Reflection Essay on Attendance Monitoring System

This advancement and improvement however, requires us to follow it. Like Countries for example, Countries need to cope in the technological change this advancement brings in order to Stay relevant. But Of course some countries however are less fortunate, just look at our country, the Philippines. The Philippines is a, let’s admit it, a poor country. Governed by poor officials. This results in a lackluster change Technologically speaking and thus, leaves the Philippines in the dust when it comes to technological advancement. Compared to other far more advanced countries, our Country pales in imprison.

This gap in technological advancement results in mediocre establishments, businesses, public schools etc. But what is the reason for this? The Government is one thing, but there has to be another reason on why our Country lacks or let’s say falls behind in regards to Technology. We need to look a little deeper, first of all, we lack funds, investments, we are just mere followers and we are not the innovators, at least, technologically speaking. In order to overcome this however, even by at least by a small margin, we need to start from the bottom. It all starts with the employees,

Better employees Better and much more work done. Looks simple enough, but I think this is where we need to start. How do we make the employees better though? By their attendance. Attendance is an integral part to know if your employee is working at a high level or if they are working enough. At first glance, this may sound easy enough. Some will probably say that checking an employees attendance is easy, but with our current manual systems, is it accurate? As stated above, we are technologically behind than other countries, they are probably using automated systems that eases the job of everybody.

While here, most, but of course NOT ALL of the establishments and companies are using manual systems that takes a lot of time and effort. Now, THAT is where this system comes in. Background of the Study As stated in our long introduction above, the technological gap between the Philippines and other Countries serves as the backbone and the background of this study. Of course this helps out in our study, and is the main reason we aim to do this system. Statement of objectives Our objective is simple, ease the work done, but also improving the work and increasing the work done overall.

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Attendance monitoring system

Table of contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Project Context The advancement of technology today has immersed itself towards education. The presence of technology has reached its maximum of providing sustainable technology towards quality education through delivery and effective learning.

The Isabella State University Laboratory High School is one of the public high schools that embrace information and communication technology now. As they immersed themselves with technology through their delivery of lessons and other forms brought about by Information technology.

Attendance is very important in every student, a ingle absent is big difference in performance in the school. Mostly students Of high school are prone to absences, it is because Of some reasons that they think it is a boring class, laziness to attend the class, some students prefer going to computer shops playing games rather than entering the class and some student cannot refuse the influence of a friend inviting to go with them during class period.

Some of this reasons are not reported to the parents or guardians because the way of informing them is the traditional way which is they inviting the parents through telling the students that the parent need mom to school and communicate with the teacher about the absenteeism of the student. This process takes a long process and sometimes parents are not able to come because of some reasons that the parents are busy at work; they are away from the school and have an important matter to take care of. These are the reason why the parents are not informed about the absenteeism of the students.

In this manner, the researchers therefore proposed the Parent Portal and Attendance Monitoring System with Short Message Service (SMS). The design and development of the system consists of two platforms. The first platform is the stand alone or window-based system. The stand alone or window-based system’s function is to record attendance. If the student is absent and it is recorded to the stand alone system or window-base system, it will open a form that contains the SMS application that has a function to send a notification to parent that the student is absent.

Saving of attendance in the stand alone or window-based system will trigger the second platform which is the parent portal or web- based system to duplicate the recorded attendance of the stand alone or window-based system. In other words, the two platforms will record the attendance simultaneously. The parent portal or web-based system function is to display the recorded attendance. This will allow the registered parents to view the attendance of their own child.

The Parent Portal and Attendance Monitoring System with SMS will help the parents to inform about their students. Since there are two platforms that will be develop, informing the parent about the student is also two ways. The first way of informing parent about the attendance of the student is to send a notification using SMS and he second way of informing the parent is to access the Parent Portal or web- based system. The Parent Portal and Attendance Monitoring System with SMS provide a fast way of informing the parent anytime many,’here.

Purpose and Description of the Study The study is focused on the attendance monitoring of the students in the school through the design and development of a system providing a means of information on the student’s inputted grades and attendance of the student’s on the school through parent portal and via SMS reminder notification. The study main reason of existence is to send information to the parents. The information composed of the student’s attendance to class.

The recorded everyday attendance to class is displayed in the parent portal and if absences occur it automatically sent to parents. The system also includes; inputting of students grades and computation of student’s average per grading period. With the system providing a user-friendly and effective system provides an easier and faster view of data of every student such as when the faculty/ adman is mistaken in the input of grades, the system provides the means Of updating the record. The system can retrieve information from the database ND can view anytime.

Objective of the study

General Objective: The design and development of Parent Portal and Attendance Monitoring system aims to provide an interface for the parent to monitor their child’s attendance to school; specifically has the following functionalities:

Window-based System

  1. A system that will record the student’s attendance and inputted grade in each subject every grading period.
  2. A system that has a web browser feature that will replicate the inputted data in stand-alone system.
  3. A system that will create an account for parents to have an access to the parent portal SMS Application
  4. A web-based system that will display the inputted records in the stand alone system.
  5. A web-based system that will compute the average of a student per grading period.
  6. A web-based system that will display the rank of the student.
  7. A web-based system that will print report.

Scope and Limitations of the Project The proposed parent portal and attendance monitoring system with SMS is designed and developed for the whole school year 2012-2013 at Isabella State University Laboratory High School.

The design and development of the project shall compose of two distinct functionalities such a windows-based system and web-based system. In terms of windows-based system, the system’s function is on the recording of class attendances and inputting computed grades. The system also manages the user registration to the system such as; Adman of the Window-based system and Guardian who are the user of the parent portal and receiver of the notifications via SMS- The system provides functionality of recording the individual records of the dents such as attendance and inputted grade in every grading period in the school.

The system also provides a search capability for the user can easily view the student records. The system also provides the functionality of sending notification and reminder via SMS. These notifications are the absences of the student. The reminder will sent to the parents for them to know what is happening to the student. In terms of the parent portal, the services provided the parent, the ability to view the class attendances and computed grades in every quarter and the ranking of their child in entire grading. The parent can also generate report through printing.

The performance in terms of grades, attendances, quizzes, participation, assignment/projects and periodical test misconducts in school quarterly are not to be displayed in parent portal. The functional limitation of the project is based on the functional role of the users to the system and web based system. There are two users to the system, the administrator and the parent. In terms of the adman, it has the capability to perform the recording as well as the updating the records in terms of the students attendance and computed grade in every quarter.

Every update and recording of the student’s performance is automatically posted to the Parent Portal. While on the side of the parent, it has the capacity to log in from the web by accessing the web portal. The parents directly view his/ her child performance base on its grades and attendance to school in parent portal.

Chapter 2: Review of related literature

Related Studies/Theoretical Background There is a significant body of research demonstrating the contribution of parent involvement to student learning.

Henderson and Map (2002) reviewed several studies and provided a synthesis of the research findings. The report points to the strong impact of parent involvement on both student achievement and attendance and behavior. Research also indicates that participation declines with grade level, that socioeconomic status and family situation are factors in determining parent involvement and that students want their families to be involved (Epstein, 2002). Perhaps the most widely quoted work is by Epstein (2002) in her model of parent involvement which describes six different categories.

Pusher (2007) extends the definition beyond involvement to engagement and argues that engagement is the Lamar of parent connections that truly make a difference for students. Reports in studies are related to project’s objective. Since the parent’s involvement in the student is very important, the researcher’s study is to develop a system that would monitor the students for the parents. All the models speak to the importance of context in understanding parent engagement.

While the types of engagement can be described, schools will be successful in working with parents and communities if the staff take time to listen, to understand, and to relate to the families with whom they work Pusher,2007). Each child arrives at school carrying the aspirations of the parent (Marijuana’s, 2002), a family background (Bethel, 2004), and the culture of the family community. In this case, researchers must develop a communication between the staffs and the guardians of the students.

The Quest for Communities that Work: Sustaining Student Improvement, An International Symposium for Education and Community Leaders, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. (Supplied by author) This report highlights the findings Of a research project with the primary purpose of determining if school nuncios have the ability to influence the rate of parental participation in education, with a particular emphasis on the types of involvement that may lead to improved student learning. The secondary purpose of the research project was to identify the ways in which Notation’s parents prefer to be involved in their children’s education. Comments) The study concluded that a deliberate focus and activity related to the Epstein framework did produce a higher level of parental involvement as compared to schools without such a focus. Four recommendations for organizing programs to stimulate parental involvement are made. Stimulate activity within eight strategic categories of involvement. These are described in the, an extension of the Epstein (2002) model, adding Attending School Events and Fundraising to the model.

