the 3 control bits in the access control byte (that is, the 6th to 9th bytes in each sector block 3.

(Note: "_b" in the table means inversion. For example: the 6th word When "1" is stored in bit7 of the section, C2x3 = 0; and B represents the spare bit.

Control bits control each sector data block (block 0, 1 or 2).

 

In block 3, the initial value of the access control 4B (manufacturer's initial value) is "FF 07 80 69".

The initial value of the 3-bit control bits of each block is as follows:

C1x0 C2x0 C3x0 = 000 , C1x1 C2x1 C3x1 = 000, C1x2 C2x2 C3x2 = 000, C1x3 C2x3 C3x3 = 001.

It can be inferred that after verifying Password A or Password B in the initial state. Perform operations such as reading, writing addition, subtraction, and initialization on data blocks 0 to 2.

After verifying password A or B, you can write password A. Yes Read and write control bits, can read and write password B, but can not read password A.

 

There are two application methods for the data block in the chip. One is for general data storage, direct reading and writing. Another usage is as a numeric block, which can be used for initialization, addition, subtraction, and reading operations.

The application system is equipped with corresponding functions to complete the corresponding functions.

 

In summary, the E2PROM Memory in the chip of the Mifare 1S50 card is divided into 16 sectors. They do not interfere with each other. Each sector can be set with its own different password and access control as required (no manufacturer’s Initial value).

Therefore, each sector can be independently applied to an application to realize "one card", for example: transportation card, campus card, enterprise card, family payment card, etc.

 

Important on RFID

RFID card is the product of the combination of radio frequency identification technology and IC technology. Compared with the contact IC card, it does not need to contact the reader when it is used. It is convenient and fast to operate, has high reliability and long service life. Fortunately, there is an anti-collision mechanism that can be used for one card.

At present, RFID cards have shown their bright application prospects in China's electronic ID cards, urban public transport payment, license and commodity anti-counterfeiting, special equipment strong inspection, security management, animal and plant electronic identification, modern logistics management, etc. Great efforts to develop RFID chips.

 

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RFID Chip Implantation to 'Make Life easier'

A company called Three Square Market has launched a new employee benefit: RFID chip implantation-"Make everyone's life easier."

 

Seeing this news, I have to admit that we are a bit angry, but not everyone feels this way. About half of the company ’s employees chose to implant chips. We found this number to be surprisingly high. Unless people are punished for not using chips, there is no reason to panic, right?

We are not sure what you think about it, but before we think it is a good idea, it will be a cold day in hell.

 

However, it turns out that this is nothing new. According to an article by CNN, on August 24, 1998, Professor Kevin Warwick, director of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, became the first person to implant a microchip. Ten years later, the first commercial applications began to surface.

RFID chip implantation in the human body is not new. In February 2006, a Cincinnati company called city watcher made history. The company was the first company in the world to implant microchips in employees.

The purpose was to allow entry into the office and security System. In June last year, the Swedish state-owned railway company SJ began to let passengers use chips instead of tickets. But when some passengers’ LinkedIn profiles started to pop up when the chip was scanned, the railway company had to solve some problems.

A company called New Fusion Of Belgian marketing companies use these chips as ID signs to enter access control and computer systems. A Swedish gym chain allows chips to be used as a membership, while a Swedish incubator called Epicenter allows this technology to enter the office. You may notice the recurring theme here-Sweden.

 

As one of the world's most technologically advanced countries, only 2% of transactions are conducted in cash (compared to 33% in the US), and about 2,000 people have received surgical RFID implants.

So where do these RFID chips come from?

Not surprisingly, the answer also includes Sweden. But before we talk about who is selling these chips, let us familiarize ourselves with the terminology behind the underlying technology.

 

What are RFID and NFC?

RFID, also known as radio frequency identification, is a wireless communication technology that can identify specific targets and read and write related data through radio signals. Radio frequency is used to read information from "tags".

Tags can be either "passive" or "active". Passive tags have no power, while active tags are usually powered by small batteries. The method used to communicate with the tag is called "near field communication" or NFC.

This technology is not new, and adoption has been accelerating due to the lower cost and miniaturization of RFID tags.

As early as 2009, scientists used RFID tags to observe small things like ants without "real estate agents." Scientists attached radio frequency identification tags up to 3 millimeters in length to the backs of rock ants, which were then monitored by scientists.

Scientists have discovered that when a group of rock ants need to migrate to a new nest, the scout ants will look for the new nest in advance and evaluate it before bringing the partner to the new nest.

 

More practical examples of RFID include tracking pets, goods, luggage, retail items in stores, sports memorabilia, and now humans. Let's look at some companies that are developing RFID chips for humans.

