Publications and Whitepapers

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is key to automating many logistical processes. Antiope Associates has expertise in all aspects of RFID, from circuit design and radio propagation to system level integration.

We recently surveyed the state of the art in radio frequency identification. Some of our findings are summarized in a presentation given to the Wireless Information Networks Laboratory (WINLAB) at Rutgers University. Slides from that talk, given by Antiope Associates' Gregory Wright are available in:

Radio Frequency Identification: Where We've Been & Where We're Going (1152 KB pdf file)

His earlier review of the state of RFID can be found in:

Finding a Future for Radio Frequency Identification (400 KB pdf file)

Electronic Price Labels are one of the most successful RFID products in the market today.

Antiope Associates' Gregory Wright was extensively involved with the design of the leading electronic pricing system on the market. He describes the difficult process of bringing an innovative product from concept to realization in:

Electronic Price Labels: A Parable of Product Development (2.2 MB pdf file)

An overview of a high data capacity RFID device, similar to that in our product brochure, Radio Frequency Identification - Technologies and Capabilities:

The Cargo Container RF Tag (1.3 MB pdf file)

Some of our work involves the rapid prototyping of communications systems. Our CTO initiated the Berkeley Emulation Engine (BEE) project, a large field programmable gate array (FPGA) system for testing new radio design ideas quickly.

The BEE connects to real radio hardware, allowing signal processing algorithms and hardware to be tested in an actual radio communication environment. Simulations are frequently over-simplified, and systems designed on the basis of software-only simulations often require extensive in-the-field debugging or fail to realize their design goals entirely.

The original system design presentation for the BEE:

The Biggascale Emulation Engine (224 KB pdf file)

Introductions to the massively parallel hardware architecture used by the BEE:

Introduction and status report on the BEE (480 KB pdf file)

Radio propagation inside buildings and other structures (e.g., ships, aircraft) is a specialized field in which Antiope Associates has considerable experience.

The presentation below discusses the indoor radio channel, the difficulties it presents and the how some of those difficulties can be turned to our advantage.

Since the presentation was first given, CMOS and SiGe chips have made inexpensive radios for the 5 GHz Industry-Science-Medical (ISM) band possible and systems using the faster 802.11a/g standards have been widely deployed. The core design information remains current and relevant.

A House of Mirrors: The Indoor Radio Channel and Radios For It (408 KB pdf file)

The above PDF file omits the embedded animations showing time resolved RF propagation measurements in rooms. To view them, download the original powerpoint file:

Powerpoint version of the above (992 KB ppt file)

Antiope Associates' Gregory Wright has recently worked on the fundamentals of energy efficient communication. This has led to a re-thinking of the best way to send information over very long distances.

A short version of this work appeared as a letter to the journal Nature and was featured on the cover of the 2 September 2004 issue.

A longer version was presented at the 38th Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers in November 2004.

Nature article on energy efficient communication, from the 2 September 2004 issue (257 KB pdf file)

Supplementary information for the Nature article (83 KB pdf file)

Antiope Associates' CTO has contributed to improvements in radio systems operating at submillimeter wavelengths: frequencies thousands of times higher than conventional cellular telephones or television broadcasts.

In an article that appeared in the Optical Society of America's Optics and Photonics News, he describes what we can learn about the universe from submillimeter radiation and why it takes him to the very end of the earth.

Optics and Photonics News article on Astronomy from the South Pole, from the January 2004 issue (431 KB pdf file)

A Decade of Submillimeter Astronomy at the South Pole (review presented to the Bell Laboratories astrophysics group, 1.3 MB pdf file)