Experimental research on the use of progress monitoring to enhance student performance has focused primarily on one form of progress monitoring: Curriculum-Based Measurement (CB). Academic areas frequently assessed using CB include reading mathematics, written expression, and spelling. Criteria that describe the measures used as part of CB include valid and liable indicators of generalized performance, short duration to facilitate frequent administration, a focus on direct and repeated measures of student performance, multiple forms that are inexpensive to create and produce, and sensitivity to changes in student achievement over time.

Related Studies In a study developed by Wilson Abacas Learn (1 999), on a Proposed Grading System of Subcategories National School of Arts and Trade Sunday Subcategories Squiring, she noted the following:

  1. Slow Grade Computation
  2. Time Consuming
  3. Inaccuracy grades
  4. Bulky Workload For those reasons, she recommends a computerized system:
    • To reduce the time and effort in computing grades
    • To provide complete processing needed with efficiency and accuracy
    • To provide accurate grades reports.

The study violins Abacas Lorraine has the capacity to record the grades of the students but the grades recorded in the system must inform to parents, in this case the researcher’s used the widely known World Wide Web to browse the grades of the students and see the top performed students and also, the parents can discuss the grades of the students. In a study of Jennifer C. Cotton (2001), on a Proposed Computerized Student Monitoring System of the Information Technology of University of La Salute Santiago City, she noted the following:

  1. Slow data processing
  2. Inaccuracy of repost
  3. Lost of unrecorded files

For those reasons, she recommends a computerized System:

  1. TO answer data security and fast, accessing of students information.
  2. TO lessen document in folder because it will already be placed and stored in diskettes for more secured data storage.
  3. TO make the job of staff, cashier, faster and more accurate.

Jennifer C. Cotton proposed a good system UT it is not well managed. The researcher didn’t focus in recording but in disseminating the students’ performance because it is the responsibility of the parent for them to know what is happening.

Chapter 3: Technical background

In this chapter discuss the technicality of the project by which it describes the type of the project to be developed and its functionality. It also represents the type of application development of the project.

Technicality of the Project Figure

Network Architecture The proponents have used the web 2. 0 because it supports the features of he system like AJAX and JAVA script. The data fetched by an Ajax request is typically formatted in XML or SON (JavaScript Object Notation) format; two widely used structured data formats.

Since both of these formats are natively understood by JavaScript it can easily use to transmit structured data in their web application. When this data is received via Ajax, the JavaScript program then uses the Document Object Model (DOOM) to dynamically update the web page based on the new data, allowing for a rapid and interactive user experience. The system works and functions in 3-tier architecture, it imposed Of the presentation layer, application layer and persistence layer. From the diagram below describes the architectural layout of the project. In the diagram it represents the different functionalities of the system.

From the presentation layer, the faculty, adman and parent are the sole user involve in the system. The application layer is composed of the windows-based system and the web-based system. The window-based system is designed through the use of visual basic. Net application includes the use of a remote modem to send via SMS. While the web-based system is designed using the AJAX development, with CSS tools and other scripting to derive the functionality of the system. On the third layer is the persistence layer in which it is composed of the understanding of the database of all the system developed.

Details of Technology to be Use The scope of this section is the discussion on what are the technologies is being used and how did the researcher use these technologies. CAMP 1. 7 or higher Developers will use this as development tool, to allow website designers and programmers to test their work on their own computers without any access to the Internet Myself -pronounced either “My S-Q-L” or My Sequel,” is an open source relational database management system. It is based on the structure query language (SQL), which is used for adding, removing, and modifying information in the database.

Standard SQL commands, such as ADD, DROP, INSERT, and UPDATE can be used with Myself. Myself can be used for a variety of applications, but is most commonly found on Web servers. A website that uses Myself may include Web pages that access information from a database. These pages are often referred to as “dynamic,” meaning the content of each page is generated from a database as the page loads. Websites that use dynamic Web pages are often referred to as database-driven websites. Myself will use by the researcher because it is one of the database that is compatible with the development of the system.

HTML -This is the language that Web pages are written in. If you want to create really great Web pages then you will need to learn this. As far as computer languages go this is the easiest to learn. You can create a Web page without it using a Web page editing program but the program will still use HTML to create the page. CSS: Cascading style sheets re used to format the layout of Web pages. They can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of Web pages that previously could only be defined in a page’s HTML. CSS helps Web developers create a uniform look across several pages JavaScript-Like Java, this is a programming language designed by Sun Microsystems, in conjunction with Netscape that can be integrated into standard HTML pages. While JavaScript is based on the Java syntax, it is a scripting language, and therefore cannot be used to create stand-alone orgasm. Instead, it is used mainly to create dynamic, interactive Web pages. For example, Web developers can use JavaScript to validate form input, create image rollovers, and to open those annoying pop-up windows. Like so many other things, we have to take the good with the bad.

AJAX- stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. This is the latest technology on web development that allows the user to interact with the links without reloading the page. IV. Net-(Visual Basic . NET) is an object-oriented programming language from Microsoft. It is the . NET version of the Visual Basic (IV) regaining language. Like all . NET languages, IV. NET uses the Common Language Runtime (CLC) for program execution. IV. NET is substantially different from traditional Visual Basic, which has been the most popular language for developing Windows applications.

Modem- device that enables computers, facsimile machines, and other equipment to communicate with each other across telephone lines or over cable television network cables. In the strictest sense, a modem is a device that converts between analog signals, such as sound waves, and digital signals, which are used by computers. However, the term has also come to include devices that permit the transmission of entirely digital signals. Cellular Phone-A portable telephone that uses wireless cellular technology to send and receive phone signals. This technology works by dividing the Earth into small regions called cells.

Within each cell the wireless telephone signal goes over its assigned bandwidth to a cell tower, which relays the signal to a telephone switching network, connecting the user to the desired party. How the Project will Work? To disseminate the information on the parents, the projects works in a client based system. It shows how the project work and how the process done in all layers. From the presentation layer, where the client’s interface or the parents, to application layer, where the administrator or the staff of the faculty, to persistence layer or the database layer of the system, the system is being explained in further details.

There are two kinds of system to be used view the information; through SMS and through Web Portal. It means that there are also TV’0 presentation layers, two application layers and two persistence layers. As you can see above figure, there are two users which are the parents, two application areas which are the application server of the window base application and the hobnobbing server and two database servers. To disseminate information on the parents, data and information must gather beforehand to record or save in the database of the system and ready to be viewed by the parents.

In order to collect data, the adman records the student grades every grading period to the system after able to collect all the grades from their subject teacher. One distinct feature of the system is that it automatically sends notification or reminder to the parent via SMS whenever his child incurs absences in school. It also automatically updates the record from the parent portal whenever there are updates made from the system. On the side Of the web-based system, the adman can therefore reply back to all query posted from the web portal by the parents.

Methodology

Requirement Specification Operational Feasibility Fishbone Diagram One of the most effective method to track the root cause or problem of the agency or at the area were the study were taken which is the school, fishbone method is being used because researcher can determine what problems are going to solve when the system is being implemented. The diagram below wows what are the data gathered by the researchers. It shows the cause and effect of the current system of the school.

Fishbone Diagram of the Project Functional Decomposition Diagram (FED) is a diagram that shows the breakdown structure in smallest component of the system that the researchers going to develop after studying analyzing the data that are gathered in feasibility and planning phase. This will help track the functionalities of the system and let you know the features that can are being added into the system. This diagram shows all the processes of the system. It will help the searchers on creating DEED because it is similar to context diagram that all processes are being displayed in one diagram.

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Monitoring System Rfid Technology

RFID technology which is a matured technology that has been widely deployed by various organizations as part of their automation systems. In this study, an RFID based system has been built in order to produce a time-attendance management system. This system consists of two main parts which include: the hardware and the software. The hardware consists of the motor unit and the RFID reader. The RFID reader, which is a low-frequency reader (125 kHz), is connected to the host computer via a serial to USB converter cable. The Time-Attendance System GUI was developed using visual basic.

Net. The Time-Attendance Management System provides the functionalities of the overall system such as displaying live ID tags transactions, registering ID, deleting ID, recording attendance and other minor functions. This interface was installed in the host computer. Keywords: Radio-frequency identification, RFID technology, radio waves identification (RFID) is a matured technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal, or person.

RFID hips contain a radio transmitter that emits a coded identification number when queried by a reader device. Some RFID tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. The application of bulk reading enables an almost-parallel reading of tags. This small type is incorporated in consumer products, and even implanted in pets, for identification. The tag’s information is stored electronically.