Who developed the RFID chip implant?

The first company we introduced is actually a Swedish startup (which is not surprising). This company is turning "Internet of Things" into "Internet of People" to provide implantable RFID chips for humans.

The Swedish startup Biohax, founded in 2012, received an undisclosed amount of funds for the development of hardware products. It also held seminars and lectures to teach people about "biohacking". Their RFID tag NTA 216 is actually manufactured by NXP Semiconductors with the following specifications:

 

888 bytes of storage space is not very large, about enough to store half of this article without pictures. These tags are designed by NXP for mass market applications such as retail, gaming and consumer electronics, and they are sold on the Alibaba website at a price of 45 cents each.

Then, Biohax used these tags, attached a small antenna on it, and placed them in a capsule made of bioglass, which was approved for human use as early as 1994.

Then, inject the capsule into the skin between the thumb and index finger. After injecting the capsule, you only need to put your hand near the NFC device (such as a smartphone) to read the data on the tag. The obvious use case here is that the tag contains various unique identifiers that can be used to grant access rights, verify membership, and even provide a Bitcoin address.

The company we introduce next may be unlikely to become a model for commercial applications, but it is still a pioneer. Dangerous Things, a Seattle-based biohacking company founded in 2013, provides biohackers with a custom "chip implant" kit that anyone can buy and create their own use cases.

 

Warning: This kit must contain dangerous goods. Although the XNT transponder device has undergone several quality checks during the manufacturing process and passed a series of tests in various private laboratories, it has not been tested or certified by any government regulatory agency and cannot be implanted or use. The risk of using this device is entirely borne by you.

 

This kit contains everything you need when using Biohax to provide NTAG216 device injection. The founder of Dangerous Things is named Amal Graafstra. He raised more than $ 30,000 through crowdfunding to bring the product to market. He is somewhat legendary. He installed his first implant as early as 2005.

Through his implant, he could enter the house's access control system, log on to the computer, start a motorcycle, and even manipulate a smart pistol that only he can start.

Just like the bioman in the animation! Human implanted RFID chip and its safety When it comes to implanting the chip in the human body, people will immediately start to consider tracking. If you are not aware, the smartphone you carry 24 hours a day is also a tracking device, which can be used to discover some vague facts, such as whether you went to the movies and where you have dinner later.

Functionality of RFID Chip

On the other hand, the implanted RFID chip can only be read when it is close to the reader, which means that at any time, when people's hands touch something, you may try to read their chip.

When a researcher used his RFID chip to secretly load malware on someone else's smartphone, serious problems appeared. As we become more and more inclined to miniaturize, the functionality of this chip may increase, thereby causing more security issues.

As investors, we are very interested in how to make money through all this, but we do not think it is profitable.

Maybe we can imagine a future where your wallet is completely replaced by implanted RFID chips, but why not pay directly with your smartphone?

If a company provides this service on a large scale in the future, how can they make money from it? Hardware is as cheap as chips (understand?), Surgical services for implanting chips can be done by robots, and because of privacy issues, any information collected from the chip is unlikely to be used for anything (hopefully). Now, maybe if chip evolution comes to increase the memory storage of our brains, then we may think that this concept is more attractive, but until then, we still prefer to carry RFID cards in old leather wallets.

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UN Human Rights Commission

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights, one of the nine functional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, was established in February 1946. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations to consider human rights issues and its headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

The responsibilities of the UN Human Rights Commission include: conducting special studies, making recommendations and drafting international human rights instruments in the field of human rights in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and submitting them to the UN General Assembly.

Conducting open or secret deliberations on human rights issues in relevant countries, including Investigate allegations of human rights violations, handle communications on human rights violations, express opinions and adopt resolutions on the human rights situation in the countries concerned.

For a long time, the committee has prioritized large-scale human rights violations caused by apartheid, racism, colonialism, foreign rule, aggression and occupation.

Members of the UN Human Rights Commission

The member states of the UN Human Rights Commission are elected by the Economic and Social Council according to the principle of regional distribution. When the committee was first established, there were only 18 member states, which expanded to 43 in 1979. Since the 48th session in 1992, the number of members has increased to 53 (including 12 in Asia, 15 in Africa, 11 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 in Eastern Europe, and 10 in Western Europe and other countries). The term of office is three years. Members are reelected one-third each year.

 

Since resuming its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971, China has begun to participate in discussions on human rights issues in the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and has been attending human rights committee meetings as observers for three consecutive years since 1979. In 1981, China was elected as a member of the Human Rights Commission at the first regular session of the UN Economic and Social Council and was re-elected.

