Network Architecture and Energy Analysis of the Integration of RFID and

Wireless Sensor Network

Beiwei Zhang1,2, Kunyuan Hu1, Yunlong Zhu1
1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Informatics, Shenyang Institute of Automation,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
E-mail: beiweizhang@sia.cn
Abstract: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) are two important components
of ubiquitous computing. They have different advantages and application areas. The RFID sensor network, which
integrates RFID into WSN, has both the advantage of RFID and WSN. In this paper, three common and one new
compound network architectures are described in detail. Targeting RFID sensor network systems, which use distribute
smart node network architecture and applies Basic Frame Slot Aloha (BFSA) as the MAC protocol for smart node to
reading tags, the energy model and energy consumption of the smart node are proposed and analyzed. We use
quantitative methodology to evaluate the energy consumption of a smart node, as well as give our computing formula to
evaluate the lifetime of the smart node, and its feasibility is discussed thoroughly.
Key Words: RFID, WSN, network architecture, energy analysis

RFID has the shortcoming of reader collision, and

effective read distance of passive RFID is less than 10
meters, while WSN has 100 meters. Considering RFID as
a specific kind of sensor, it certainly can be integrated into
WSN, and form a mixed network (RFID sensor network).
A RFID sensor network has both the advantages of WSN
and RFID, and will promote their application
tremendously. In this paper, we describe four architectures
of the sensor network.
Since RFID and WSN have been used in different areas,
and they are almost developed in parallel method, there are
many difficulties in their integration. The most important
two challenging problems are the reader collision [3], and
energy [4]. The reader collision problem leads to incorrect
and inefficient operation of the system, and also wastes
limited energy. A nodes battery is not replaceable, so its
energy is the most important system resource. A
theoretical calculation of how long the expected battery
life time lasts is given in this paper.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows: In section 2,
three common forms of network architecture and a kind of
mixed architecture that combines RFID and WSN
technologies are deeply analyzed and contrasted. Section 3
gives the quantitative methodology to evaluate the energy
consumption of one smart node targeting the distributed
smart node network architecture. The conclusion and
future work are discussed in section 4.

INTRODUCTION

Since ubiquitous computing was first envisioned, many

people believed that the next revolution in computing
technology will be that widespread small wireless
computing and communication devices will integrate
seamlessly into daily life. Computers will merge with their
environment and many devices will grow, such as tags and
sensors. Those devices gather information about the
current environment, which means sensing and processing
information.
Todays pervasive computing widely uses radio frequency
identification (RFID) [1] and wireless sensor network
(WSN) [2]. In RFID technology, a unique ID Electronic
Product Code (EPC) is assigned to a RFID tag that is
attached to a real world object. With the help of this
technology, real world objects can be easily mapped in the
virtual world in an information system. RFID applications
can be found in many areas, such as logistics, industry
automation, healthcare, and security. As for WSN
technology [2], in which hundreds of thousands sensor
nodes form one wireless sensor network, sensors sense the
physical environment and transfer the sensing data back to
the base station by multi-hops. A wide range of WSN
applications have also been developed, such as
environment monitoring, military applications, healthcare,
and object tracking.
WSN and RFID technology have different characters.
WSN can monitor the environment information while
lacking of the ability of object identification. The strong
identifying ability of RFID can compensate for this defect.

There are three common network architectures for RFID

sensor networks [5], and we will explain them in 3.1, 3.2,
and 3.3.

The work is supported by the National High-Tech Research and

Development Program of China (863 Program), the number is
2006AA04A117.

c
978-1-4244-5182-1/10/$26.00 2010
IEEE

THE NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

1379

2.1 Heterogeneous network architecture

In RFID sensor network systems with heterogeneous
network, a mix of tags and sensor nodes are deployed in
the detected area. The network architecture is shown as
Figure.1.

Fig.1. Heterogeneous network architecture

Smart station gathers information from tags and sensor

nodes, and then transmits the information to the local host
PC or remote LAN. Here RFID and WSN information can
be integrated in the base station, which mixes RFID reader
and traditional WSN base station.
Limited resources and power challenges at a smart station
don not exist here, which suggests the traditional Internet
protocol architecture can be employed. The base station is
complicated, expensive and is a decisive factor to the
whole system. The systems with heterogeneous network
architecture are used to monitor many objects over a
limited range for a higher real-time requirement.

2.2

2.3 Distributed smart node network architecture

The smart node contains three parts: a sensing part ,which
uses several different kinds of sensors to detect interested
physical scenario; a reading part, which reads fewer tags
comparing with a normal RFID reader; and a radio
transceiver part, which transporting sensed data.

Fig.3. Schematic of smart node platform

Smart nodes read fewer tags and can be deployed densely

as self-organizing WSN. Smart nodes run autonomously
and translate data information to the sink node. The
gathered information is transmitted through multi-hops.
As information of tags in the same area is similar, it can be
compressed with simple and high effective data
compressing methods in each smart node. The network
architecture is shown as Figure.4.

