Group Design Project – B202

Product feasibility study

Concept Diagram

Design Requirements

Initial hardware requirements would be plastic wristbands with integrated RF chips and RF chip readers. The RF chips would preferably be as discrete as possible and protected from damage by the plastic coating.

We require a database lookup system containing a large amount of unique identification numbers. Customers and companies would have a unique number set to them. If a user has signed up to a company’s reward scheme, their ID would then be added to their account in our system. The only information we are storing are IDs we have generated ourselves and the links between the user and the stores they are associated with. We hold no specific details relating to the user or of the accounts they hold with the stores.
We would need to implement a trial system in a reputable, dense, shopping location with access to a variety of commercial stores operating a loyalty bonus card scheme. We would require a limited amount of plastic wristbands and RF scanners which we could disperse amongst the public on a free trial basis.

We will need an isolated server to store and make accessible our database. It will need to have enough storage space to handle enough IDs for potential users. The small scale start and potential large scale system forces the dedicated servers to be easily updated. If the system was implemented on a national scale, we would need approximately 50 million unique customer Ids. A large volume of transactions could be possible at any one instant requiring the servers to have fast data trafficking to handle peak times. Due to the nature of our system we would require a minimal
amount of data storage, approximately 100Gb for the trial system.
The software that controls the server will be a Linux based operating system which is open source software, readily obtainable and free of charge.
The server would be originally located in a team member’s residential home, with a view to a new dedicated server room located in a secure location to handle the sensitive information. However, due to our server only providing a link between a customer and their relevant account information, we will have no sensitive information stored directly on our database, allowing us the freedoms too use a relatively unsecure location.

Comparison to existing products

The method of transferring confidential information over a network as well as a 'username and password' type system is that of the 'chip and pin' currently in use by banks and credit companies.

Simplicity

The first main difference between our system and 'chip and pin' is the greater simplicity. People who did not grow up with advanced technology a main focus of their life have experienced difficulty with the chip and pin system. Ranging from putting the card into the reader the wrong way round, or even trying to put it in where there wasn't a slot, to saying their pin out loud instead of keeping it secret and typing it into the console, or even forgetting their pin entirely.

Our system will require the user to put their hand near a sensor, read a screen so check everything is right, and then place a finger on a scanner. Learning a simple and consistent couple of actions is easier by far.

Security

Although security of chip and pin is greater than when items were signed for with a pen, there is still a risk that someone could learn your pin, possibly by spying as you enter it, and then by acquiring your card they can use it freely until you realise and go about cancelling the card.

To break the security of our system, the thief would have to dig a chip out from under your skin and cut off the end of your fingers. Neither of these things can be done easily or without you knowing about it. Should someone go that far it is doubtful that they could discretely use severed limbs in a store.

Unified

Currently, chip and pin is only used when making a monetary transaction. Should you be making a purchase in a shop that has a reward scheme (nectar points for example) then it is up to you or the cashier to remember to use the card so that you can be awarded with your points. That is also a separate action from paying for the items and, although it doesn't necessarily need it, it rarely has any security features thus allowing anyone to add or spend points on the card.

With our system, when the user puts their hand near the ID scanner, our systems recognises the shop and at the same time any reward schemes associated to that shop. This way the user will never forget to claim their reward points. An additional finger scan will be asked for every separate scheme to confirm if the user wants to add to or spend points in the account. For example, if a shop did necter points and had their own reward scheme, the user would have to make 3 finger scans as confirmation for each scheme and to pay.

Customise

Any company or store that has agreed to use our system can be assigned to the users ID. However, the user will be completely free to decide which details they do and don't want to have assigned. We understand that some people may still have concerns about the security or having to re-learn specific procedures. If so, for example, they don't have to tie their bank account to their ID so there is no way a purchase can be made using it and they can continue to use previous methods such as chip and pin. Hopefully we will be able to educate everyone to the benefits of our system so that they freely migrate to its use when they are happy to do so.

Key Cost Drivers

Cost Drivers

The majority of users that will use the µID will be consumers that purchase goods, and need to validate their identification. This could potentially be anyone in the world who holds a passport, driving licence or bank card.
Suppliers e.g. shops, border control, petrol stations and hospitals would have to be supplied with a RFID reader and a fingerprint reader. These would cost:
RFID read only reader - Price: £27-£40.
The RFID (Radio-frequency identification) chip will cost an average of 17p and will soon drop to 7p. It could be combined with a silicon or plastic bracelet which could be mass produced. This means mass producing one of these for everyone in England would cost £0.07 x 51 million (population of England) = £3,570,000.00.
An example is the VeriChip which is an identification chip that can be inserted under the skin of a human being to provide biometric verification. VeriChip, manufactured by Applied Digital Solutions, is about double the size of a grain of rice and uses passive RFID technology. It is tissue-compatible glass tube that contains a silicon computer chip laser-etched with a unique alphanumeric identification code, an antenna, and a capacitor, which is compatible with human tissue. The "chip", once inserted under a person’s skin remains inactive until read by a compatible scanner.
The scanner works by sending a low frequency radio signal to "wake up" the chip and at the same time providing the chip with the power it needs to send its unique identification code back to the scanner. The alphanumeric code read by the scanner is then compared.