The RFID tag includes a small RF transmitter which transmits an encoded radio signal to interrogate the tag, and receiver which receives the message and responds with its identification information. Some RFID tags do not use a battery. Instead, the tag uses the radio energy transmitted by the reader as its energy source. The RFID system design includes a method of discriminating several tags that might be within the range of the RFID reader. RFID can be used in many applications. A tag can be affixed to any object and used to track and manage inventory, assets, people, etc.

For example, it can be affixed to cars, computer equipment, books, mobile phones, etc. The Healthcare industry has used RFID to reduce counting, looking for things and auditing items. Many financial institutions use RFID to track key assets nd automate compliance. Also with recent advances in social media RFID is being used to tie the physical world Copyright 2012 SAVAP International www. savap. org. pk www. ]ournals. savap. org. pk 168 with the virtual world. RFID in Social Media first came to light in 2010 with Facebook’s annual conference.

RFID is a superior and more efficient way of identifying objects than manual system or use of bar code systems that have been in use since the 1970s. Furthermore, passive RFID tags (those without a battery) can be read if passed within close enough proximity to an RFID reader. It is not necessary to “show” the tag to the reader device, s with a bar code. In other words it does not require line of sight to “see” an RFID tag, the tag can be read inside a case, carton, box or other container, and unlike barcodes RFID tags can be read hundreds at a time.

Bar codes can only be read one at a time. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a matured technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, technologies. RFID tags are not an “improved bar code” as the proponents of the technology would like you to believe. An RFID system consists of three components which include: an antenna, a transceiver and a transponder (the tag). The antenna and the transceiver are often incorporated into one reader.

The antenna uses radio frequency waves to transmit a signal that activates the transponder. When activated, the tag transmits data back to the antenna. The RFID can read the tag using Radio Frequency, meaning that the RFID reader can be read from a distance, right through your clothes, wallet, bags etc. An RFID tag consists of unique ID for each tag. The RFID technology has been in existence since the early 1920s. This technology has been used in libraries, museums, race timing, toll collection and contactless payment, tracking of persons and animals etc.

The RFID attendance system is an automatic embedded system used in taking attendance of registered persons in a particular organization. The RFID attendance system offers an organization, the efficiency and convenience associated with RFID technology at a low cost. This method is fast as well as simple. Each employee uses an RFID card and the reader records the data when the employee enters or exits. RFID devices and software must be supported by a sophisticated software rchitecture that enables the collection and distribution of location based information in near real time.

A complete picture of the RFID attendance system combines the RFID Tags and readers with access to global standardized database, ensuring real time access to up-to-date information on the card. The card contains a unique identification number called an electronic product code (EPC). Nowadays, there are lots of companies around the world and some of them consist of workers up to 10 thousand or more. To handle a large number of workers may be a problem especially to get the attendance of the workers.

The manual process means that henever a worker comes to work, he goes to sign at the time officer’s table. This manual process has some flaws because in a case where a worker bribes the time officer or is familiar with him, the time officer may tamper with the attendance records. This would be a big problem in the company and might affect the productivity and management of the company. The suitable solution for this problem is by designing a system that will record attendance automatically. In this project, RFID system is used to record the numbers of employees’ attendance automatically.

The ID cards of the employees is embedded with RFID tag which is read by a reader. This RFID system is interfaced to a database through a computer. This method is more effective to prevent problem encountered when getting attendance manually. Below is the block diagram of an RFID attendance system. Related Works The use of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in automated electronic environment and for tracking objects has been widely researched upon by researchers and deployed by various organizations as part of their automation systems.

References [21] and [7] provide examples of a real RFID contact less data link deployments that utilize RFID technology for object tracking and automated data ollection solution. RFID is a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from 169 an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object In 1945, Leon Theremin invented an espionage tool (for spy activities) for the Soviet Union which retransmitted incident radio waves with audio frequency information.

Sound waves vibrated a diaphragm which slightly altered the shape of the resonator, which modulated the reflected radio frequency even though this device was covert listening device, not an identification device or tag, it is considered to be a redecessor of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology because it was likewise passive, being energized and activated by waves from an outside source. Similar technologies such as the IFF (identification friend and foe) transponder developed in the United Kingdom, was routinely used by the allies in the World War 2 to identify aircrafts as friend or foe.

Transponders are still used by most powered aircrafts to this day. Mario . W. Cardullo was the first to have received the United States patent for an active RFID tag with re-writable memory on January 23, 1973 [4]. In that same year, Charles Walton, a California entrepreneur, received a patent for a passive transponder used to unlock a door without a key. A card with an embedded transponder communicates a reader near a door, when the reader detects a valid identification number stored within the tag, the reader unlocks the door.

Walton licensed the technology to Schalge lock of San Francisco, a lock maker and other companies [1]. Time and attendance systems are a major part of todays human resource systems, take organization towards better human resource practice, systems and excellence. The implementation of time and attendance system has a lot f advantages for the manager. The kind of system that is implemented depends upon what the organization is trying to achieve by implementing the system. There are different types of automatic attendance systems; each type of system is suited to different needs and requirements [9].

Some of the most common types include; biometric attendance system, magnetic stripe attendance system, barcode attendance system, and RFID attendance system. Barcode Attendance System The barcode system is a common type of time and attendance system through which the efficiency of measuring and tracking employees’ time could be increased to a reat degree. With the automation through barcode technology, the errors previously provides high levels of accuracy and reliability in tracking of employee attendance.

In addition, the costs associated with the installation of the system are not too much relative to the cost of payroll or attendance errors. The implementation of the barcode system is easy. Every employee is issued a badge/card in which there is a barcode. In order to check into or out of the company, the badge/card is swapped on the time clock, and the data is captured by the clock. This data from the clock can be downloaded by the manager or the administrator nd then used for updating and maintaining time and attendance records.

The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a unique 12-digit number assigned to retail merchandise that identifies a product and the vendor. The Universal Product Code (UPC) on a product typically appears adjacent to its barcode, the machine-readable representation of the Universal Product Code (UPC). The UPC for a particular product is always the same. The first six digits is the vendor unique identification number. All the products that the vendor sells will have the same first six digits in their UPCs. The next five digits identify the product. The last digit is called the check digit.

This is used to verify that the UPC for that specific product is correct. Each time that UPC is read, typically by a scanner reading the barcode, a calculation is done. And, if the check digit is different compared from the one that is calculated, then the computer knows that there is something wrong with the UPC. Figure 1 is a pictorial diagram of a barcode with its universal product code (UPC) [11]. Copyright 2012 SAVAP International 170 ISSN-L: 2223-9553 ISSN: 2223-9944 9553, Fig. l picture ofa barcode Biometric Attendance System This is the study of measurable biological characteristics.

In computer security, biometrics refers to authentication techniques that rely on measurable physical characteristics that can be automatically checked. There are several types of biometric identification schemes which include:-face fingerprints, ecked. include: face retina, hand geometry, vein, voice etc. The computer uses any of these biometric identification schemes to determine who you are, and based your identity authorize [12]. Under this system, there is time and attendance software that is paired with a time clock for employees which uses biometric technology for authentication purposes.

When these systems are in use, the employees can use their finger prints for clocking in and clocking out. This method has the great benefit that the entire process is easy as well as quick. Other advantages include elimination of the cost previously incurred in getting the employees cards. In the other systems that uses card other (magnetic stripe and barcode systems), there is an ongoing expense associated with the damage, misplacement and stealing of cards and the continuous need for their restoration and maintenance.

Magnetic Stripe Attendance System In the magnetic stripe attendance system, data is encoded in the magnetic stripe of he employee card. When the card, is swiped through the employee time clock, the information in the card’s magnetic stripe is recorded by the time clock. This system also reads one card at a time and also requires contact reads with the reader. Figure 2 is a pictorial diagram of a card embedded with magnetic strip. Fig. picture of a magnetic stripe card Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) A radio-frequency identification system comprises hardware shown in figure 3a & 3b, known as frequency interrogators or readers and tags, also known as labels, as well as RFID software or RFID tags middleware. RFID tags are of two major types, which include Active Tag and Passive Tag. and Fig. sa RFID tag Fig. 3b RFID card and reader 171 RFID tags can be either passive, active or battery assisted passive. Passive RFID does not use a battery, while an active has an on-board battery that always broadcasts or activated when in the presence of a RFID reader.

Most RFID tags contain at least two parts: one is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, and other specialized functions; the other is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal. Depending on mobility, RFID readers are classified into two different types: fixed RFID and mobile RFID. If the reader reads tags in a stationary position, it is called fixed RFID. These fixed readers are set up specific interrogation zones and create a “bubble” of RF energy that can be tightly controlled if the physics is well engineered.

