  The objective of this research is to integrate an RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) reader into a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to authorize or
keep track of people carrying RFID tags. The objective was accomplished by
integrating hardware and software. The hardware consisted of two WSN nodes -
the RFID node connected to one of the WSN nodes, and a computer connected to
the other WSN node. For the RFID equipment, we used the SM130-EK kit, which
included the RFID reader and the RFID tags; and for the WSN, we used the
Synapse Network Evaluation kit, which included the two sensor nodes. The
software consisted of a program module developed in Python to control the
microprocessors of the nodes; and a database controlled by a simple program to
manage the tag IDs of people wearing them. The WSN and RFID nodes were
connected through I2C interfacing. Also, the work of sending commands to the
RFID node, to make it read a tag and send it back to the computer, was
accomplished by the Python code developed which also controls the data signals.
At the computer, the received tag ID is evaluated with other existing tag IDs
on the database, to check if that tag has authorization or not to be in the
covered area. Our research has the potential of being adapted for use with
secure real-time access control applications involving WSN and RFID
technologies.