High resolution Fingerprint reader - Price: £100 - £200
Fingerprint readers work by using a high resolution scanner that bounces light off of an image, in this case the persons’ finger, and then registers the light that comes back. The light that is bounced off of the image consists of the three primary colours of light, red, blue and green. The resolution refers to the amount of light per unit area that is bounced off and read back from the image. A computer program then reads the data and renders and image based on the light received. Fingerprint reader software then analyses the image in sectors and identifies patterns and stores these patterns in a file.
Fingerprint readers at present are costly for their high resolution hardware and small sizes. Coupled with that, integrating them into other systems, costs more than them sold on their own. In the long run however, this would prove to be cost effective. If each store was to buy a RFID scanner integrated with a fingerprint reader, the long term cost on each store would pay for the initial rollout of the product.

The software needed to run it can be acquired through open source software. Licensing is also free as open source is free to be modified by the public. This would save massive costs for chain stores as licensing software for branches is very expensive. This would eventually be used in marketing our product by giving stores and our investors an incentive to invest in the system for long term.
Database equipment:
A database for the data and the linking of different resources such as scanner ID’s and fingerprint pattern information. We would use normal servers that can be bought from dedicated manufactures. We would invest in large bandwidth and large storage. These costs are relative as the prices fluctuate. General costs for a server setup would be:
We would need a database that links other databases together, because the data in our database will require small amounts of data the cost of the components will be:
Secure Servers – Using dedicated servers that are specifically designed for high data trafficking. This will be in the region of £30000
Internet connection – we will need these internet connections to communicate between servers and databases. This would cost approx £1,000
Software licences – We need firewalls and encryption so that we have secure data. Approx £3,000
Storage: Large amounts of memory in the Terabytes (upwards of 10TB) region would be required which would cost approximately £20,000.

Trial Run

In starting our system, we would begin with a very small scale version. We chose to use Cascades in Portsmouth high street as a model for trial as this presents an easy way to implement our system, and view its productivity. At the same time, this will give our customers’, both businesses and consumers. A breakdown follows:
15 shops, each using a reward points system or scheme
• In the trial run we would equip each participating store with an RFID reader which would be linked to our database. This would cost:
o £40 x15 stores = £600
Estimated 500 users equipped with RFID bracelet
• Starting small to introduce the system, we would give out 500 bracelets to the people of Portsmouth enticing them with the prospect of having all of their reward schemes in one place
o 500 users x 50p = £250
Server equipment on a small scale starting with a few GB of information
• Staring with our small scale models, we would only require a few GB or less which would be used for “look up table” for customer information on their reward schemes and benefits. This would use the serial number on the chip to identify the member, then look up on our database the schemes that the person is registered for.
o £2000 – 400GB 3.5 GHz Quad Core Processor blade server with high speed data trafficking
Our trial run initially would cost a maximum if £3000. This would give us a clear indication as to whether or not or system would be financially feasible.
Please Note: All survey information and costs were done assuming that country of setup would be England. As a result, all costs are stated in pounds and all research assumes that products bought would be using this currency.

References to the Technology
- http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3616-Large-Glass-Ampoule-Tag.aspx
- http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/c/2786-RFID-Readers.aspx
- http://news.cnet.com/2010-1069-980325.html
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/06/27/rfid_chips_are_here/

Use Case Scenarios

Medical

Anyone that needs to be assisted by a paramedic could have their chip scanned and information such as the patient's medical history and allergies would be instantly available to them.
Chemists could also have readers installed so that when the chip is scanned, employees at the pharmacy could have the patient's prescription displayed to them.

Banking

Chips could eventually take the place of debit/credit cards, increasing security as pin numbers would no longer be used.
As chip and pin is used in a variety of places, such as supermarkets, banks and most retail outlets the potential for the simplification of monetary transactions is huge.

Government

Identification such as Passports and driving licenses could also be implemented into the database. The use of the chip with regards to the passport would enforce border controls and could even be used to combat illegal immigration. Police cars could have readers installed and people caught committing a driving offence could have their chip scanned. This would stop people from giving false names and documents to the police who have pulled them over. This would be of great assistance to them as they often waste lots of time trying to track down the real identity of someone who has lied to them.

Personal

Reward schemes that are run by many different chain stores such as nectar could be replaced by the chip and reader. Anyone who is a member of even just a few schemes would appreciate the simplicity of not having to carry around a handful of cards. Sensitive products sold at retail outlets such as Knives, cigarettes etc, could require the customer’s chip to be scanned. This process would make it impossible for underage customers to obtain age-related products.

Corporate

High security companies which have restricted access areas use ways of identifying employees who can and can’t use these areas. The chip and reader could be implemented for this purpose requiring employees to scan their chip and the scanner only granting access to those who have the sufficient authorisation granted by the organization.