RFID Credential In-Situ Format Migration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for updating RFID transponders from one manufacturer's format to another are costly and time-consuming, requiring the replacement of credentials and readers, especially when different manufacturers use proprietary formats and security features, leading to logistical and financial obstacles in access control systems.
Innovation Solution
A method that reads data from an RFID credential, changes its characteristics, and writes the updated data back to the same credential, allowing it to communicate with different manufacturer's systems without the need for new credentials or readers, using a reader/writer device that can handle various formats and protocols.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new credentials are purchased to replace existing ones for format migration, then compatibility with new manufacturer's system is improved, but cost and time investment increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the data format parameters stored on the RFID credential from the first manufacturer's format to the second manufacturer's format. This allows the existing credential hardware to work with the new system by modifying only the data characteristics, not the physical credential itself, thereby avoiding the need to issue new credentials to every user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent reads data from existing credentials, converts the data format, and writes the converted data back to the same credentials. This copying and conversion process allows existing credentials to be migrated to a new format without physical replacement, significantly reducing the time and cost of system migration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If existing credentials are updated to a new manufacturer's format, then system consolidation is improved, but the complexity of handling proprietary formats increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reader/writer device is designed with multi-functionality to read and write credentials in multiple different manufacturers' formats and protocols. This universal capability allows the system to handle various proprietary formats without requiring separate specialized equipment for each format, thereby reducing overall system complexity despite the need to support multiple formats.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a multi-technology reader is used to read both old and new credentials, then format compatibility is improved, but the cost of replacing readers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses an existing reader to copy data from credentials in the first manufacturer's format, then uses a writer function (which can be the same device or a different one) to write the converted data back to the credentials in the second manufacturer's format. This approach allows format migration without requiring every reader to be replaced with a multi-technology reader, thereby reducing costs.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for updating secure access credentials are provided. More specifically, data from one or more RFID credentials can be read and subsequently written to one of the original RFID credentials reducing multiple RFID credentials to a single credential. The RFID transponder on the credential that has new data written thereon does not necessarily need to have the same functionality as the RFID transponder on the other RFID credentials that was read.