This allows a very definitive reading area for when tags go in and out of the interrogation zone. On the other hand, if the reader is mobile when the reader reads tags, it is called mobile RFID. An Electrical Engineering student of the University of Malaysia; Mohd Firdaus Bin Mahyidin designed RFID technology students’ attendance system 2008 [10], which only takes attendance of students and stores the information in the database. The block diagram of his project is shown figure 4. However, this system does not the incorporate a door unit which allows access to only registered users.

Fig. 4: RFID Technology Students attendance system. Comparing Barcode with RFID is done on table 1 . Table 1: comparisons between Barcode and RFID 2 3 4 5 6 7 Barcode Rely on the user to make contact to the reader, hence cannot be read from a distance In Barcode, only one card read at a time is allowed. Embedded information cannot be updated, hence the restriction of the repeated overwriting if the embedded election information for each card It does not allow for the increase technologies like surveillance cameras to be activated with an employee being in the vicinity.

RFID Do not require contact with reader, hence can be read from a distance. Embedded information can be updated; this allows the repeated over-writing if embedded electronic information for each card. RFID has increased technologies like surveillance cameras to be activated in onjunction with an employee being in their vicinity. It is slower and requires time of sight to RFID is faster and does not require line of function. sight. It has lower data storage transponder. It has higher data storage.

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Nokia and the RFID student attendance monitoring system

Table of contents

Abstract:

RFID student attendance monitoring system is a system that will take students attendance by using RFID technology. This system mainly comprises of Nokia 6212 NFC mobile which is used as RFID reader, RFID tags which are embedded to the students ID cards and Server machine which is likely computer. This system records student’s attendance to an attendance database server. The system is included with other additional system module for students and lecturers. The information in the attendance database is used by the university administration to better manage the class room statistics, warning for unattended students via letters or e-mails, reminder for students, report for parents and students can also track their performance. RFID student attendance monitoring system is developed using java programming language. The database support for this software is oracle 10g. In order to have complete system functionality, the software application is needed to be integrated with the RFID technology. The software application on the computer is needed with the attendance details which would come from the RFID reader in to order to take attendance and persist in the database. The software application on the computer is deployed in Apache Tomcat 6.0 server and can be viewed by the user by using any internet browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Introduction:

The research is proposed to investigate the requirements of automatic students’ attendance monitoring system. The requirements which has been identified and modelled are represented in the form of structure for students’ attendance system. In order to obtain requirements, some of the methods have been applied such as observation and literature research related to current RFID monitoring systems.

We have an existing system like taking attendance manually. For example professors take attendance of their students by taking signatures on an attendance sheet. The main problem with this system is that students will sign occasionally for their friends who are not present to the class. The purpose of this project is to automate tracking of the presence of students in the class room, with the intention of bringing transparency and reducing number of errors that usually happen in such tasks. The another problem is counting each student attendance for the total semester will be difficult if the professor got 100 or more students which leads to time consuming and error prone.

In order to make taking attendance simpler I got a thought to make this application automatic with the existing identification technologies like automated finger print identification system, barcode system and radio frequency identification system. In my project I am using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for security and attendance purposes. Identification means the ability to find, retrieve, report, change or delete specific data without having any doubt.

These problems can be eliminated by using RFID technology. The main advantage of RFID based student attendance monitoring system is,

1. It saves time for taking attendance during the class.

2. More authentic attendance system

3. Reduces paper based system

4. It provides interaction between student, course leaders and lecturers.

Student attendance monitoring system is an exclusive software solution. It can be integrated with RFID technology. In order to implement this project we require RFID reader, RFID tags and web interface. The card reader should positively identify student’s ID cards and provide consistent class attendance logs for the benefit of students, lecturers and university. The attendance logs must be stored in the central database in order to generate reports. The device must capable to communicate with the central database server.

Professors should be able to view attendance and be capable to add information to the system.

1. This application tracks each student’s classroom attendance for any number of students.

2. It provides a software set up to monitor information about scanned cards against a database and provides detailed statistics to the lecturer’s about the students. The software set up must include adequate administration capabilities.

3. Provide a wireless interface between the reader and database server.

4. It also provides facility to the course leaders, professors to monitor student attendance at regular intervals.

5. It monitors the attendance of students for each course.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) consists of a transmitter chip/IC and a receiving antenna. Each chip has a unique identification number generally referred to as a RFID Tag, which is attached to the object that we want to discover. Now the RFID tags are detected and identified using an antenna or a scanning device known as transceiver, which with the help of radio signals identifies the tag, the object. In this project, the RFID tags will be associated, to the students (by attaching the RFIDs to student’s university cards) and the transceivers will be placed on the entry points of the classrooms. Software at the back end will keep and manage the records, relating to the student’s entry to the classroom. All the use-cases will be accomplished using software having application and databases layers. Concepts of Object orientation will be followed in the design of the system.

Aim:

This research is aimed to develop a student attendance monitoring system using RFID technology.

Objectives:

The main objective of the project is to automate the student attendance recording system using RFID technology.
To study on data transfer between RFID system and Graphical user interface (GUI).
The application should be able to display the student attendance percentage in each of the modules and the overall semester attendance.
The application should be capable to generate attendance reports for the authorized party which we would be helpful for university administration to have better database record.
To test the application using testing techniques.

Deliverables:

1. A review of RFID readers and methods for programming them including a demonstration application running on the Nokia 6212 that can read the unique information from an RFID label.

2. A Nokia 6212 application for tutors to take to classes to capture students’ id data from RFID labels.

3. A review of techniques for communicating between mobile phones and PCs accompanied by a demonstration application for transferring id card data from a Nokia 6212 to a PC.

4. A PC application for downloading and collating register data from a Nokia 6212 and storing it in a central database.

5. An application for generating reports for personal tutors and admin staff.

Research question(s):

How RFID Technology used for monitoring student attendance
What are the best techniques for storing and processing the data
What are the techniques and technologies for getting data from the phone to PC

Problem Statement

According to Wang. (2005), Automatic student attendance using RFID technology comprises of multiple devices work together. The devices include RFID reader, RFID tag, system interfaces and databases. This system needs a good system design to make sure that the devices can capture accurate data and can interact with the information system accurately and efficiently. In order to obtain good system design, developers should have clear idea, knowledge and able to understand the requirements and convert them in to useful information. It is very important to represent the necessary information in to a meaningful data model suitable for application level interactions, including monitoring, tracking and application integration. Therefore a structure is needed to present plans for developing automatic student attendance monitoring system using RFID Technology.

Why Automation?

To save on time spent for daily roll calls.
To avoid manual errors.
To obtain accurate attendance means exact IN time.
To avoid record search time, when we want to see any student’s attendance performance.
To avoid reporting time used for preparing the attendance percentage reports at the end of the year.
Finally to have professional and global look of the organization.

Scope:

The scope of this project is mainly based on the following things.

I selected university of Wolverhampton as a case study to acquire requirements.
Web-based technology is used to develop the application.
Unified modelling language is used as a requirement modelling technique.

Significance:

The structure of the student attendance monitoring system is planned to provide strategy for developing automatic student attendance system using RFID technology.
Need to know the project requirements for developing the application.
Technical knowledge is required on RFID technology and software tools to develop the application.

System functionality:

Components used for the system

RFID reader
RFID tags
Bluetooth connection
Power supply
Software on the computer

Description:

The students old ID cards will be replaced with RFID ID cards which means the RFID tags are embedded on the ID cards. The card looks similar to their old cards having photo, name and other details.
The sufficient number of RFID readers will be installed at the entrance of each and every class room.
All the RFID readers are networked to the computer via Bluetooth connection.
The students enter the class room by showing their ID cards to the RFID reader from the maximum of 3cm.
The RFID reader reads the card data that is RFID tag reference number and sends the data to the computer via Bluetooth connection.
As soon as the card is read by the reader, the tag reference numbers will be streamed in the newly created excel sheet in the computer and waits for other card get scanned.
The RFID reader reads a card within less than a second.
The software application in the computer uses the data in the excel sheet for taking students attendance and maintains the data for generating reports.

Summary:

The RFID technology has been used by many sectors for automated tracking of objects like chain management, retailing, security and health care applications. The RFID student attendance monitoring system utilizes the existing RFID based applications technology which gives advantages to the users in the term of feasibility while recording their attendance. This application combines multiple devices which work together as a complete system. This system consists of readers, tags, user interfaces and databases to keep and manage user’s data. Designing multiple devices system is a great challenge. The developer needs to have a clear understanding of the system from different perspectives to ensure the successful of the system. Therefore this research investigates the requirements of the system and suggests a structure for it.

Resources required:

The following resources are required to develop the application.

