The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the U.S subsidiary of the Canadian DSP house Spectrum Signal Processing (SSP) will jointly develop multipurpose software-defined radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogators for multiple funded programs addressing military logistics, homeland security and commercial transportation applications. The readers are designed to track military assets in both hostile and non-hostile environments and to monitor the location and physical integrity of intermodal cargo containers.

The programs being supported under this collaborative effort include CFAST (Collaborative Force-Building Analysis, Sustainment and Transportation); NEMAS (National Geospatial Agency Emergency Management and Accountability System); and MTS (Marine Transportation System). While CFAST system is an advanced military information portal being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the NEMAS objective is monitoring and tracking critical first responders during emergency situations. Likewise, the MTS is an intermodal asset security monitoring and tracking system being developed by Navigational Sciences, Inc. in conjunction with ORNL.

The active RFID interrogators being developed with ORNL will incorporate the Software Communications Architecture (SCA), enabling all three networks to interoperate with Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) communications devices. The readers will support multiwaveform operation, including the support of complex waveforms designed to optimize the use of available frequency spectrum and to prevent the jamming and spoofing of security-sensitive RFID signals.

"One of ORNL's main objectives is to enable total asset visibility (TAV) across the U.S. armed forces and emergency first responders through the use of multifunction RFID readers and innovative sensor technologies," stated Mark Buckner, senior program manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "To achieve TAV in as short a timeframe as possible, we are employing advanced, commercially available products and technologies. Spectrum provides us with proven software-defined radio solutions along with the SCA know-how critical to ensure that our systems are interoperable with JTRS platforms."

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