Passive UHF-RFID Tag With Printed Security Features for Authentication and Tamper Resistance

The development of innovative, miniaturized, and low-cost Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for application in asset monitoring, counterfeit prevention, or personnel tracking requires advancements in materials, fabrication processes, and packaging. Typical RFID tags can be circumvented by tampering, cloning, or spoofing; however, by adding security features to the tag, nefarious actions such as these can be mitigated. Toward this objective, this paper presents the design and fabrication of an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID tag through flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) materials and processes for authentication and anti-tamper /anti-counterfeit applications. The presented UHF RFID tag consists of a passive RF chip and dipole antenna with embedded hardware and software security features. The tag was fabricated using a hybrid of manufacturing techniques including, conventional photolithography and additive aerosol jet printing. The design, materials selection, processing, and tailored FHE fabrication processes, led to achieving a system-level functional RFID tag with a read distance of up to 15 in (0.381 m). The dependency of the read distance on the host surface was studied by attaching tags to different materials including surfaces with various dielectric constants and thicknesses. The performance of the tags was evaluated under realistic use conditions by performing thermal cycling, bending, and wearability tests. The RFID tag’s resistance to different tamper attack vectors (vulnerability assessment) is demonstrated. Overall, the demonstrated UHF RFID tag opens new opportunities for the development of flexible, lightweight, and low-cost RFID tags that leverage FHE fabrication techniques and materials for authentication and anti-tamper applications.