Integration of an IEEE 802.15.4 RFID network with mobile readers with a 802.11 WLAN

In this paper, we propose a coexistence scheme that allows radio-frequency identification readers or sinks to collect data from radio-frequency identification tags or sensors that use IEEE 802.15.4 wireless personal area network standard and send it to the access point via an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network. The proposed scheme uses time scheduling and bridging via readers to allow for simultaneous operation of heterogeneous wireless networks that operate in the industrial, scientific, and medical frequency band at 2.4 GHz. A simple sleep management approach is developed that allows tags to reduce their power consumption as well as collision rate. To provide timely reaction to sudden changes in tag population or reader availability, we devise a scheme where the scheduling parameters are adjustable and readers are mobile. We evaluate the performance of our solution in four scenarios and confirm the flexibility of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.