Processor1 GHz processor is recommended
RAM256 MB RAM is recommended
Operating SystemWindows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista or Windows 7 is recommended
IDEEclipse Pulsar 1.3.2
DatabaseOracle 10g
Java ToolsJDK and JRE 1.6 is needed to run java files
Web ServerJakarta tomcat 6.0 is necessary to host the application on the web and to test the application.
HardwareNokia 6212 NFC Mobile is used as a RFID reader and RFID tags and Server machine
MS – Office 2007MS-Excel 2007 is recommended.

Literature Review:

Automatic Identification and Data Capture Technology:

This chapter mainly describes the introduction to automatic capture of data for the purpose of user identification.

Definition of User Identification Devices (UIDS):

User Identification devices are used to describe a physical object or a process that discovers the attributes of the consumer or producer and attempts to exclusively organize that entity. The main objective of the UIDs is to maintain accountability and access control. Currently the UIDs are supported by the business people because it making them more convenient, continuing efforts to make them smaller, easier to transport and maintain, and more efficient with respect to data throughput. Many of the UIDs are currently in usage they are plastic cards or badges with a picture on it, barcodes, magnetic strips, embedded microchips also known as smart cards, biometrics and passwords. The latest identification technology which is being advanced is the use of radio frequency. The radio frequency identification is a noncontact transmission method. The main objective method is to automatically capture the data for accurate identification. Firstly these UIDs need to improve the security and integrity of UIDs.

Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC):

The Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) can be referred as a worldwide industry term. AIDC explains the identification and direct collection of information into a computer system, programmable logic controller (PLC) or other microprocessor-controlled device without using keyboard. The ability of recognizing and accessing the information in secured places within the business world and without the use of keyboards has directed to the use of contact and non contact badges and cards.

Smart Card Technology:

In the early 1950’s the concept of plastic cards was first appeared in the USA. They introduced plastic credit cards and it was first being issued by Diners club in 1950s. Later integrated technology was developed which made it possible to integrate data memory and processing logic on to a single silicon chip. The desire for the ease of a smaller transaction tool caused the two to merge in to what is known as the “smart card”.

RFID technology background:

According to Ching-Hsien Hsu. et al. (2009), RFID technology is one of the most commonly used technologies for identification nowadays. It is an automatic technology which helps the machines or computers to identify, record, or control the individual target through radio waves. Typically an RFID system consists of two components namely RFID reader and RFID tag. Generally RFID reader electronics uses outside power resource to generate a signal to drive the reader’s antenna and turn into radio wave. The radio wave will be accepted by the RFID tag and reflects the energy in the way signalling its identification and other related information. In order to access the reflection from the RFID tag, the RFID reader works as a receiver on sensing and decoding the signal from the RFID tag. In simple RFID system, RFID tag is passive and powered by the energy of the reader’s signals. In some systems, the RFID reader radio frequencies instruct the memory to be read or write from the associated RFID tag.

RFID Reader

According to Johansson (2004), The RFID readers continuously send the interrogating radio signals in search for the responding tags. These radio signals are sent at fixed frequency bands. The tag discovers this radio energy signals and sends the tag’s serial number and any other information to the reader. In addition to reading the data from the tag, some readers can write data to the tag. The distance from which a reader can set up a contact with a tag is called read range and the read rate can be defined as the maximum rate at which the data can be read from the tag (bits or bytes per second). The high frequency signal and the stronger powered examination signal for communication increases the range of communication.

According to Simson (2005), Historical RFID readers were designed to read only a particular type of tag but multimode readers can read different type of tags and are becoming popular. Similar to tags, RFID readers come in many sizes. The largest reader consists of a desktop computer with a special card and multiple antennas connected to the card through shielded cable. These type readers in general hold a network connection, so that it could report tags that it reads to other computers. The smallest readers are of postage stamp size and are designed to embed in mobile telephones.

RFID tags:

According to Mark (2010), An RFID tag is sometimes referred as a transponder. It contains the identifying data of the object where it is sited on and it generates a signal containing that relevant information. There are four different types of tags available based on the power sources.

They are:

Passive tags
Semi Passive tags
Active tags
Semi Active tags

Passive tags: These tags usually get their power to transmit the signal from the magnetic field created by the RFID reader. These tags can transmit up to a range of 10 meters. These tags are smaller and cheaper because they don’t have batteries.

Semi Passive tags: This tag consists of onboard battery which is used to power the onboard circuitry but it doesn’t produce any signal but it still uses magnetic field produced by the reader to produce a signal. These tags have a maximum transmission range of 100 meters.

Active tags: This tag consists of an onboard battery which is used to communicate and send signals to the reader and power the onboard circuitry. The onboard battery allows it to transmit up to a maximum range of 1000 meters.

Semi Active tags: These tags are very much similar to active tags with a small difference of they remain in sleep mode until they receive a signal from the reader. Which means the tag activates when it receives a signal from the reader.

The communication between the reader and tag is possible through the radio frequencies.

Tag detection:

According to Bogdon (2008), Signals from the RFID readers activates the tags which are likely within their examination zone. The examination zone can be referred as the area around the reader where the tags can receive the readers signal, process it and sends back the response that can be decoded by the reader. The information that is decoded by the reader is passed to the host computing systems for processing according to the application. RFID reader-writers have the capability to send back the data to the read/write-capable tags in order to append or replace data. The RFID reader usually locates, activates, and receives transmissions from RFID tags. Readers can be fixed or portable. Fixed readers are typically attached to antenna to notice the tag within particular area. These readers usually collect the data from the products that are travelling through conveyor belt, gates and doorways etc. Portable readers can be moved to detect remote tags. In today’s market readers with wireless communication capabilities exists such as SkyeTech’s SkyeRead reader is attuned with Mica Motes and IDBlue is a handheld Bluetooth 13.56MHz reader with High Frequency is compatible with devices ranging from PDAs to PCs. Now a day’s major mobile phone manufacturers providing phones with embedded RFID readers e.g. Nokia 6131 and Nokia 6212 NFC.

RFID Frequencies:

According to Ali (2008), Different RFID systems drive at a variety of radio frequencies. Each range of frequencies offers its own power requirements, operating range and performance. Each of the ranges may have different restrictions that limit based on the applications they can be used for. The detection range may vary from few centimetres to 100 meters. RFID systems are currently operating in the Low frequency (LF), High Frequency (HF), Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) and Super High Frequency bands.

RFID operation frequency ranges and related applications shown in the below table:

Frequency RangeDescriptionTypical Applications
< 135 KHzLow Frequency, Inductive CouplingAccess Control & OEM applications
13.56 MHzHigh Frequency, Inductive CouplingAccess Control and Library Books
868 – 870 MHz902 – 928 MHzUltra High Frequencies (UHF), Backscatter couplingSupply chain tracking
2.40 t – 2.483 GHzSHF, Backscatter couplingAsset tracking Highway toll tags Vehicle tracking

Elements of an RFID System:

Basically RFID system consists of four elements:

RFID Readers
RFID tags
Antennas and radio characteristics
Computer network (if any) which is used to connect the readers

Antennas and Radio:

The physical layer of the RFID system comprises of antennas and radios used to connect the reader to the tag which allows the devices to share the information. The RFID tag antenna is the conductive element that allows the tag to send and receive data. In order to form a magnetic field, the passive, low (135 KHz) and high frequency (13.56 MHz) tags consists of a coiled antenna that couples with the coiled antenna of the reader. UHF antennas come in different shapes. Readers consist of antennas which releases radio waves. The Radio Frequency energy from the reader antenna is harvested by the antenna and this energy is used to power up the microchip, which leads to change the electrical load on the antenna to reflect back its own signal.

http://www.rfidjournal.com/glossary/antenna

Near Field Communication:

According to Raine (2009), Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) terms are often confusing as the RFID acronym holds multiple standards. NFC and RFID are used inaccurately as transferable terms. This means that the RFID readers might be able read the RFID tags which are implemented with the same standard. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is used for remote identification and data transfer at reading ranges up to a few centimetres. It means it reads the tags which are close in range. NFC can be considered as a division of more common RFID technology. NFC operates in different communication modes when compared to traditional RFID reader/RFID tag combination. It is more likely for the two NFC devices communicate each other and NFC devices are also capable to imitating definite RFID smart cards. The emulation mode enables the NFC devices to use the existing reader infrastructure. NFC is complaint with some smart card ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards: ISO 14443A, 14443B, and 15693 along with Sony’s FeliCa Standards and MiFare. NFC was initiated from a joint project of Philips and Sony for developing a short range communication technology in 2002 and it resulted as a Ecma Standard (ECMA 340) and later it was a accepted as ISO Standard 18092 in 2003. Nokia, Philips and Sony founded the NFC forums and been promoting the NFC technology.

