Identification of Industrial Paper Reels with Passive UHF RFID

In paper industry there is a strong need for an identification system that would carry on the identification code of a specific reel throughout its life cycle. Application of passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) systems in paper industry requires novel tag antenna designs for identification of paper reels. By attaching the tag antenna to the reel core between the core and the wrapped paper the identification data of a particular reel can be stored throughout its whole life cycle. However, paper attenuates the electromagnetic wave, and therefore energy harvesting for the tag’s microchip and backscattering of the identification data back to the reader is challenging. In addition, the wavelength of electromagnetic wave decreases when it propagates through paper, which affects the electrical dimensions of the tag antennas. In this paper we analyze the challenges in identification of paper reels with passive UHF RFID technology, and present an evolutionary tag antenna design for passive UHF RFID of paper reels. This C-tag antenna can be identified omnidirectionally around an industrial paper reel.