cknowledgments Syngress would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and support in making this book possible. Syngress books are now distributed in the United States and Canada by O'Reilly Media, Inc. The enthusiasm and work ethic at O'Reilly are incredible, and we would like to thank everyone there for their time and efforts to bring Syngress books to market: Tim O'Reilly, Laura Baldwin, Mark Brokering, Mike Leonard, Donna Selenko, Bonnie Sheehan, Cindy Davis, Grant Kikkert, Opol Matsutaro, Mark Wilson, Rick Brown, Tim Hinton, Kyle Hart, Sara Winge, Peter Pardo, Leslie Crandell, Regina Aggio Wilkinson, Pascal Honscher, Preston PauU, Susan Thompson, Bruce Stewart, Laura Schmier, Sue Willing, Mark Jacobsen, Betsy Waliszewski, Kathryn Barrett, John Chodacki, Rob Bullington, Kerry Beck, Karen Montgomery, and Patrick Dirden. The incredibly hardworking team at Elsevier Science, including Jonathan Bunkell, Ian Seager, Duncan Enright, David Burton, Rosanna Ramacciotti, Robert Fairbrother, Miguel Sanchez, Klaus Beran, Emma Wyatt, Krista Leppiko, Marcel Koppes, Judy Chappell, Radek Janousek, Rosie Moss, David Lockley, Nicola Haden, Bill Kennedy, Martina Morris, Kai Wuerfl-Davidek, Christiane Leipersberger, Yvonne Grueneklee, Nadia Balavoine, and Chris Reinders for making certain that our vision remains worldwide in scope. David Buckland, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim, Audrey Gan, Pang Ai Hua, Joseph Chan, June Lim, and Siti Zuraidah Ahmad of Pausing Distributors for the enthusiasm with which they receive our books. David Scott, Tricia Wilden, Marilla Burgess, Annette Scott, Andrew Swaffer, Stephen O'Donoghue, Bee Lowe, Mark Langley, and Anyo Geddes of Woodslane for distributing our books throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and the Cook Islands. uthor Paul Sanghera, an expert in multiple fields including computer networks and physics (the parent fields of RFID), is a subject matter expert in RFID. With a Masters degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Carleton University, he has authored and co-authored more than 100 technical papers published in w^ell reputed European and American research journals. He has earned several industry certifications including RFID+, Network+, Linux+, PMP, CAPM, Project+, SCBCD, and SCJR Dr. Sanghera has contributed to building world-class technologies such as Netscape Communicator and Novell's NDS. He has taught tech nology courses at various institutes including San Jose Sate University and Brooks College. As an engineering manager, he has been at the ground floor of several startups. The best selling author of several books in technology and project management, Dr. Sanghera is currently the President of Infonential, Inc, an informa tion products and services company specializing in project manage ment and emerging technologies such as RFID and nanotechnology. For more information on Dr. Sanghera, or to con tact him, you can visit the website www.infonentialinc.com. echnical Editor Francesco Kung Man Fung (SCJP, SCWCD, SCBCD, ICED, MCP, OCP) has worked with Java, C#, andASP.net for 6 years. Mainly, he develops Java-based/.net financial applications. He loves to read technical books and has reviewed several certification books. Fung received a Bachelor s and a Master Degree in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong. VII uthor Paul Sanghera, an expert in multiple fields including computer networks and physics (the parent fields of RFID), is a subject matter expert in RFID. With a Masters degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Carleton University, he has authored and co-authored more than 100 technical papers published in w^ell reputed European and American research journals. He has earned several industry certifications including RFID+, Network+, Linux+, PMP, CAPM, Project+, SCBCD, and SCJR Dr. Sanghera has contributed to building world-class technologies such as Netscape Communicator and Novell's NDS. He has taught tech nology courses at various institutes including San Jose Sate University and Brooks College. As an engineering manager, he has been at the ground floor of several startups. The best selling author of several books in technology and project management, Dr. Sanghera is currently the President of Infonential, Inc, an informa tion products and services company specializing in project manage ment and emerging technologies such as RFID and nanotechnology. For more information on Dr. Sanghera, or to con tact him, you can visit the website www.infonentialinc.com. echnical Editor Francesco Kung Man Fung (SCJP, SCWCD, SCBCD, ICED, MCP, OCP) has worked with Java, C#, andASP.net for 6 years. Mainly, he develops Java-based/.net financial applications. He loves to read technical books and has reviewed several certification books. Fung received a Bachelor s and a Master Degree in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong. VII 'i, ^ k *^i^uthor's Acknowledgments As they say (well, if they don't any more, they should), first thing first. Let me begin by thanking David Fugate and Andrew Williams who triggered this pro ject. With two thumbs up, thanks to Erin HefFernan, the project manager of this book project, for her focus, dedication, professionalism, and results-oriented approach. It takes a team to materialize a book idea into a published book. It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the hard and smart