According to Raine (2009), Basically NFC operates in three different modes. The first operational mode is read/write mode. In this mode, the NFC device reads/writes data to or from an NFC complaint tag and in read/write mode the NFC device acts as an initiator and the tag acts as a target. In this mode it transfers the data at a maximum rate of 106 kilo bits per second. The second operation mode is peer to peer mode. In this mode it allows the two NFC devices to interact to each other and the maximum data transfer rate is 424 kilo bits per second. The third operational mode is emulation mode which allows the NFC device to emulate as a smart card. In this mode the built-in smart card chip is integrated in the NFC device and connected to the NFC antenna.

Technical capabilities of Mobile interaction with NFC:

According to Khoovirajsingh (2009), in these days mobile phones are increasingly used for storing pictures, videos, documents and Personal Information Management (PIM) data. In addition to this there is often need to copy these files from mobile phone to a computer or vice versa. In this process the user first need to find file, then need to select the method for transferring file (e.g. Bluetooth), after wards the user need to perform the device discovery process, then select the target device. After having the file on the other device, the user has to decide what to do with it. This will be an awkward process to the user. In order to avoid this process. Some of the basic interaction techniques are available to make things simple.

According to Gregor (2011), Dynamic NFC-displays can be used for a wide range of applications at private e.g. home, semi-public e.g. pubs and public places like stations and shopping malls etc., including information retrieval, interactive advertisements, maps or games. NFC enabled mobile phones provide interaction with the diverse content of dynamic NFC-displays, including pictures, texts, links, maps and custom widgets. The design, implementation and performance of interaction techniques for dynamic NFC-displays rely on the technical capabilities of reading devices, tags and physical UIs. Basically NFC displays depends on the size of the tags, target items and mobile devices. Some of the NFC enabled mobile phones are available in the market e.g. the Nokia 6212 NFC classic. This mobile can read only tag a time and cannot identify multiple tags as they block during the interaction with one or several items. NFC enabled devices need a considerable amount of time to read a tag say about 0.5 seconds and tag should be placed very nearer to the device. These types of issues are seen in the currently available devices like Nokia 6212 mobile.

Basic interaction techniques:

These types of techniques can be used for simple interactions like the selection of items, triggering actions or activating links.

Touch-select: This is the most basic interaction technique. In this technique the users touch a tag with a mobile phone and take out from it after the tag has been recognized. This tiny interaction can be varied through the combination with input from keyboard, joysticks or sensors.

Click-select: This technical can also be referred as touch-select method. This method is pursued by pressing the pressing dedicated key on the mobile device to confirm the selection of the tag.

Touch and Hold: This technique needs users to touch a tag for a certain amount of time which is longer than the normal touch-select e.g. 2 seconds.

Double-touch: In this technique users have to touch the tag twice in a row.

Contactless Cards (tags) Mifare 1k or 4k:

According to NXP, (2007), The read/write mode of NFC needs two devices to communicate, one is NFC reader/writer and the other one is NFC tag. The NFC technology permits to access standard ISO 14443A card products as the Mifare family. In the NFC forum, the specification to store data for any kind of service or application is currently specified and it is known as NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF). In order to store NDEF formatted data which is also called as NDEF data or NFC forum data inside a contactless tag product a mapping model is required. The Mifare 1k/4k tag product is a contactless card presently available in market with 1k byte and 4k byte of EEPROM memory. The Mifare standard 1k/4k supports mutual three pass authentication, file data transfer up to 106 kbit/s, data encryption of RF-channel with replay attack protection and CRYPTO1 stream cipher for secure data exchange.

Mifare 1k tag:

A Mifare 1k tag is able to store up to 1024 bytes of information. These 1024 bytes are organized as 16 different sectors numbered as Sector 00, Sector 01…..Sector 0E and Sector 0F. Each sector comprises 16 bytes of data blocks named as blocks and numbered as Block 0, Block 1, Block 2 and Block 3. Block 0 of the Sector 00 contains IC manufacturer’s data. In every sector Block 3 is called as trailer and is used for sector authentication serving the security purposes. The first six bits of the authentication block are known as Code A, the next four bits are known as access bits and finally the last six bits are known as Code B. Code A and Code B are typically password keys which can be programmed for reading and writing protection.

Fig: Mifare 1k

Mifare 4k:

The memory area of Mifare 4k is organized in numbered sectors from 0 to 39. It can store 4096 bytes of information. The organization of the first 32 sectors follows the similar structure of blocks and sectors of Mifare 1k. The last eight sectors are quadrupled in capacity. Depending on the settings of the access bits the reader device has to carry out an authentication with key A or key B to read or write the sector.

Nokia 6212 NFC Classic Mobile in focus:

According to Nokia Corporation (2008), The device which i focussed of this paper is Nokia 6212 NFC classic. This device comes with an RFID module which functions as RFID tag and reader operating at 13.56 MHz. It also supports features like read write, card emulation and peer to peer communication. According to product specification, the Nokia 6212 NFC device is capable of

Tag reading and writing as native NFC functionality.
Contactless communication API (JSR-257) with extensions for java applications on the phone.
It gives support for all NFC Forum defined tags.
This phone is compatible with non-battery powered tags (passive tags) which are:

a) MIFARE (Standard, Standard 4K, Ultralight and DESFire)

b) Sony FeliCa (non-secure)

c) Innovision (Jewel read only and Topaz)

d) ISO 14443-4 complaint tags or cards.

Compatible with ISO/Global platform smart card for service providers to install application specific data e.g. payment and ticketing applications.
Compatible with existing contactless reader infrastructure (payment and ticketing).

The main features of Nokia 6212 NFC include different connectivity options like Bluetooth, GPRS, USB and NFC with read, write and sharing capabilities. Graphic display with 2” QVGA 240 x 320 display supporting up to 16 million colours and contains user storage of 22 MB and microSD format for removable flash cards.

Fig: Nokia 6212 NFC Mobile

Nokia 6212 provides some settings to configure NFC functionality.

NFC detection:

To switch NFC on or off we need to select Menu > NFC > NFC settings. To use NFC switch on the mobile and activate the NFC setting, if disabled. With the phone touch the service tag or other NFC device with in the discovery area. Typically the reading range is 0-3 centimetres. When a tag or device is discovered the corresponding information is displayed on the mobile.

Share to device:

Select Menu > NFC > Share to device and select the required option.

When the sharing is enabled you can send a bookmark, business card, call request, alarm alert calendar note, gallery item, profile, radio station, note, or to-do note.

Service tags:

A service tag may hold a shortcut such as URL of an internet based service, business card, SMS based service and phone number of a telephone service.

Share or read service tags:

Select Menu > NFC > Share to tag. Scroll to select desired option. Select share and touch a service tag. In order to read a service tag, need to touch a tag with the phone. Touch a service tag with your device to allow video streaming or Bluetooth connection or receive a business card, SMS message, call request, bookmark, calendar note etc. NFC received items or card applications can be accessed by selecting Menu > NFC > Inbox or Cards. The device memory restricts the amount of tag data that can be stored. In order to free up memory space delete the received files from the NFC Inbox. We can share the same information repeatedly to different service tags.

Bluetooth:

According to Cynthia et.al. (2007), Bluetooth is a Personal Area Networking standard based on short range radio. Devices like phones, printers, modems and headsets use Bluetooth technology to communicate between themselves. Bluetooth technology is mainly useful for communication when two or more devices are in close proximity and need reserved bandwidth. A Bluetooth device either acts as a “master” or “slave”. At most a master can communicate with seven slave devices, and a Bluetooth consisting of one master and it slaves is called a piconet. The master acts as a controller to control all the timings of all Bluetooth connections on piconet. Bluetooth pairing can be defined as a process of adding new slave device to the Bluetooth piconet. Bluetooth simple paring is a set of security improvements to the Bluetooth pairing mechanism. The target of the Bluetooth simple pairing is to set up authentication credentials between the Bluetooth master and the slave devices. Bluetooth simple pairing encourages four different pairing models. Those are:

Numeric comparison
Just Works
Out of Band and
Passkey Entry

Numeric Comparison Method:

The Numeric Comparison model is proposed when both the devices are able to display a six digit number and both provide “Yes” and “No” buttons.

Numeric Comparison

For example, A PDA can use the pairing scheme with a PC. During the process of pairing, each of the devices displays a six digit number matched from the pairing protocol. The user of each device is believed to compare the two numbers and select “Yes” if they match and “No” if they mismatch. The numeric comparison is executed over Bluetooth, which is in the in-band channel in the standard model for authentication.

