[IP] more on Chip-Embedded Paper for Wireless Transmission
Begin forwarded message:
From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <ross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 13, 2004 12:38:14 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, Ip <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] Chip-Embedded Paper for Wireless Transmission
At 09:01 PM 11/12/2004, David Farber wrote:
Japanese company Oji Paper announced November 8 that it has jointly
developed technology to embed semiconductor chips in paper during
papermaking processes. This invention was co-developed with two other
companies FEC Group and Toppan Forms.
According to the JCN network, the embedded chip is 0.5x0.5mm and comes
with a built-in antenna for wireless transmission at frequencies of
between 13.56MHz to 2.45GHz. This breakthrough technology enables mass
production of chip-embedded paper.
NB that this is the approximate scale of the Hitachi "Mu" chip:
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/Prod/mu-chip/ (0.4x0.4mm and 2.45GHz)
The Mu chip can function without an external antenna, but the effective
read range then would be on the order of millimeters:
http://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/030902.html
There has already been some discussion of embedding the Mu chip in
currency; this Economist article dates back to 2001:
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=779580
NB that they're implying use of an external antenna here (similarly
embedded in the fabric of a banknote) to achieve a 30 cm (c. 1 foot)
read range. Here's some analysis from a bit over a year ago, in RFID
Journal, speculating on RFID in currency, and noting tentative plans to
pilot it in both Japan and Europe:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/523/1/2/
I'm a bit skeptical that embedded RFID would be any more effective as
an anti-counterfeiting tool than other technologies, if only because
one could always find someone "off the grid" to accept it without the
ability to read and validate it. The chief value of embedding chips in
currency would probably come from being able to read and log uniquely
serialized bills at "line speed," e.g., as they're being paid into a
machine, or dispensed at an ATM, but only in very close proximity (you
don't hide in an alley and scan people's wallets, to find the fattest
targets). Bills today already bear unique serials... they just can't
be read as quickly, reliably and cheaply by machines.
One last data point... I was poking around some time ago, to find a
figure for the cost of a banknote, and did find some stats in
Congressional testimony on why it would be a great thing to revamp the
currency to place the Bill of Rights on the back of all US greenbacks
(notwithstanding the protests of the automated bill-recognition market,
aka the vending machine lobby :-) ... the estimate there was that a US
bill, of any denomination, cost around $0.02 to produce. That figure
may be higher, as a result of anti-counterfeiting technologies deployed
since, but the cost of a bill with an embedded RFID device would be
perhaps an order of magnitude higher.
Ross
-----
Ross Stapleton-Gray, Ph.D., CISSP
Stapleton-Gray & Associates, Inc.
http://www.stapleton-gray.com
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/