Third+Assignment

 Vania: hey, i am not sure how i am gonna write my student number on the cover page as each member will upload their own student number version so i will just email Camille my student # so it's easier for her to type it onto the final hard copy. Thx Camille

My student # is 996951286. Thanks, Katrina

**HEY GUYS I PUT EVERYTHING INTO THE WORD DOCMENT, PLEASE GO THROUGH TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS FINE. ALSO HE REQUIRES OUR STUDENT NUMBERS SO PLEASE ADD THAT IN ON THE COVER PAGE. ALSO IF ANYONE USED ANY EXTERNAL SOURCES I'VE ADDED A BIBLIOGRAPHY PAGE SO YOU CAN REFERENCE THEM. IF NOT JUST TYPE WHATEVER HERE SO I CAN GO AHEAD AND PRINT IT ONCE YOU'RE DONE. ALSO I WAS THINKING IF WE SHOULD INCLUDE A PICTURE OF OUR SYSTEM IN AN APPENDIX SECTION.... ** Kai Yu Hsu 997715469 calvin kong 997536581 ref: Bonsor, Kevin, and Candace Keener. "HowStuffWorks "How RFID Works"" //HowStuffWorks "Electronics"// INRIA Rocquencourt & Trusted Logic. Web. 26 May 2011. .

**Executive Summary **

Our system will address the issue of long lineups and work to increase efficiency in large department stores.Our proposal is to expand on technology used by smart cards and incorporate RFID technology to allow the quickest, most efficient way of buying a product - by just picking it up and walking through the door. It is also meant to decrease the number of point of sale transactions that take place during peak hours. Our system will require smart cards, shopping baskets and exit terminals. The smart card will act as a method of payment. The card will contain a dollar amount which will be deducted once the customer walks through the exit of the store which will contain reading terminals that will detect how many items are in the shopping cart, what exactly the items are and the cost of each. When a customer buys a product, they can walk through the exit and the items they have picked up will automatically be purchased and the amount owing will be deducted from the card. The system will be incorporated into stores such as Wal Mart where RFID chips are already embedded into products. This will allow our technology to be easily implemented and will not cause a hassle in execution.


 * Introduction**

One of the most irritating situations when shopping, whether be for groceries or accessories are the long line ups. This is mainly caused by congestion at the cashier counters because of the slow process of item scanning and point of sale transactions. The current system of goods transaction is flawed, slow and inconvenient. So our team developed a new type of system that will speed up the current transaction rate immensely, our goal is to eliminate line-ups and save precious time for consumers, by improving the efficiency of these transaction rates to virtually no time at all. Our system is fundamentally a store card that allows the user to walk through the exits of the store and automatically purchase the products they want without having to hassle through the whole process of paying. This store card would be credited with cash like gift cards; they will be renewable anytime by adding more to the card. The cards will be regular size and lightweight making them very convenient and will require no additional usability skills, special instructions or even awareness for adoption; just follow the ordinary procedural memory of walking to use. The system integrates the idea of contactless smart cards and RFID together, where the reader will identify the RFID of the purchasing product and automatically deduct the amount from the card. However one major concern with this idea is the act of bulk reading, reading more than one RFID at a time would cause confusion to the client and may cause mistakes. To fix this problem, our team developed a scanner that will be placed within shopping containers so every item is scanned when placed within the container and descanned when removed. Therefore the reader would only have to scan the basket itself rather than bulk read. With this system in place, there will be virtually no wait time when purchasing goods, it will increases efficiency and provides a simplistic positive shopping experience for customers.


 * Functional Requirements**

//Hardware:// Our hardware requirements includes: contactless smart cards, contactless smart card readers, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, RFID readers. Contactless smart cards are cards that store information data and signal the receiving terminal through radio waves. This means no contacts are required to interact between the communication of the card and its reader. A contactless smart card has a general size of a credit card or business card, its small size facilitates carrying of the card. Since card data is being transferred by radio waves which can penetrate many surfaces, data can be transferred over layers of cloth or even through wallets and handbags. The contactless smart card is first adopted in Hong Kong known as the ‘octopus card’, for the cities mass transit system. In our system passive RFID tags (does not require battery) are implanted to most product being purchased, identifying them and all with individual exclusive identifiers - like the license plates on cars but for every item in the store. RFID tags make use of radio waves to identify products and register them. It is an improvement over the barcode system since line of sight will not be required. There are two types of readers: Fixed and mobile, fixed RFID readers read RFID tags from a stationary and mobile RFID readers are usually mounted on top of handhelds, karts and vehicles.

//Software requirements:// The software involved for this system is very easily programmed, the only difficult part would be coding the encryption and security. The software for the card would follow just any ordinary programming style for credit smart cards. Using “JAVA Card” as its programming language, the card just needs a credit/debit application to be programmed for the reader to subtract money from the card. The reader needs to be programmed to identify each of the products and communicate with the smart card. Other software involved would be just the applications involved with the input of credit to the smart cards.

//Data and information:// Our system will require data from individual products so the readers can identify them and charge them through contactless smart cards, the data will be stored in RFID tags produced by manufacturers in different products and retrieved by RFID readers. The data here must be accurate because we do not want consumers to be wrongly charged with products they did not buy, vice versa. Purchasing data will be stored separately in user’s contactless smart cards and company financial records.

