title: Radio frequency identification enabled wireless sensing for intelligent food logistics.
abstract: Future technologies and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve the process of the food supply chain and create added value of business. Radio frequency identifications (RFIDs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been considered as the key technological enablers. Intelligent tags, powered by autonomous energy, are attached on objects, networked by short-range wireless links, allowing the physical parameters such as temperatures and humidities as well as the location information to seamlessly integrate with the enterprise information system over the Internet. In this paper, challenges, considerations and design examples are reviewed from system, implementation and application perspectives, particularly with focus on intelligent packaging and logistics for the fresh food tracking and monitoring service. An IoT platform with a two-layer network architecture is introduced consisting of an asymmetric tag-reader link (RFID layer) and an ad-hoc link between readers (WSN layer), which are further connected to the Internet via cellular or Wi-Fi. Then, we provide insights into the enabling technology of RFID with sensing capabilities. Passive, semi-passive and active RFID solutions are discussed. In particular, we describe ultra-wideband radio RFID which has been considered as one of the most promising techniques for ultra-low-power and low-cost wireless sensing. Finally, an example is provided in the form of an application in fresh food tracking services and corresponding field testing results.
authors.affiliation: iPack Vinn Excellence Center, School of Information and Communication Technology, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), , Isafjordsgatan 39, 164 40 Kista, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uysal
authors.forename: Lirong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D005523:Food Supply; D009934:Organization and Administration; D057233:Radio Frequency Identification Device
keywords: Internet of Things; food monitoring; radio frequency identification; wireless sensing