Security implementation within GEN2 protocol

The ISO 18000-6C protocol (GEN2 protocol) transmits EPC bits to the Reader in the Inventory to reveal its identity, but this data can be sniffed by any malicious readers nearby very easily. Also the GEN2 protocol does not have any technique to authenticate the Reader before it gives the access to the Tag's memory. In this paper, we present a Secure Identification and Mutual Authentication protocol, to secure the communication between a tag and a reader, and its implementation. The protocol uses lightweight ciphers like Hummingbird (HB), PRESENT and Extended Tiny Encryption Algorithm (XTEA) to encrypt the data. The GEN2 protocol along with the Secure Identification and Mutual Authentication protocol is implemented targeting a Xilinx FPGA device for each of the above three algorithms. The implementations are then compared to see what algorithm is best suited for passive RFID tag devices.