Mutual Authentication Protocol for RFID System

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is a leading automatic identification technology. The main technology components of an RFID system are a tag, reader, and database. The use of tags and databases raises significant impact on security considerations associated to the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of the data on the tags, in the databases, and in how this information is being protected. Authentication protocol, which is the process of verifying the claimed identity of a user, can be used between tag and reader as a way to mitigate security risks. In this paper, we study the RFID tag-reader mutual authentication scheme. A hardware design of an RFID authentication protocol conforming to EPC Class 1 Generation 2 Standards is proposed. The proposed RFID tag-reader mutual authentication protocol was simulated using Modelsim XE II and synthesized using Altera's Quartus II software. In addition, floor plan of the proposed PadGen function is demonstrated using Cadence SOC Encounter.