Energy Efficient RFID Reader with Vibration Sensing Capability for Continuous Sensor Tag Monitoring

This paper proposes an energy efficient radio frequency identification (RFID) reader with sensing capabilities. The RFID reader comprises an IMPINJ RFID reader and a vibration sensor. This vibration sensor can detect physical vibrations and activate the IMPINJ RFID reader. Before vibration occurs, the RFID reader remains in sleep mode; there is no radio wave emission or reading function. Once the vibration sensor detects a shock/vibration, the RFID reader switches to active mode and begins reading operation. The general-purpose input/output ports (GPIOs) of the RFID reader enable these functions. The falling edge signal from the vibration sensor, transmitted via the GPIOs, triggers the reading function of the RFID reader. The active mode of the vibration-sensitive reader is initiated only when vibration occurs. The experimental results show that the proposed RFID reader can monitor vibrations caused by earthquakes and human activities. Traditional RFID sensing systems require the reader to emit continuous electromagnetic waves to obtain information from RFID tags. These continuous reading operations generate a large amount of useless data, which places a heavy burden on sensor data analysis and storage. In contrast, the proposed system can effectively reduce the reading of useless data, thereby decreasing the burden on data storage and analysis.