Toll collection and electronic vehicle registration (EVR) are two relatively established segments within the RFID industry. Toll tags have long used active RFID technology for fast and reliable recognition of vehicles that drive at high speeds through reading gates. What has changed more recently is the fact that passive UHF technologies can accomplish the same objectives at a much lower cost. A second development is that we are witnessing a desire to integrate tolling applications with EVR thus allowing for a more efficient handling of vehicle checks whether it is to detect crimes such as car theft or simply to validate information about a vehicle or its owner.
 
One of the key challenges in passive UHF tolling and EVR applications is that data stored on tags needs to be secured. At the same time, read and write speeds cannot be compromised in the sense that drivers will not slow down for a read point. Depending on the country, speeds can reach more than 100 mph. Given that the field of vision for a passive UHF antenna is limited, the solution requires a highly efficient tag design that includes security features such as encryption, mutual authentication and possibly cloaking. These objectives usually stand in contrast to performance objectives. At Revere Security, we have tested and validated that the Hummingbird algorithm not only fits comfortably onto a passive UHF toll tag, but also allows for reliable tag read and write operations.

 

The security within RFID-enabled tolling and EVR systems is not just limited to privacy concerns which are typically addressed by data encryption. Rather the authentication of RFID tags on vehicles as they pass through toll lanes is a key requirement that enables electronic payments for the toll road operator. The Hummingbird HB-2 cryptographic suite provides these capabilities and also includes an innovative, yet practical approach to key management. For example, it should be possible to use toll tags across a wide domain of tolling systems. This is not a reality today because any given system cannot authenticate foreign toll tags. The video below illustrates how this specific challenge can be addressed.