Smart sensor tag network architecture

The systems with smart sensor tag network architecture

must use active tags. The active tags are similar to the
Mica mote. But they are not exactly sensor network nodes
because they can not cooperate with each other through
ad-hoc networks. If they are assembled with
microcontrollers, they will be able to decide when and
where to get data by themselves. So we substitute Mica
nodes for active tags and identify Mica nodes used in
potential RFID applications as Mini nodes.
The mini nodes can pass data from one to another until the
data reaches the last transceiver, which communicates with
a reader. The network architecture of a complete system
solution is shown as Figure.2.

Fig.2. Smart sensor tag network

RFID sensor networks with smart sensor tag network

architecture, compared with the first class of network,
complicated and expensive readers are no longer needed.
The system provides a management much cheaper and
more flexible.
The industrial security and remote condition-based
maintenance systems, which are switched on just once or

1380

twice per day, could choose smart sensor tag network

architecture.

2010 Chinese Control and Decision Conference

Fig.4. Architecture of networks smart nodes

A highly integrated and inexpensive smart nodes network

is much cheaper and more flexible compared with the
networks with the former two architectures. It can be
applied into applications without strict real-time
requirements. It will find a wide application in industry,
such as maintenance and inventory security.

2.4 Smart nodes and smart passive sensor tags

compound architecture
In smart nodes and passive sensor tags architecture, smart
nodes are the energy sources of the smart passive sensor
tags, and they can communicate with each other. The most
information processing and network management
functions are centralized in smart nodes. Smart nodes and
smart passive sensor tags run autonomously and translate
data information to the gateway through multi-hops. The
network architecture of a complete system solution is
shown as Figure.5.
The smart node can be fixed or mobile. It has the
advantages of both smart node and smart active tags. But
the systems energy supply relies on the smart node, and
this increases the requirement of smart node. So systems
with this architecture will have less reliability and this
restricts their application.

Tlifetime =
3.2

Fig.5. smart nodes and smart passive sensor tags compound architecture

The above four architectures have different characters.

Which form of integration shall be selected is usually
cost-based and will be dependent upon the application.
However, in this paper, we choose distributed smart node
network architecture as an example and analyze the
systems energy consumption with this kind of network.

ENERGY MODEL AND CONSUMPTION

ANALYSIS OF RFID SENSOR NETWORK

B
E1 + E2

(5)

Energy Consumption Analysis

The energy consumption of a smart node makes up of the

following parts:
1) energy for receiving the data from tags within its
communication area,
2) energy for relaying data,
3) energy for sensing information: such as temperature,
light, sound, pressure or other physical phenomena,
4) Energy for data processing.
Since the last two parts of energy consumption are much
lower than the first and the second parts, we ignore them.
FSA [6] protocol and its variants are known for their low
complexity and computation, thus making them attractive
for RFID sensor networks to solving the collision problem.
Since in distribute smart node architecture, the functions of
a reader are cut short, and read fewer tags than common
RFID readers, we use the BFSA[6,7] protocol as the MAC
protocol for smart node to read tags within its vicinity.

3.1 Energy Model

Firstly, we assume: (1) the smart nodes position, the tags
number, and the readers power are known; and (2) the
readers power is constantly. Based on these assumptions,
we have the following energy model:
Parameters

E1 : The energy for a smart node to scan n tags to read

their data.

E2 : The energy for a smart node to relaying data.

ETx : The energy for a smart node to send k bits data.
ERx : The energy for a smart node to received k bits.

3.2.1
The Smart Nodes Energy Consumption for
receiving data from tags
According to Equ.1, in order to evaluate the energy for a
smart node to scan a given set of tags, we must evaluate the
scanning average delay D when reading a set of tags, and it
is decided by the number of reader cycles.
According to BFSA algorithm, the read cycles required is
evaluated as follows:
Firstly, we assume that: (1) the reader uses a frame size of
N slots, and the duration of each slot is T; (2) n tags are in
its read range; (3) the confidence level when reading a set
of tags is . So the probability that of r tags responding in
a slot in the

P : The smart nodes power when reading tags.

D :The smart nodes average scanning duration.
Eelec : The electrical energy required on the circuit of

i th read round is:

r

n 1 N 1
Pr (i ) =

r N N

n r

(6)

p0 (i ) .

transceiver.

r=0, it is idle transmission, and the probability is

amp : The amplification energy required to transmit a unit

r=1, it is successful transmission, the probability is

of data over unit distance.

k: The size of the data packet transmitted by a node.
r: The distance between communicating nodes.

r>k, collisions occur, the probability is

1 n
)
N
1
p1 (i ) = n (1 ) n 1
N

short-distance wireless communication system.

Tlifetime : The lifetime of a smart node.

