RFID Light Bulb: Enabling Ubiquitous Deployment of Interactive RFID Systems.

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has the potential to provide inexpensive, wireless, battery-free connectivity and interactivity for objects that are traditionally not instrumented. However, these systems have not seen widespread deployment outside warehouses and supply chains, owing to the complexity of installing bulky RFID readers, antennas, and their supporting power and network infrastructure. In this work, we leverage advances in semiconductor optics, RF antenna design and system integration to create a hybrid RFID reader and smart LED lamp, in the form factor of a standard light bulb. This makes deploying RFID readers literally as easy as screwing in a light bulb. We explore the home-scale RFID interactions enabled by these smart bulbs, including infrastructure monitoring, localization and guided navigation, and standalone lighting effects.