Analysis of Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks

Discuss about the Analysis of Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks.

The RFID is a digital technology stand for radio-frequency identification (Liu et al., 2016). This technology is mainly used for the verification purpose which is similar to NFC but used for different purpose. The RFID system is able to identify objectives automatically, can collect the data about the identified object and can store this data to the database without any type of human interaction (Oliveira et al., 2015). To identify the objectives the RFID uses the radio waves same as the NFC. A basic RFID device consists of three parts which are RFID tag, RFID reader and an antenna. The RFID tag consists of an antenna and an integrated circuit. This RFID tag transmits a radio signal to the RFID reader, then the transmitted signals converted into another form of data which is analysed in a computer system for the verification purpose.

The NFC is another way of communication which stands for Near Field Communication. This is basically a short range communication method which wirelessly communicates through the radio waves. This NFC uses electromagnetic induction for the communication which is an older method of communication used in the RFID (Hu et al., 2018). For this type of communication, the devices may need to adhere. The NFC has total three type of operation method for the communication. The first is peer-to-peer, the second one is the read and writes mode and the third one is the card emulation. The peer-to-peer operation is mostly used in the smartphone for the exchanging random information. The read and write operation is one-way remission of data used for reading the data form other devices. The NFC device can be used as a credit card which is contactless for making payment in the case of card emulation operation. RFID and NFC both are used for communicating with other devices but the purpose of the communication is different while the RFID uses modern technology for communication the NFC uses the old RFID communication method.

Security consideration and challenges of the RFID and NFC:

The RFID and the NFC have some security-related concerns. It is natural that both the devices will face similar kind of issues as both the technology uses the same radio wave communication method. A common security issue for the communication technology is the eavesdropping issue. This issue occurs when a third party which can be an attacker or can be a hacker intercepts the transmitted signals of the RFID or the NFC devices (Zou & Wang, 2016). By intercepting the transmitted signal the hacker can easily get access to the information of the transmitted data which can contain the credit card numbers, transaction details and some confidential information (Tugnait, 2016). In this case, both the communication technology struggles to ensure the security of the users.

The main challenge regarding the implementation of the RFID and NFC technology is the cost of these devices (Akbari et al., 2016). The whole RFID setup costs a lot for the normal users. Also, the NFC enabled smartphones are more costly compared to a non-NFC enabled device. For this, the cost of the devices become a major challenge for implementing these technologies. With the cost, another major challenge of the NFC and RFID device is the working problem due to the metals and liquid. While the liquid and metal are a common thing in the daily life of humans it becomes a challenge to implementing these technologies.

References:

Akbari, M., Khan, M. W. A., Hasani, M., Björninen, T., Sydänheimo, L., & Ukkonen, L. (2016). Fabrication and characterization of graphene antenna for low-cost and environmentally friendly RFID tags. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 15, 1569-1572.

Hu, S. K., Liou, J. J., Lu, M. T., Chuang, Y. C., & Tzeng, G. H. (2018). Improving NFC Technology Promotion for Creating the Sustainable Education Environment by Using a Hybrid Modified MADM Model. Sustainability, 10(5), 1379.

Liu, Y., Levitt, A., Kara, C., Sahin, C., Dion, G., & Dandekar, K. R. (2016, October). An improved design of wearable strain sensor based on knitted RFID technology. In Antenna Measurements & Applications (CAMA), 2016 IEEE Conference on (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

Oliveira, R. R., Cardoso, I. M., Barbosa, J. L., da Costa, C. A., & Prado, M. P. (2015). An intelligent model for logistics management based on geofencing algorithms and RFID technology. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(15-16), 6082-6097.

Tugnait, J. K. (2016). Detection of active eavesdropping attack by spoofing relay in multiple antenna systems. IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, 5(5), 460-463.

Zou, Y., & Wang, G. (2016). Intercept behavior analysis of industrial wireless sensor networks in the presence of eavesdropping attack. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 12(2), 780-787.