SystemC modeling of RFID systems for robustness analysis

RFID systems are complex heterogeneous systems, consisting of analog and digital hardware components (readers and tags) and software components (middlewares and ERP applications). In addition to these complexity and heterogeneity, RFID systems rely on low cost tags and are often used in harsh environments. As a consequence, they do not always ensure robust communications (i.e. tag detection). Thus, for critical applications, the robustness evaluation and optimization of RFID systems are a must. This article proposes a SystemC model of an HF RFID system for the Simulation and Evaluation of RFID systems (SERFID). SERFID allows performing realistic bit error injections in the RF channel. An industrial critical application of an HF RFID system is described to show how SERFID can help in evaluating and optimizing the dependability of a critical application.