Just Works Method:

The Just Works model is proposed when at least one of the devices has no display or “Yes/No” buttons. This model is commonly used when pairing a Bluetooth headset with a cell phone. This method is similar to numeric comparison model but it does not display the six digits for comparison it uses numeric comparison internally. Even if one of the device displays numbers it won’t be compared on the putatively paired device because the Just Works model lacks any out-of-band channel required by the standard model. This model does not provide security against active attack.

Out of Band Method:

The “Out-of-Band” method is used when an alternate communication medium exits on both the devices, such as Near Field Communication (NFC). The alternate communication medium transfers a key between the proposed devices and functions as the Out-of-Band channel in the standard model.

Passkey Entry Method:

The Passkey Entry method is proposed when one of the devices has a display and the other device should have a key pad. The device which has got display randomly generates a six-digit number and the user enters this number on the other device using keypad. Like the numeric comparison an attacker can negotiate the six digit pass key with a probability of at least 2-20. The protocol which divides the passkey in to 20 bits and unveils one bit over 20 rounds of exchange. Each bit of the passkey can be computed by an eavesdropper after it has been sent. A passkey can be used securely only once.

Pass key Entry

Why attendance should be taken?

According to Melchiorre, et. al. (2003), To verify the accuracy of attendance records, the research team visited Southwest Community Center three times on different days of the week at different times. During their visits the research team conducted random head checks, looked at the attendance and registration records. They discovered the flow of passage throughout the Southwest Community Center. During the head checks, the number accounted on the attendance sheet was compared with the number of members present. While these attendance sheets do not contain time in and time out and the head checks could not show whether the attendance recorded correctly or not. This results inaccurate attendance. Finally we could not know how many persons were present during the entire hours of operation. Problems with the attendance can be recognized as unclear understandings of job responsibilities.

According to Mary. (2005), A small California startup called InCom has developed a radio frequency identification (RFID) system called Inclass which is used automate student attendance in elementary and secondary schools. This system uses ultra-high frequency (UHF) readers which are mounted at the entrance of the class rooms and passive RFID tags are embedded to student ID cards. This InClass system was tested at Brittan Elementary School in Sutter, but the use of RFID in schools was protested by the parents of Brittan students. The Brittan school administrators were interested in the product in part because California bases school assist upon attendance numbers.

The InClass product working scenario: Each of the students ID card comprises of unique 15 digit ID number written to each tag and associated with name of the student. When the student pass through the reader interrogation area at the class room entrance, the reader immediately sends the tags unique ID numbers to a central server. Software program was developed by the InCom and it is installed on the server where it collects the tag data and uploads a list of present, absent and tardy (based on when they enter the classroom) students to the PDA which is issued to the teachers. The upload can be done wirelessly over an 802.11b Wi-Fi protocol. Now the teacher would perform a visual check on the InClass generated attendance list by examining the class quickly to compatible what the list says with class room present number. Once the attendance was confirmed, the list is sent to the school administrators via PDA. School administrators need to file attendance records to the board of education. Later school administration tested the InClass product to see whether it could decrease the amount of time taken by the teachers to take attendance manually.

Contactless communication API:

According to Enrique (2008), the contactless communication API java specification specifies a set of proximity, contactless-based communication. These specifications are defined under the java community process as JSR-257 and led by Nokia.

JSR 257 Packages:

Out of all these packages mainly we use javax.microedition.contactless API. The contactless communication API permits us to Discover and Exchange data with contactless targets such as NDEF tags, RFID tags, and external smart cards. This API also provides support for visual tags. The following diagram demonstrates the relationships between the different API classes and interfaces.

Fig: Contactless Communication API Relationships

Source: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/javame/nfc/

Applications using Contactless Communication API usually follow the flow demonstrated below.

Fig: Typical flow of a Contactless Communication Application

Each of the steps are explained below.

The first step is basically for the application to query the implementation to discover the supported targets by the device.
Here the application registers a target listener to receive activity notifications for each of the supported targets. On the other hand the application registers with the PushRegistry for the activation due to target activity. The supported target activities are NDEF and secure element in card emulation method activities.
When the targets come in to proximity they are discovered by the implementation, which notifies the application by invoking the right activity listeners. On the other hand PushRegistry activates the MIDlet.
The application can learn the target properties for each of the discovered target.
The application can be connected to read, write, exchange data with the discovered agent.
When the job is done the application releases the resources.

Design

This phase will produce outline of the system architecture and the prototype of the application that will satisfy all requirement analysis. In this stage all the necessary input, user interface and process will be identified. This phase also determines the application architecture which will show how to transform the logical design in to basic system coding to generate the first prototype of the system. The result of this phase is application interface and system design specification.

This research proposed an outline for student’s attendance monitoring system using RFID technology. Implementing this kind of system will maximize lecture time and provide convenience to them.

This application uses Nokia 6212 NFC mobile as a RFID reader and are placed at the entrance of the classroom. The MIFare RFID tags are attached to the student ID cards. A unique ID number is written to the tag. When the student scans the ID card through the reader range at the classroom, the reader sends the tags unique ID numbers to the computer via Bluetooth.

Description:

A framework includes the hardware of the system, and describes how it works. However, the reader must be placed at the entrance of the classroom to read the student ID cards (Tags) of every student who attends classes. This proposed research mainly contains four components which are discussed below.

The reader: RFID reader is responsible for communicating with the tag and it uses radio waves to retrieve data from the tag.

The tag: RFID tag is an integrated circuit which is embedded on the student ID cards. This research proposes to use passive tag, which does not need any battery. This type of tags gets it power from the reader.

Software Development process:

This software application uses Contactless Communication API (JSR-257) which comes with Software Development Kit for Nokia 6212 NFC mobile phones. Nokia 6212 NFC SDK allows the users to develop Java applications (MIDlets) for Nokia 6212 NFC mobile phones. The contactless communication API mainly gives access to many contactless cards and communicates with them. Some of the use cases of Contactless Communication are calling a taxi by touching tag given by the taxi company and linking to a web page by touching a smart poster. In order to discover and communicate contactless targets, the applications should use classes and interfaces of this API. The contactless cards which pass through in the radius of NFC device can be recognized by any instance of DiscoveryManger class to receive notification. Then the device can set up a target particular connection defined in the subpackages with the detected target. The link required to open connection to the target device is given in the TargetProperties parameter. For example, for an external smart card it can be ISO14443Connection. Access and modification of data is provided by the methods of this connection. The data exchange format (NDEF) allows communication between an NFC device and another NFC device or with a tag which is defined in the NFC forum. Any device that supports NDEF data formatting is capable to communicate by using APDU (Application Protocol Data Unit) commands given by the Contactless Communication API. Record Type Definitions (RTD) which is supported by the NDEF defines the rules and formats for creating standard record types to be used by NFC Forum application definitions and offers users to create fully compatible applications. The four specific RTDs defined by NFC Forum are:

NFC Text RTD: In this method by using NDEF format and RTD mechanism which allows storing text strings in multiple languages. An example of using this specification is integrated in the Smart Poster RTD.

NFC URI RTD: Like the above method this technique also uses NDEF format and RTD mechanism to Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI). An example of using this specification is included in the Smart Poster RTD.

NFC Smart Poster RTD: This method allows SMSs, URLs, phone numbers on an NFC tag, or to transport them between the devices. The Smart Poster RTD establishes on the RTD mechanism and NDEF format and uses the URI RTD and Text RTD as building blocks.

NFC Generic Control RTD: This method offers a simple way to request a specification to an NFC device (destination device) from another NFC device, tag or card (source device) trough NFC communication.

The class diagram that shows the relationships of Contactless Communication API.

Application Development:

Programming Languages and Software Tools:

Development Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP (SP2)
Eclipse pulsar 1.3.2
JDK 1.6
Nokia 6212 NFC mobile phone
Mifare 1k or 4k tags
Nokia connectivity frame work 1.2
Nokia 6212 NFC SDK 1.0
Apache Tomcat Server 6.0

Developing Application Tools:

Java:

According to Gosling, et. al. (2005), Java is a high-level object-oriented language produced by Sun Microsystems. Java is operating system independent since it uses Java Virtual Machine to interpret and execute the previously compiled code in different environments producing the same output.

I have chosen Java technology as programming language to carry out this project. I have chosen Java technology as programming language to carry out this project. During this project i have used Java Standard Edition Development Kit 6 (JDK 1.6), the Java Standard Edition Runtime Environment (JRE 1.6) and Java Micro Edition with the Software Development Kit 3.6 (Java ME SDK 3.6) which also includes Java Wireless Toolkit 2.5.2.

