Colorwave: a MAC for RFID reader networks

Abstract

We present Colorwave, a medium access control (MAC) protocol designed for wireless sensor networks such as radio frequency identification (RFID) reader networks. A network of readers will collaborate for a common application such as item-level monitoring in supply chain management. Readers may be deployed in an ad hoc manner, and readers must not interfere with one another's reader-to-tag communication. Colorwave capitalized on the localized nature of reader-to-tag communications to provide an on-line, distributed, and localized MAC protocol that minimized reader-to-reader interference.