Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and Radio Frequency ID (RFID) together represent a means of direct communication between connection hardware and the object that needs monitoring: the information about its status of performance is directly sent to a computer system without the need for human intervention.  This makes automation of processes or consumer action possible.

The technology that utilized originates largely in the manufacturing and industrial processes industry, where physical assets networking have been done for decades. The goal of M2M-RFID is exactly as of a plant-floor automation systems or remote-monitoring solutions: it evolves getting information from sensors in a device and transmitting it to an IT network.

This report evaluates the working aspects of M2M along with the details of RFID, provides deep insights into telecommunication technologies, reviews the latest developments within M2M, and provides further analysis through in-depth case study examples. The report includes a listing of M&A activity.

The report includes:             

•     M2M Standards for RFID

•     Security issues for M2M RFID

•     Explanation of Risk & Security Analysis

•     An evaluation of the available Technologies and its Products

•     An overview of the applications of RFID

•     Evaluation of RFID application in Healthcare, Defense, etc

•     Information about M2M Companies and Takeovers

•     A detailed explanation and evaluation techniques of Fault Analysis

•     A brief evaluation of an M2M Telecom Company

•     Assessment of technology used in many real life case studies

•     Future and Roadmap of M2M with special focus on RFID

•     RFID Company analysis in Europe, Asia and United States

Additional material with the Second Edition of this report includes:

•     M2M in Healthcare

•     Additional Case Studies

•     Smart Homes and Smart Metering

•     Roadmap of M2M with special focus on RFID Beyond 2012

•     M2M advances including a focus on 4G, Micro, Pico, and Femto

•     RFID Company analysis in Europe, Asia and United States 

Audience:

•     This is a must-have resource for anyone engaged in business or technology planning and engineering involving M2M

•     Investors, analysts, and consultants in the M2M industry will find that this report provides all they need to know about M2M

•     RFID hardware, software, and solution vendors and related professional services companies

•     Managed services providers, outsourced RFID solutions and application providers, and RFID service bureau operators

•     Personnel responsible for automating Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other business processes

•     Healthcare management personnel responsible for tracking patients, staff personnel, equipment, inventory, and other critical resources

•     Retailers and personnel responsible for merchandise inventory and ordering processes, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Merchandise tracking and fraud prevention

•     Providers of value-added applications and services such as metering, telemetry, telematics, and sensor applications, inventory control and tracking such as merchandise control, asset tracking and recovery such as computing equipment monitoring, tracking parts moving through a manufacturing process, tracking goods in a supply chain, and payment systems

•     RFID and/or M2M Hardware Manufacturing companies

•     Companies interested in optimizing their RFID and/or M2M business process strategies

•     Venture Capitalist and Startup companies interested in funding RFID and/or M2M companies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction   11

