ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION USING RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID)

Electronic Toll Collection is a generally mature technology that allows for electronic payment of highway tolls. It takes advantage of vehicle-to-roadside communication technologies to perform an electronic monetary transaction between a vehicle passing through a toll station and the toll agency. This project is implemented using the innovative technology of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication via electromagnetic waves to exchange data between a terminal and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking. An RFID system consists of a reader and transponders. Transponders (derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder") are attached to the items to be identified. They are often called "tags". Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) involves contact less reading and writing of data into an RFID tag's non-volatile memory through an RF signal. The reader emits an RF signal and data is exchanged when the tag comes in proximity to the reader signal. The RFID tag derives its power from the RF reader signal and does not require a battery or external power source. Each vehicle will be provided with an RFID tag. This transponder (tag) stores the unique ID of the vehicle and related information. When interrogated by a reader, it responds with that data over a radio frequency link. The readers are fixed in the toll gates. So when the vehicle comes near the reader, the data from the tags can be easily read by the readers. This data is passed to the computer and thus the cash can be deducted from the user’s account