Design and Implementation of a Low-Power Active RFID for Container Tracking at 2.4 GHz Frequency

In this paper a new active RFID system at 2.45 GHz based on the low-power system-on-chip CC2530 RF transceiver is designed and implemented. Only by using of an integrated multi-channel fast chip, both the MCU and RF operations are done which makes the RFID more reliable and reduces the complexity of the hardware and cost, vividly. This RFID system utilizes the Zig-Bee IEEE 802.15.4 standard in the ISM band. A lot amount of energy is restored by setting Tags in the sleep mode in the most of times. The maximum transmission range of 80 m at the output power of 4.5 dBm is obtained. The main application of this system is for the container identification with precise operation and high accuracy. An active Tag with unique ID is mounted on each vehicle. By enabling the AUTOCRC error detection possibility, minor errors are detected in the received frames. Receiver sensitivity of –97 dBm and current consumption of 1 μA in the sleep mode and 29.6 mA in the active mode are reported.