Judiciary HomepagePrepared Statement for:
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
Immigration and Claims SubcommitteeOversight Hearing on
Alternative Technologies for Implementation of Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 at Land Borders
Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
Prepared by:
TransCore, an SAIC Company
10260 Campus Point Drive
San Diego, CA 92121-1522
Donald R. Brady
July 23, 1998
This testimony describes technologies being applied or considered for electronic border crossing system applications by TransCore. TransCore is a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation, a $ 4 billion employee-owned engineering services company. TransCore specializes in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) design and deployment including electronic border crossing systems. Today's testimony is based on TransCore's design and deployment experience and summarizes, at a high level, proven candidate technologies applicable to supporting implementation of Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 at Land Borders.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems
RFID systems are deployed worldwide and offer a cost-effective, mature, reliable, and proven technology for supporting Section 110, especially for vehicle identification and providing a high-speed, reliable electronic index to security or law enforcement databases. These RF systems operate in the 100 KHz to 10 GHz frequency range and are proliferating in North America and worldwide. Over 5 million RF transponders are presently in service across North America on automobiles, trucks and railcars to support Electronic Toll Collection (ETC), Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI), Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) and Electronic Border Crossing (EBC) applications.
The basic RFID system is composed of wallet-sized transponders or "tags" that carry unique codes and are attached to objects to be identified. These examples of tags, manufactured by Amtech, Mark IV and Hughes, are all being used for electronic toll and border systems. Readers interrogate the tag, process the code returned by the tag and send the tag code to a host computer or information management system. Antennas are deployed to communicate between the reader and the tag using Dedicated Short range Communication (DSRC) protocols.
There are two types of tags. The passive tag is energized by the RF energy received from the reader. This type of tag requires no batteries. The active tag type responds to a reader interrogation with energy derived from an internal battery, typically with a battery life of 5-10 years. RFID systems have several features that make them attractive for vehicle usage and associated border crossing applications. These features include:
Ability to read at distances of up to 300 feet from the antenna
Ability to read at high speeds--in excess of 150 MPH
Ability to read in a broad area or in a precise, narrowly defined zone
Ability to read multiple tags simultaneously
Modest cost in the $40.00 range
Implementation of RFID systems that operate reliably requires expert integration of a variety of processors and sensors that complement the basic RFID suite. The attachment to this testimony depicts the type of RFID installation used at Dedicated Commuter Lanes at Otay Mesa, California, Buffalo, New York and Detroit, Michigan. While this technology does not appear to be so called "rocket science", when RFID is integrated into a system that typically requires performance in the 99.9% range, the technical challenge is significant and approaches the "rocket science" threshold.
Short Range RFID
Other reusable RFID systems that have application to Section 110 are shorter range and usually lower cost that the toll type systems and tags previously described. These systems, which are typically used to identify warehoused goods and static equipment, or for security applications, could support foot passage across international borders. These systems are essentially electronic bar codes, and come in a variety of RF packages, such as these microcans. Microcans contain miniature processors and can store limited amounts of data. They typically require that the device be placed near or in direct contact with the reader.
Smart Cards
Smart Cards are an emergent technology suitable for low speed automobile and foot traffic. A smart card is a microprocessor with some embedded memory in a package slightly larger than a standard credit card. There is a difference between Smart Cards and the RFID systems identified above in that Smart Cards are really a direct communication between a miniature computer and a reader whereas pure RFID simply provides identification data from the tag to a reader, which is usually connected to a computer system.
Smart Cards have the capability to provide protection against fraudulent or unauthorized use that exceeds traditional magnetic stripe encoded credit cards by having more elaborate security measures encoded into the microprocessor. Smart cards may carry cash, a digital image of the authorized user, facial, fingerprint or finger geometry biometrics. Smart card usage is growing rapidly in Europe where credit cards have not been deployed as extensively as in the US. The eventual acceptance and extent of deployment of smart cards in the US is still to be determined.
Biometric Systems
Biometric systems provide positive identification of a person. This could include fingerprint, finger or hand geometry, and/or facial recognition or speech recognition among others. When biometrics are encoded into an RFID tag, smart card, or even a 2D bar code such as this one by Laser Data Command, and then combined with a Biometric finger geometry reader such as this BioMet Digi 2 system, you have the ability to cue a database that an individual has arrived for inspection. Within seconds, a positive identification is made based on a Biometric read. While this approach would slow automobile traffic, overall efficiency and security at the border would be enhanced.
Summary
This brief technical discussion has focused on methods of supporting Section 110 by using proven, off-the-shelf technologies and integration that is currently employed for Electronic Border Crossing systems, Electronic Toll Collection systems, Automatic Equipment Identification and Biometric Identification systems. I would be glad to amplify my comments or provide follow-up documentation as necessary. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before this committee.
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