work of the Syngress team that made it happen. Here are a few names to mention: Darlene Bordwell for copy editing, Patricia Lupien for page layout and art, and Richard Carlson for Indexing. I am thankful to Francesco Kung, the technical editor of this book, for doing an excellent job in thoroughly reviewing the manuscript and offering valuable feedback. Also I'm thankful to Corey Cotton for useful comments and suggestions. In some ways, writing this book is an expression of the technologist and educator inside me. I thank my fellow technologists who guided me at various places during my journey in the computer industry from Novell to Dream Logic: Chuck Castleton at Novell, Delon Dotson at Netscape and MP3.com, Kate Peterson at Weborder, and Dr. John Serri at Dream Logic. I also thank my colleagues and seniors in the field of education for helping me in so many ways to become a better educator. Here are a few to mention: Dr. Gerald Pauler (Brooks College), Professor David Hayes (San Jose State University), Professor Michael Burke (San Jose State University), and Dr. John Serri (University of Phoenix). Friends always lend a helping hand, in many visible and invisible ways, in almost anything important we do in our lives. Without them, the world would be a very boring and uncreative place. Here are a few I would like to mention: Stanley Wong, Patrick Smith, Kulwinder, Major Bhupinder Singh Daler, Ruth Gordon, Srilatha Moturi, Baldev Khullar, and the Kandola family (Gurmail and Sukhwinder). Last, but not least, my appreciation (along with my heart) goes to my wife, Renee, and my son, Adam, for not only peacefully coexisting with my book projects but also supporting them. VIM Foreword Introduction How would you like it if, for instance, one day you realized your underwear was reporting on your whereabouts? — Debra Bowen, California State Senator, at a 2003 hearing In this book, you will not only learn the basics of radio frequency identification (RFID), but also prepare for the CompTIA RFID+ certification exam in the process of doing so: two in one. In other words, this book covers the topics determined by the exam objectives for the CompTIA RFID+ certification exam, RFO-001. Each chapter explores topics in RFID specified by a set of exam objectives in a manner that makes the presentation cohesive, concise, and yet comprehensive. Who This Book is For This book is primarily targeted at the RFID professionals and students who want to prepare for the CompTIA RFID+ exam, RFO-001. Since the book has a laser-sharp focus on the exam objectives, expert RFID professionals who want to pass the exam can use this book to ensure that they do not overlook any objective. Yet, it is not an exam-cram book. The chapters and the sections inside each chapter are presented in a logical learning sequence: Every new chapter builds upon knowledge acquired in previous chapters, and there is no hopping from topic to topic. The concepts and topics, simple and complex, are explained in a concise yet comprehensive fashion. This facilitates stepwise XVII xviii Foreword learning and prevents confusion. Furthermore, chapter 1 presents very basic introduction to physics and math concepts relevant to learning RFID for the absolute beginners. Hence, this book is also very useful for beginners to get up to speed quickly even if they are new to RFID and do no have the necessary physics and math background. Even after the exam, you will find yourself returning to this book as a useful and practical reference for basics of RFID. In a nutshell, this book can be used by the following audiences: • RFID professionals and students who want to prepare for the CompTIA RFID+ exam • RFID professionals who are looking for a quick and practical RFID reference • Beginners who want to join the RFID profession • Instructors who want to offer a basic course on RFID How this Book is Structured The structure of this book is determined by the following two requirements: • The book is equally useful for both the beginners and the experts who want to pass the CompTIA RFID+ exam. • Although it has a laser sharp focus on the exam objectives, the book is not an exam cram. It presents the material in a logical learning sequence so that the book can be used for learning (or teaching) basics of RFID. With the exception of the introductory chapter 1, each chapter begins with a list and explanation of exam objectives on which the chapter is focused. We have somewhat rearranged the order of the exam domains to keep the topics and the subject matter in line with sequential learning and to avoid hopping from topic to topic. The first section in each chapter is the Introduction, in which we establish the concepts or topics that will be explored in the chapter. As you read through a chapter, you will find the following features: • Note. Notes emphasize important concepts or information • Caution. Cautions point out information that may be contrary to your expectations depending upon your level of experience with the www.syngress.com Foreword xix Java programming. Both Notes and Alerts are important from the exam viewpoint. • Tip. Provides additional real-world insight into the topic being discussed. • Exercise. Exercises are designed to help you understand how some concepts work. • Key Terms. This section lists the important terms and concepts intro duced in the chapter along with their definitions. • Summary. This section provides the