Low-Cost Secure Carton System using Electrically Conducting Fabric

Pharad proposes to design and develop technologies for the realization of a low-cost novel 'Secure Carton' which can detect tampering and physical intrusions. Our secure carton will also provide communication of the carton condition/status in real-time to the Advanced Container Security Device via an encrypted data link. The basis of our concept for a 'carton-centric' approach to intermodal container security is a secure carton which is made of an electrically conducting woven fabric or textile impregnated with a strengthening resin material that defends the physical security boundary of the carton. Any tampering activity or physical intrusion of the carton walls changes the material electrical characteristics which is detected and generates an alarm indicating that the integrity of the carton has been compromised. We will investigate suitable electrically conducting fabrics/textiles and resin materials for the physical skin of our novel secure carton. We will also develop a low-cost architecture for the tamper detection mechanism and develop the optimal electrical interconnection between the conducting fabric and the RFID tag. We will also carry out a simplified experimental proof of concept demonstration confirming the feasibility of detecting carton breaches or tampering via our novel physical electronic enclosure and tamper detection circuit.