ETx = Eelec k + amp k r

ERx = Eelec k

pk (i ) = N p0 (i ) p1 (i )

(1)

E2 = ETx + ERx

pk (i ) .

p0 (i ) = N (1

: The path loss, which usually takes a value of 4 in

B : The energy stored in a battery.

E1 = P D

p1 (i ) .

(2)

Using Equ.8, the expected number of successful

(3)

transmissions in the

(4)

(7)
(8)

(9)

i th read round is calculated as

Np1 (i ) .The probability of having an unread tag after

R rounds is,

2010 Chinese Control and Decision Conference

1381

Np1 (i )
) = 1
n

pmis (i ) = (1
i =1

Since

(10)

p1 (i ) is the same for all read rounds in BFSA,

Equ.10 becomes,

(1

Np1 R
) = 1
n

(11)

Solving Equ.11 for R, we find that the read cycles required

for reading a set of tags with confidence level must be
at least,

log(1 )
R
Np
log(1 1 )
n

(12)

In Equ.12, to obtain an integral value and to avoid

conservative delay values, the ceil function is used.
According to the above equations, we can calculate D and
E1 as:

D = NRT
E1 = PNRT

(13)
(14)

In Equ.13, T evaluates as,

T=

ID(bits )
data rate(bps )

(15)

heterogeneous network architecture, base station mixed

RFID readers and WSN, which has no energy limit, is a
decisive factor to the whole system, and is complicated,
costly and very big. Compared with smart stations,
distribute smart node network and smart active tags
network provide a management much cheaper and more
flexible, while lacking real-time performance. The smart
node and smart passive tags architecture split the
difference of the above three architectures. However,
which form of integration shall be selected usually
depends on the cost and application.
Then, we choose distribute smart node architecture as a
representation and analyze the smart nodes energy
consumption. The smart nodes energy is mainly used in
receiving the data from tags and relaying data, and we
analysis them in detail. Firstly, we use BFSA protocol as
the MAC protocol for smart node to read tags in its reading
range, and compute the energy consumption; secondly, we
use the WSN energy model to compute the smart nodes
energy for relaying data. Finally, a smart nodes lifetime is
evaluated, and this is the theoretical basic of the
integration of RFID sensor network.
Many issues remain to investigation for future work. This
paper only gives the theoretical computing formula, and in
the future we will do more simulations and practical
experiments to extend our work.

REFERENCES

Where ID (bits) is the length of a tags identify, and

data-rate (bps) is the tags data rate.

[1]
[2]

3.2.2

The Smart Nodes Energy Consumption for

Relaying Data

[3]

We can use Equ.2, Equ.3, and Equ.4 to evaluate the smart

nodes energy consumption for relaying data. The relaying
data includes the ID (bits) of the tags, which are within the
smart nodes reading ranges, and the sensing information
(bits), such as temperature data value. So in Equ.3 and
Equ.4, k can evaluate as,

[4]

k = n LID + Lsensedat

(16)

Where n is the number of tags in a smart nodes reading

area, LID is the length of tags identity, and Lsensedata is the
length of a smart nodes sensing data value.
So a smart nodes energy for relaying data is,

E2 = (2Eelec + amp k r 4 ) (n LID + Lsensordata ) (17)

According to Equ.5, a smart nodes lifetime evaluate as,

Tlifetime =
4

B
(18)
PNRT +(2Eelec +amp kr4)(nLID + Lsensordata )

CONCLUSION

In this paper, at first, we analyzed three common forms of

network architecture that combine RFID and WSN
technologies, and proposed a new network architecture
that integrates smart nodes and smart passive tags. All four
architecture are deeply analyzed and contrasted. In

1382

[5]

2010 Chinese Control and Decision Conference

[6]

[7]

Electronic product code, http://www.epcglobalinc.org.

K. Chakrabarty, S. S. Iyengar, Scalable Infrastructure for
Distributed Sensor Networks, 2005.
Kin Seong Leong, Mun Leng Ng, Member, IEEE, Peter H.
Cole, The Reader Collision Problem in RFID Systems.,
IEEE MAPE (2005).
Akyildiz I F, Su W, Sankarasubramaniam Y, et al .A survey
on sensor network [J]. IEEE Communications Magazine,
2002,40 (8):102-114.
Lei Zhang, Zhi Wang, Integration of RFID into Wireless
Sensor Networks: Architectures, Opportunities and
Challenging Problems, Proceedings of the Fifth
International Conference on Grid and Cooperative
Computing Workshops.2006.
Dheeraj K. Klair, Kwan-Wu Chin, Raad Raad, On the
Suitability of Framed Slotted Aloha based RFID
Anti-collision Protocols for Use in RFID-Enhanced WSNs.
J.-R. Cha, J.-H. Kim, Novel anti-collision algorithms for
fast object identification in RFID system, In The 11th Intl.
Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems, pages
6367, 2005.