Integrated RFID and Sensor Networks: Architectures and Applications

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) represent two key technologies for ubiquitous computing that have attracted considerableattention in recent years because their use revolutionizes diverse application areas. However, these two technologies have separate research and development areas. The integration of RFID and sensor networks can increase their utilities to other scientific and engineering fields by exploiting the advantages of both technologies. In this chapter we investigate why the integration of RFID systems and WSNs is important and we identify the key requirements to achieve efficient and effective integration. We present possible architectures for integrating RFID and wireless sensor networks and provide a detailed list of real-world application examples.