Data Rich Active Transponder Development

Williams-Pyro, Inc. (WPI) proposes developing the AccuTagTM Multi-Encrypted Active RFID System (Accu-MEARS). To enable RFID encryption in widely varying applications, Accu-MEARS will include a robust, low-powered, and secure architecture flexible enough to support various encryption schemes. Reconfiguring the Accu-MEARS encryption scheme will allow power consumption to be tailored to the security and data requirements of each application. Additionally, supporting multiple encryption algorithms such as RSA, DSA, and DES will simplify future integration with RFID tags and readers that support the same encryption algorithms. Phase I work will focus on analyzing the encryption algorithms approved for the FIPS-140-2 security standard and understanding the impact of each algorithm on the requirements for the RFID system. Although we propose to design and develop custom active RFID readers and tags for Accu-MEARS, we will also investigate the feasibility of retrofitting the existing Army active RFID network with our proposed encryption algorithms and network. After selecting the most promising candidate encryption algorithms, we will simulate and calculate the performance of Accu-MEARS versus the performance of the Army's existing active RFID network. This work sets the stage for Phase II, in which we will develop a prototype of Accu-MEARS using the selected encryption schemes.