big picture and reviews the important concepts in the chapter. • Exam's-Eye View. This section highlights the important points in the chapter from the perspective of the exam: the information that you must comprehend, the things that you should watch out for because they might not seem to go along with the ordinary order of things, and the facts that you should memorize for the exam. • Self Test, has a two-pronged purpose: to help you test your knowl edge about the material presented in the chapter and to help you eval uate your ability to answer the exam questions based on the exam objectives covered in the chapter. The answers to the Self Test ques tions are presented in Appendix B. Other special features of the book are the following: • A complete practice exam with questions modeled after the real exam and fully explained answers. • Detailed answers to all the Self Test questions and exercises. • A glossary that contains definitions of key RFID terms and concepts. Prerequisites Neither the CompTIA RFID+ exam nor this book has any pre-requisite. About the RFID+ exam Neither the physics behind it, nor the RFID technology itself is new But its only recently that the greatness has been bestowed upon RFID by the giant www.syngress.com XX Foreword influencers such as U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart in their man dates, and in a flurry of industrial mandates that followed. Now armed with these mandates, government legislations, and the resulting hyperbole, RFID has set its journey to change the world. With the market for RFID services pro jected to exceed $4 billion by 2008, a late start by a corporation in evaluating and implementing the technology could turn into a competitive disadvantage. Taking on the opportunity, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has launched the RFID+ certification in an effort to develop the workforce and provide the industry with a standard for measuring competency in the installation and maintenance of RFID. Topics Covered in the RFID+ Exam The topics covered in the exam and their relative weights are listed in the following table. Proportion of Questions from Each Domain Percentage Approximate Coverage in Number of Domain # Domain Name the Exam Questions T^o Interrogation zone basics ~ll3 10 2.0 Testing and troubleshooting 13 10 3.0 Standards and regij iations 12 10 4.0 Tag knowledge 11 9 5.0 Design selection 11 9 6.0 Installation 11 9 7.0 Site analysis 11 9 8.00 RF Physics 11 9 9.0 RFID peripherals 7 6 Total 100 81 Preparing for the RFID+ exam According to CompTIA, the skills and knowledge measured by this examina tion are derived from an industry-wide job task analysis (JTA) and have been www.syngress.com Foreword xxl validated by Subject Matter Experts from around the globe.The CompTIA RFID+ certification proves that you have the foundational RFID knowledge, and a minimum of 6 to 24 months of experience in RFID or a related industry with competencies including the following: • Installation, configuration, and maintenance of RFID or related hard ware and device software • Site survey/site analysis • RFID design selection If you are a beginner, you will learn RFID while preparing for the exam because this book is not a mere exam cram. On the other end of the spectrum, even an RFID expert may fail this exam if not prepared for it properly. So, experts can use this to make sure they don't miss any exam objective. From the exam point of view, pay special attention to the following items while preparing for the exam: 1. Carefully read the exam objectives in the beginning of each chapter. 2. Make sure you understand the Notes, Cautions, and Exercises in each chapter. 3. Study the review questions at the end of each chapter. 4. Take the practice exam that comes with this book toward the end your exam preparation. 5. Review the Exam s-Eye View sections during the last hours of your preparation. Taking the RFID+ exam The RFID+ certification consists of one exam available at authorized Prometric Testing Centers throughout the world. Following are some important details of the exam: • Exam ID: RFO-001 • Prerequisite: None • Cost: $190 for CompTIA members, $237 fro non-members (The cost may vary by country and also if you have discount coupons.) www.syngress.com xxii Foreword • Number of questions: 81 • Maximum time allowed: 90 minutes • Minimum Pass score: 630 on the scale of 100-900 The question types are multiple choice including drag and drop. In most of the questions, you are asked to select the correct answers from multiple answers presented for a question. The number of correct answers is given. For the current and complete information, you can visit the CompTIA site: www.comptia.org Best wishes for the exam. Go for it! Contacting the Author More information about Dr. Paul Sanghera can be found at: www.paulsanghera.com He can be reached at: [email protected] Exam Readiness Checklist Exam Objective Chapter # Domain 1.0 Interrogation zone basics 4 1.1 Describe interrogator functionality 1.1.1 I/O capability 1.1.2 Hand-held interrogators 1.1.3 Vehicle mount interrogator 1.1.4 LAN/Serial communications 1.1.5 Firmware upgrades 1.1.6 Software operation (GUIs) 1.2 Describe configuration of interrogation zones 1.2.1 Explain interrogator to interrogator interference 1.2.2 Optimization 1.2.3 System performance and tuning 1.2.4 Travel speed and direction 1.2.5 Bi-static/ monostatic antennas www.syngress.com