//Interface requirement:// Our system doesn't really require a interface, the RFID readers just have to be placed on the baskets whilst the smart card reader would be placed by the exit just like the security bars. Or depending on the placement of this system, the store might open a aisle just for these “quick” shoppers. The smart card itself can be placed anywhere on the customer, because of the radio waves, the reader can read through adamant objects.

// Target Customer // Upon the use of these shopping baskets and carts, they will be operable by any user. The shopping basket and cart does not need authorisation from user to be accessed. As it will be implemented in the department stores, the shopping baskets and carts are available to all consumers at the department store.
 * Non-Functional Requirements **

// Card Capacity and Conditions // The current capacity of the store card design is set to a maximum top up amount of 200 Canadian dollars. To prevent the stolen or lost card damages, customers can only have a limited amount of currency added to the card value. Customers are able to cash-up their cards at any cash register stationed with a cashier at the department stores. If customer wishes to cancel the card, the cashier counters also allow customers to directly cancel their registration and withdraw the remaining balance from the card. There is no restriction on the number of cards a customer wishes to register as long as a 20 dollars refundable deposit is paid when the card is first issued. The 20 dollars are refundable when card holder wishes to cancel the card after 30 days given the card is in good condition to prevent customers from mistreating or damaging the product. The 30 days refund policy will starts after the first purchase transaction.

// Personal Information // Customers have the choice of inputting personal information onto the cards at the cash register of the department stores. However, to ensure a variety of customers from all ages to travellers that want quick access of sales transaction, any types of personal information is not required as long as the refundable deposit is paid. For those that wish to record their information, the data will be stored at the department’s company database. Such individuals will have higher chance in participating the department’s survey, promotion or other activities that involve customers’ opinion.

// Operating System: Shopping Baskets and Carts // For the shopping baskets and carts that are available at the entrance, customers need to insert their card to operate the scanning system within the basket or cart. If customers do not own the contactless smart card, the baskets and carts will remain in idle stage for energy saving and only be used as a normal shopping containers.

This is a command based system that follows the consumer’s command in sequence and the system will respond accordingly. Every time the user puts an item in the basket or cart with the activated scanning system, it will automatically scan the item and calculate the price of it to add to the grand total price. A monitor will be attached on the side of the basket and the side of the cart that will be visible for the users to see the price calculations. The users will be able to see the number and list of items they have placed, as well as their individual remaining balance of the card and the accumulative price of all the products within the basket or the cart. The system will simply scan the items’ barcodes for their prices and perform simple calculations. It will be able to respond to the user and give the user the necessary calculations and information they want to see in a quick manner. In case of any error during the transaction or scanning process, the user will be notified through a beeping sound and company personnel will be alerted and can assist the consumers.

// Security // Security of these baskets and carts are crucial because they will not be allowed to be taken out of the vicinity of the stores. Once the user is done their purchases, they are required to return the baskets or carts back to a designated area. The carts will have a sensor in them that restricts them from exiting the vicinity of the stores. This is to prevent the theft of these carts and baskets.

// Operating Requirement // The scanning system attached to the baskets or carts are ready to be used once consumers insert their cards to activate it. The users simply insert the card into the slot located below the screen and scan any items they wish to purchase from the store. The scanning monitor will reads the barcode of the item and calculate the grand total of the shopping spree. The system is capable of processing the calculations once the baskets/ carts are in use. An on/off button is not programmed to the basket/cart in order for consumers to use at any time of the day, however, when the baskets/carts are not in use, they are in an idle state and will not operate until the card is put in.

Once the user is done placing all the items they wish to purchase in the basket or cart, there will be a checkout paying system set up at the exit of the stores that will scan their grand total of purchases and deduct this price from their cards. The check out point system consist a card reader that can interact with the card and deducts value off it. As long as users hold the basket or the cart close to the check out system (physical contact is not needed), the sensor at the checkout system will able to make a transaction with the card inserted in the basket/ cart. Users are notified the transaction is completed when the check out point system makes a beep sound.

// Availability Requirement // The barcode system, scanner and check out point calculator are all existing products used throughout the world. Similar products would be the library books self check out system, UTM’s T-Card system, Superstore’s self checkout system or the Smart Shopping Cart design. However, our design will be the first to incorporate all the systems to create a better and efficient system for the department stores.


 * Recommendation **

This system is recommended for major firms and companies that already have RFID's implemented in their products. Large companies such as Walmart already have RFID tags attached to their products that come from their top 100 suppliers. This system can be implemented to pretty much any customer – producer type transaction, especially companies with more focus product line for easier implementation of RFIDs. One example will be the transit system, which can use contactless smart cards to reduce congestion at subway stations. Further possibilities include clothing shops, groceries stores, UTM book store and even UTM itself! We can expand this idea on top of T card, this can greatly increase the congestion problem within the campus This system can be placed in front of classrooms to take attendance for tutorials or even for exams. One of the suggestions made is to link the cards itself to your credit card, this way customers don't need to inject money into their card accounts whenever they run out. But by linking the contactless smart card to the credit card, we have to consider security issues. It is possible to encode the smart card with cryptographic algorithm which hides critical information and prevent private information leakage.