 

In August 2004, the 56th Session of the Subcommittee on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights closed in Geneva. The meeting decided to set up a counter-terrorism operation working group to promote the protection of human rights in counter-terrorism operations.

United Nations Conference on Human Rights

The United Nations Conference on Human Rights is a plenary meeting convened by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and is held in Geneva every March and April. The Human Rights Conference mainly considers economic, social and cultural rights, civil and political rights, women ’s rights, racism, national human rights and other issues.

During the meeting, in addition to 53 member states, other member states of the United Nations, non-member states, specialized agencies, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, and national liberation movement organizations recognized by the United Nations, etc. All can send delegations to attend the meeting as observers.

 

On April 15, 2004, China once again thwarted the United States' attempt to review China's human rights record at the 60th UN Human Rights Conference in Geneva. Members of the UN Human Rights Commission (Human Rights Council) voted to pass China's motion against the US "No action" motion.

This is China's 11th attempt to defeat the United States and other Western countries in interfering in China's internal affairs through human rights issues at the UN Human Rights Commission meeting.

Human Rights Council Resolution

On March 15, 2006, the 60th UN General Assembly passed an overwhelming majority resolution and decided to establish a Human Rights Council to replace the Human Rights Commission. According to this resolution, the Human Rights Commission will be disbanded on June 16, 2006, and the Human Rights Council will hold its first meeting on June 19.

On March 22, the UN Economic and Social Council passed a resolution by consensus and decided to abolish the Human Rights Commission headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland on June 19, officially proclaiming the end of the Human Rights Commission that has existed for more than 60 years.

UN Human Rights Commission one of the eight Functional Commissions

Its member countries are elected by the Economic and Social Council according to the principle of regional distribution.

When the Human Rights Commission was first established, there were only 18 member states, which expanded to 43 countries in 1979.

Since the 48th session in 1992, the number of member states has increased to 53 (12 countries in Asia, 15 countries in Africa, 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 countries in Eastern Europe and 10 countries in Western Europe and other regions) for a three-year term.

 

The responsibilities of the Human Rights Commission

Conducting special studies, making recommendations and drafting international human rights instruments in the field of human rights in accordance with the relevant purposes and principles of the UN Charter and submitting them to the UN General Assembly for approval.

Also, conducting open or secret considerations of human rights issues in any country in the world. This includes investigating allegations of human rights violations, handling communications concerning human rights violations, expressing opinions and adopting resolutions on the human rights situation in the countries concerned.

For a long time, the committee has prioritized the issues of large-scale human rights violations caused by apartheid, racism, colonialism, foreign rule, aggression and occupation, such as the issue of southern Africa and the violation of the Palestinian national self-determination .

 

The Human Rights Commission holds a six-week plenary meeting in Geneva each spring. In addition to the 53 member states, other member states of the United Nations, non-member states, specialized agencies, regional organizations and national liberation movements recognized by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council may send delegations as observers Attend.

 

The UN Economic and Social Council held a meeting on the 3rd to re-elect the member states of the various agencies of the Council. The United States lost in the re-election of the UN Human Rights Commission.

 

United Nations Human Rights Commission Establishment

The United Nations Human Rights Commission was established in February 1946 and is one of the main bodies of the UN system to consider human rights issues. The

The members of the committee are elected by the Economic and Social Council according to the principle of regional distribution and the term of office is 3 years. Every year, one-third of the member states are elected.

 

The UN Human Rights Commission currently has 53 member states, including 12 in Asia, 15 in Africa, 11 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 in Eastern Europe, and 10 in Western Europe and other regions. At the time of its initial construction, the committee had only 18 member states, and it expanded to 43 in 1979. Since the 48th session in 1992, its membership has increased to 53.

 

Since the restoration of its legal seat in the United Nations in 1971, China began to participate in discussions on human rights issues in the United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and has participated as an observer in the Human Rights Commission meetings for three consecutive years since 1979. In 1981, China was elected as a member of the Human Rights Commission at the first regular session of the Economic and Social Council and has been re-elected to this day.

 

The responsibilities of the UN Human Rights Commission

The Responsibilities are conducting special studies, making recommendations and drafting international human rights instruments in the field of human rights in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and submitting them to the UN General Assembly.

Conducting open or secret deliberations on human rights issues in relevant countries, including Investigate allegations of human rights violations, handle communications on human rights violations, express opinions and adopt resolutions on the human rights situation in the countries concerned.

 

The United Nations Conference on Human Rights is a plenary meeting convened by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and is held in Geneva every March and April. On April 18 this year, the UN Human Rights Commission held its 57th session in Geneva.

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