M2M Evolution  13

RFID in a Nutshell 14

M2M - Telecommunications   16

Wireless Service Technology and Protocols   21

The Technologies   24

GPRS (General Purpose Radio Service) 25

1xRTT or CDMA2000  25

iDEN Packet 26

Advantages of SMS  29

Interactive Two-Way  29

Simultaneous Transmission with Voice  29

Confirmation of Delivery  30

Store and Forward Method  30

Use Of Phone Number As The Address  31

High Degree of Encryption  31

Transmission At Higher Power Than The Voice Channel 31

Analog Control Channel 31

Wireless Technology Recommendation for M2M   33

GSM-SMS and GPRS  33

CDMA0inRTT  33

iDEN Packet  33

Technology Strategy of M2M    34

Hardware Budget 34

Scope of Deployment-Domestic or International 34

Ease of Creating the Application  35

Wireless Service Options  35

Wireless Access Costs  35

Further Technology Considerations  35

Back-end Server Technology  37

Gateway to Wireless Carrier or Service Provider  37

Delivery of SMS to the Internet 38

Applications of M2M    42

RFID - A Brief Outlook   43

Types of RFID Systems  45

Types of Tags  45

Passive Tags  45

Semi Passive RFID Tags  45

Active RFID Tags  46

Active Tags with Sensors/GPS  46

Application Field  46

Difference between Active and Passive RFID   48

RFID Comparison Matrix  49

M2M Standards for RFID   50

Standardization Organizations and Processes  51

Basic Organizations  51

Standard development organizations  52

Commercial organization  53

Standardization Business Models  54

Standardization of the Radio Frequency Spectrum    56

Low Frequency Band  57

Short Wave Band  57

High Frequency Band  58

UHF Band  59

Microwave Frequency Band 2.45 GHz  60

Radar& HIPERLAN Frequency Band  61

Standards and Inter-Operability Issues  62

Recent Trends and Issues  63

Company Takeovers  65

Security Issues   67

Types of Attacks  67

Spoofing Attacks  68

Insert 68

Replay Attack  69

Flood Attack  69

Un-authorized Tag Data Manipulation  69

Middleware Issues  70

Backend Database Corruption  71

Blended Attacks  71

Man in the Middle Attack  71

Fraud at Chip Level 72

M2M Risk and Security Management  74

M2M Risk Analysis  75

System Security & System Policies  77

Risk & Attack Management 78

M2M RFID Applications   80

M2M RFID in Healthcare  81

RFID on  Humans  83

Other Applications  85

Advanced M2M Applications  91

M2M Monitoring - Passport  93

M2M - Smart Appliances  95

M2M in Personalization  96

M2M RFID Next Generation   97

Tomorrows RFID Technology  97

Tags  98

Readers  100

System Technology  101

RFID Deployment Fault Analysis  102

Basics of RFID Deployment Monitoring Principles  103

Efficiency Monitoring  106

Tag Read Error  106

Standard Monitoring Procedure  109

Cellular Architecture & Telecommunications   111

Picocell 111

Femtocell 112

MicroCells  113

Technology in use. 115

Zeppelin Based Communication Backbone  116

Overview   119

Product Analysis  121

4G   123

M2M - Latest Commercial Applications   126

Remote Healthcare  126

Smart Homes  129

Application Model 131

Application Segments  132

Limitations and Current Bottlenecks  133

Smart Metering  135

Worldwide Implementation Status  136

United Kingdom   136

United States  138

M2M - Most Success Applications in Public Sector   140

Electronic Money  140

First Implementation  145

Second Major Implementation  146

Third Notable Implementation  148

Mobile Banking & Secured ATM    149

From remote banking to Virtual Branch  149

m-payments  150

m-Banking scenarios  150

ATM Banking & NFC  150

M-banking via USSD/SMS  151

m-remittances  151

m-Payments  152

m-banking Anti fraud products  153

M2M Company Analysis   154

Product and Services  155

Mobile Solutions  155

Key Features & Benefits: 156

Elephant Talk M2M Value Proposition  156

Key Features & Benefits: 159

Two Stage Dialing  161

Key Features & Benefits: 161

Additional Services and Offerings  162

Methodology  162

Research & Development and Engineering  163

Quality Assurance  163

M2M Case Studies   164

RFID Implementation at Rittal 164

Client Details  164

Issue  164

Solution Provider  164

Briefs  164

Asset Tracking at US Air Force Base  166

Client Details  166

Issue  166

Solution Provider  166

Briefs  166

RFID at the Department of Energy - US  168

Client Details  168

Issue  168

Solution Provider  168

Briefs  168

Item Tracking at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel 174

Client Details  174

Issue  174

Solution Provider  174

Briefs  174

Mississippi Blood Services Banks on RFID   177

Client Details  177

Issue  177

Solution Provider  177

Briefs  177

RFID implementation at Special Olympics, US  182

Client Details  182

Issue  182

Solution Provider  183

Briefs  183

Vehicular Collision Prevention at Australian Mine  186

Client Details  186

Issue  186

Solution Provider  186

Briefs  186

RFID in Fashion  192

Client Details  192

Issue  192

Briefs  192

German Publisher Adoption of RFID   196

Solution Provider  196

Briefs  196

RTLS adoption in Memorial Hospital Miramar  200

Overview   200

Details  200

Working Principle  201

Improvements  202

Advantages  203

Implementation  204

Automation in Hospital Process - Brazil 205

Overview   205

Details  205

Patient Care System - Pantai Hospital Malaysia  208

Overview   208

Details  208

Environment Sensing and Tracking  209

The Development Methodology  211

Advantages  211

Targets  212

The Future Step  213

Tracking and Monitoring Application - Foster School of Medicine  215

Overview   215

Details  215

Working Principle  218

Patient Tracking System - Disney Family Cancer Center  221

Overview   221

Details  221

Achieving the reality  222

Focus  224

Equipment Monitoring and Utility Management - Mission Hospital 226

Overview   226

Details  226

Palette Tracking in Japan  230

Solution Provider  230

Briefs  230

Future & Roadmap   235

M2M adoption with time  235

Pre 2000 Segment 235

2000 - Mobile and Telecommunication  236

2003 - Inventory Monitoring and Tracking  236

2005 - HealthCare and Medical 237

2007 - Defense and Homeland Security  237

2010  238

2010 and Beyond  238

Growth Factors of M2M from 2010  239

Telecommunication  240

M2M Wireless and Consumer Products  241

Asset Tracking and other M2M RFID Applications  242

M2M - Adoptions and Emergence after 2011  244

M2M - 2012 and Beyond  245

M2M & RFID Company Analysis   247

RFID Companies in Europe  247

RFID Companies in Asia/Asia Pacific  264

RFID Companies in the United States of America  275

Conclusion   288


LIST OF FIGURES


Figure 1. M2M and its components  12
 

Figure 2. M2M and Telecommunication components  16
 

Figure 3. Schematic of Field Deployed Unit  17
 

Figure 4. Functional Segments of an Interface Board   18
 

Figure 5. Block Diagram of a Processor Module  20

 
Figure 6. Components of the Architecture  20


Figure 7. Wireless Service Protocols for Telecommunication   21


Figure 8. Technology Perspective  23


Figure 9. Standards and their components  24
 

Figure 10. Standards vs Bearers comparison   25


Figure 11. Advantages of 3G   26


Figure 12. Advantages of SMS  29


Figure 13. Technology Strategy of M2M    34
 

Figure 14. Typical M2M server integration to a 3G Network  38


Figure 15. Back-end Server Functions  39


Figure 16 . Frequency Bands  56


Figure 17. Advanced M2M Application Schematic  91
 

Figure 18. Schematic of a Smart Device  95


Figure 19. A schematic of the Smart Refrigerator  95


Figure 21. Mobile Solutions  156


Figure 22. M2M solution components  158


Figure 23. M2M Application Examples  160


Figure 24. Location Based Service  161


Figure 25. Additional Services  162


Figure 26. Growth of M2M    239


Figure 27. M2M and Telecommunications  240


Figure 28. Stats and Components  240


Figure 29. M2M Wireless and Consumer Products  241

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Applications of M2M... 42


Table 2. Differences between RFID Types. 48

 
Table 3. RFID Comparison Matrix. 49


Table 4 - Zeppelin Based Communication Backbone. 117


Table 5 - Cost Analysis. 121


Table 6. Growth Prediction Table. 242


Table 7. M2M - 2010 and Beyond.. 243