J2ME:

According to Shenbagaraj, (2011), J2ME is called as Java to Micro Edition. It is an advance technology in java, developed with the help of Java Community Process Program. J2ME is specifically designed to operate within the limited resources available in the embedded computers and microcomputers and it is a low version of Java API and Java Virtual Machine. The J2ME mainly targeted the developers of small computing devices and intelligent wireless devices who want to incorporate cross-platform functionality in their products. The main advantage of using J2ME is compatible with all java enabled devices. The java enabled devices are Nokia, Motorola and Panasonic. J2ME application acts as a balanced application between local and server-side processing.

MIDlet:

According to Shenbagaraj, (2011), A MIDlet is a J2ME application which operates on an MIDP. A MIDlet can be defined with at least a single class that is derived from javax.microedition.midlet.MIDlet abstract class. A MIDlet can be called as a event-based application. All the routines that are executed in the MIDlet are initiated in response to an event reported to the MIDlet by the application manger. The application manger invokes startApp() method when the MIDlet is started. The startApp() method in a MIDlet contains a statement holds a statement that displays a screen of information and informs the user to enter a selection from the list of the list of options provided. A Command object is used to inform the user with a selection of options to opt from when the screen is displayed. Each screen should have a CommandListener. A CommandListener follows the user events with a screen and makes the right code to execute on the current event.

Java Libraries:

According to Sun. (2006), A java library can be referred as a set of resources required by a project. Typically a library contains one or more JAR files containing compiled classes, the source file required to debug the classes, and java documentation for the classes. A project can reference one or more libraries for the purpose of compiling java files or additional JAR files in the deployed application. In IDE the Library Manager allows you edit and create libraries.

I have used few libraries which are downloaded from internet and added to the code to fulfil the requirements of the application. These libraries or APIs that communicate with some of the specific elements or implementations that have been used during the project development. They are

BlueCove (JSR-82):

According to BlueCove, (2008), BlueCove is a Java library for Bluetooth (JSR-82 implementation). This library currently interfaces with the WIDCOMM, BlueSoleil and Microsoft Bluetooth stack found in Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista and WIDCOMM and Microsoft Bluetooth stack on Windows Mobile. BlueCove offers JSR-82 java interface for the following profiles:

SDAP – Service Discovery Application Profile
RFCOMM – Serial Cable Emulation Protocol
L2CAP – Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol
OBEX – Generic Object Exchange Profile (GOEP) profile on top of RFCOMM and TCP

UploadBean:

This API simply reads and stores the uploaded files sent the browser. It is a technical component that can be integrated in any Java/JSP/Servlets application.

Servlet:

According to Stephanie. (2002), A servlet is a java programming class which is used to extend the facilities of servers that hosts applications accessed through request-response programming tool. The servlets give response to any type of request and these are normally used to extend the applications hosted by the web servers. Java servlet technology usually defines HTTP specific servlet classes.

JSP:

According to Stephanie. (2002), Java Server Pages (JSP) technology is used to create web content that has both static and dynamic components. JSP technology provides a normal approach to create static content. JSP presents all the dynamic capabilities of Java Servlet. The main advantages of JSP technology are:

A language for developing JSP pages, which are text based documents that illustrate how to process a request and construct a response.
Techniques for defining extensions to the JSP language.
Constructs for accessing server side objects.

Developing platform:

Eclipse:

According to Bob, (2008). Eclipse is a software development platform developed in java and mainly used to develop java applications. It provides an IDE and a complete set of plug-ins. In eclipse except the eclipse kernel, everything is treated as a plug-in. This plug-ins expand the application features and permits the developers to program in different languages like C, C++, and COBOL etc. This also includes management of databases, extending network capabilities, creating web services etc by using eclipse’s interface. In total the Eclipse Plug-in central has gathered more than 1200 different plug-ins for eclipse, some of them are developed by third parties and released to the community.

In this project, I have used EclipseME plug-in which helped in developing J2ME Midlets and Suite projects, supports J2ME emulators and offers JAD editor as well as connecting to the already installed wireless toolkits.

Apache Tomcat Server:

Apache Tomcat Server is free open-source software from Apache Software Foundation (ASF). It can be defined as a container where java Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP) files are placed and afterwards invoked. In this project i have used Tomcat 6.0 version and made use of configurations.

Management Console:

The management console offers a web interface where the parameters of the developed application can be configured. It consists of JavaServer pages, which are hosted in the Tomcat server. The web interface comprises of four different tabs through which the user can be capable to establish the parameters’ values.

Nokia PC Suite:

Nokia PC Suite is a group of applications that permit connecting Nokia mobile phones to computers. Basically it is used to transfer pictures, music or applications. This application is used in the project in order to send the developed Midlets to the NFC-enabled phones through Bluetooth.

References:

Ching, H.- H., Shih, C.-C., Chia, H.-Y., Jong, H. –P. (2009)Alleviating reader collision problem in mobile RFID networks. Proceedings at Springer-Verlag London Limited, pp.489-497.

Johansson, B.(2004) An Introduction to RFID – Information Security and Privacy Concerns, TDDC03 Projects. Available from: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.111.5602&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Simson. G, and Henry, H.(2005) UNDERSTANDING RFID TECHNOLOGY. garfinkel.book, 15-36. [Online] [Assessed on 2nd June 2005] Available from: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0321290968/samplechapter/garfinkel_ch02.pdf

Raine. K, Tommi. K, and Jouni I.(2009) Remote Identification and Information Processing with a Near Field Communication Compatible Mobile Phone. Proceedings at International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies – CompSysTech’09

Mark. M and Elmarie. B. (2010) Integrated Security Framework for Low Cost RFID Tags. ACM 978-1-60558-950-3/10/10

Al-Ali, A.R. Fadi, A. Nada, R. Amin, A. Al-Zarouni, Nassar, H. (2008) Mobile RFID Tracking System. Available from: http://www.aloul.net/Papers/faloul_ictta08.pdf

Khoovirajsingh. S, Enrico. R, Robert. H, Paul. H. (2009) Touch & Connect and Touch & Select: Interacting with a Computer by Touching it with a Mobile Phone. Computing Department, Lancaster University, UK: ACM 978-1-60558-281-8. [Accessed 15th September 2009]. Available at: http://delivery.acm.org.ez-proxy.unv.wlv.ac.uk/10.1145/1620000/1613905/a36 seewoonauth.pdf?key1=1613905&key2=1417853031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=134.220.2.101&CFID=17640379&CFTOKEN=61603121

Gregor, B. Wolfgang, R. Paul, H. Matthias, W. (2011) Design and Evaluation of Techniques for Mobile Interaction with Dynamic NFC-Displays. ACM 978-1-4503-0478-8/11/01. [Accessed 26th January 2011]. Available at: http://delivery.acm.org.ez-proxy.unv.wlv.ac.uk/10.1145/1940000/1935743/p205-broll.pdf?key1=1935743&key2=6866853031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=134.220.2.101&CFID=17640379&CFTOKEN=61603121

Enrique, C. (2008) An Introduction to Near-Field Communication and the Contactless Communication API. Available at: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/javame/nfc/

Bogdan, C. Murali, R. Mehmet, K. Suresh, J. (2008) Efficient tag detection in RFID systems. J. Parallel Distrib. Comput. 69 (2009) 180_196. [Accessed 8th July 2008]. Available at http://compbio.case.edu/koyuturk/publications/carbunar_jpdc09.pdf

Nokia Corporation, (2008) Nokia 6212 classic user guide. Available at: http://nds1.nokia.com/phones/files/guides/Nokia_6212_classic_UG_en.pdf

Cynthia, Kuo. Walker, J. and Perrig, A. “Low-cost Manufacturing, Usability, and Security: An analysis of Bluetooth Simple Pairing and Wi-Fi Protected Setup,” 2007 [Online]. Available at: http://sparrow.ece.cmu.edu/group/pub/kuo_walker_perrig_simple.pdf [Accessed: Sep 7, 2009]

Melchiorre, G. Pishvazadeh, Y. Wechter, J. Zarit, M. (2003). ‘Community Benchmarks Program The Maxwell School of Syracuse University’. Available at:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/paf/benchmarks/Southwest.pdf?n=3275

Wang, F. Liu, P. (2005). ‘Temporal management of RFID data’, Proceedings at: 31st VLDB Conference, Trondheim, Norway, 2005.

Nokia Corporation, (2008) Nokia 6212 Classic: Brings together Visa and Nokia for RFID enabled services. Available at:

http://www.rfidweblog.com/50226711/nokia_6212_classic_brings_together_visa_and_nokia_for_rfid_enabled_services.php

Mary, C. (2005) RFID Takes Attendance—and Heat. Available at: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1408/1/1

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