Agenda

A Systems Approach to RFID Implamentation
DAY 1     DAY 2    DAY 3

DAY 1: RFID Overview

9:00 a.m. Breakfast and Registration

9:30 a.m. Welcome, Introduction and Course Overview

9:30 a.m. RFID Overview
The course opens with an introduction to the basics of radio frequency identification. The first part of the overview covers the history of RFID; uses and benefits of RFID; and real-world applications undertaken by companies such as at Delta Airlines, Department of Defense, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and others. The lecturer will also provide an explanation of the mandates that are driving many RFID implementations, what's behind them and how companies are meeting them.

11:00 a.m. Lessons Learned from the Experts
RFID experts with hands-on experience describe real-world RFID implementations and discuss them with the class. Through this valuable "lessons learned" segment, attendees will learn about the many real-world challenges to deploying an RFID system, including electromagnetic interference, reader collision, problems tagging products made of metal or containing water and much more. The experts will discuss how they overcame these issues in real deployments.

12:00 p.m. Lunch Served

1:00 p.m. RFID Demonstration/Tour of Facilities
The tour explains the equipment in the facility, as well as how it is used for practical applications that go far beyond "standard" portal and conveyor readers. They include leading applications used to solve tangible problems throughout the supply chain. This section showcases the effective and innovative use of RFID technology in various environments including different moving, stationary, temperature and handling environments, as well as various testing strategies to devise the best solution for specific applications.

2:15 p.m. RFID Privacy and Security
A successful RFID deployment goes beyond hardware and software. Privacy and security issues can determine success or failure as much as system design. This session focuses on the many privacy and security issues arising with the growing number of RFID implementations in environments with direct consumer exposure to the technology. Learn which concerns are real and need to be addressed in the solution design, and which are phony and need to be addressed with education.

3:30 p.m. Business Case and Processes
The first day of the course ends with an in-depth look at the business case for deploying RFID and explains how it can impact businesses processes. This section focuses specifically on how to evaluate and develop a business case for RFID in any organization. Time is spent in creating metrics and business value propositions for implementing RFID throughout the organization and determining where to and where not to deploy RFID technology.

5:00 p.m. End of Schedule

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DAY 2: Business Case and Processes

9:00 a.m. RF Basics
RF Basics covers the fundamental physics that is core to the implementation of RFID technology. This section covers RF wave propagation, comparison of radio frequency versus wavelength, impedance, electrical noise and principles of inductive and capacitive coupling as methods of communication between the readers and the tags.

10:00 a.m. RFID Hardware, Part I
Getting "the physical layer" right is one key to a successful implementation. This session addresses the many hardware issues that impact RFID systems, including tag design, tag placement and standards. Lecturers explain the different features of Generation 1 and Generation 2 EPC tags. They also detail the features of RFID readers, including design and working principle, reader commands and the different applications for "intelligent" and "dumb" readers.

12:00 p.m. Lunch Served

1:00 p.m. RFID Hardware, Part II
In the second part of the Hardware section, lecturers address all aspects of RFID antennas, including design, polarity, use and space configurations for different RFID solutions (featuring portals and tunnels). This section includes demonstrations of the different types of reader antennas and practical exercises on antenna patterns. It also covers printers and slap-and-ship options for meeting RFID tagging requirements.

2:15 p.m. Standards
There are many RFID standards, standardization organizations and government bodies responsible for RFID. This session provide an overview of the different standards found around the world and sorts out the alphabet soup of standards bodies, including: ISO, IEC, EPCglobal, FCC, ANSI, ETSI, ERO, ECC, MPHPT, SAC, OFTA and the ICNIRP safety standards.

3:15 p.m. Data Management
Tags and readers are important but data management is also critical to any successful RFID implementation. This section of the course covers the role of RFID middleware, edgeware and the IT infrastructure. Lecturers will discuss the standards that are being developed to share and protect RFID data with customers and suppliers in an EPC ecosystem.

5:00 p.m. End of Schedule

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DAY 3: Implementing an RFID Solution

9:00 a.m. Implementing an RFID Solution
The material covered in Day 1 and Day 2 provides a grounding in RFID technology. This section provides, a scientific approach to applying that knowledge in implementation planning, including how to conduct and document site surveys to develop a blueprint for an RFID installation. A systematic step-by-step guide to an RFID site survey is presented. Real-world applications and their issues are discussed, including setting baselines and troubleshooting techniques.

11:00 a.m. Lunch Served

12:00 p.m. Hands-on Lab
In this section, participants will conduct practical hands-on exercises with various products from different vendors, including the setting up and testing of RFID readers, antennas, printers and tags, tag placement, reading/writing tags, slap-and-ship scenarios, pallet building and other exercises. Among them are the testing of their product of choice. Students are encouraged to bring in their own products to be RFID tested.

3:00 p.m. Graduation

3:30 p.m. Additional Exercises
Specific advanced exercises are provided, including individual consultation on topics covered in the course, as well as revisiting specific areas of interests to any of the participants.

5:00 p.m. End of Schedule

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