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Building a contactless university examination

system using NFC

Speaker : Chih-Ching ChenAdvisor : Dr. Ho-Ting Wu

2013/12/2

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OutlineIntroductionCUE DescriptionMain Components of The SystemBusiness Process of The ExaminationCommunication ChannelsDiscussionConclusionReferences

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Introduction Near Field Communication (NFC) is one of the

latest wireless communication technologies, making possible variety of novel services on mobile equipments.

Our research and development work focuses on designing an environment where multiple NFC based applications can be handled on a common platform.

This system provides administrative and technical services for supporting the examination process at a university.

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CUE DescriptionOur Contactless University Examination

(CUE) systems idea is based on the Moodle.

For aiding the examination process the CUE system covers the following processes:Managing and publishing the date and

place of the examinationStudent identification before the

examination using NFC technologyExamination completion procedure

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CUE Description (Cont.) The detailed description of the CUE systems

working is given by introducing the different roles arising during the education at a university and the processes belonging for these actors. The main actors of the system are the student the teacher and the administrator.

The teachers main task is to held a subject (or more) during the study period then test and estimate the knowledge of the students after the semester has ended. Inside the CUE system the above responsibility of the teacher is aided by a number of services.

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CUE Description (Cont.) At a university the students’ main task is to

take courses announced by teachers and to prove that the required knowledge has been acquired by the end of the study period. Before the beginning of the study period the student has to pick courses from the announced ones.

The administrator is responsible to maintain the subject and the user (teacher, student) data in the system. The assignment between the users and subjects are managed by the administrator as well. The type of assignment depends on the users role (teacher or student).

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CUE Description (Cont.)For example the teachers may announce the

courses and exam dates inside the CUE system. The students pick courses and registers to exam date and place using the CUE system as well. When the student picks a course or an exam date the CUE system connects the student to the selected course or exam date. These information can be used during the student identification before exam.

The system also provides an interface for the teacher to write test questions and aids the test generation.

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Main Components of The System

Mobile equipmentNFC cardTerminal with NFC card readerSmart posterBackoffice

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Main Components of The System (Cont.)

Mobile equipment◦ Inside the CUE system mobile equipment

can be used either by the student or the teacher. The mobile equipment should has the DIAD NFC framework installed on it along with the student or teacher application.

◦ The teacher uses the mobile equipment for identify the student right before the exam.

◦ The students’ mobile equipment provides the possibility to register to exam to take the exam or to receive automatic notifications about the exams.

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Main Components of The System (Cont.)

NFC card (student card): contains a secure element (SE) for storing the sensitive data and it implements the secure communication interface as well. It either can be a standalone plastic card or implemented inside an NFC capable mobile equipment (built in student card).

Terminal with NFC card reader: if the student does not have any mobile equipment suitable for NFC, terminal can be used either for registration or for test completion.

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Main Components of The System (Cont.)

Smart poster: examination dates can be published on smart posters equipped by RFID tags. Students can easily apply for an exam waving the mobile equipment in front of a smart poster. Smart posters can also be used for picking courses before the study period.

Backoffice contains the following entries:◦ student information◦ teacher information◦ course information◦ exam information◦ questions and answers (automatic process

which generates tests form questions).

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Business Process of The Examination

In this diagram the process is divided into three different sections each associated with different roles.

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Business Process of The Examination (Cont.)

The first task connected with the administrator role shows that the administrator should maintain the course student and teacher information inside the CUE system based on the already used university administration system.

For the next step the teacher should prepare the test questions and announce exam dates.

Finally the student registers for exam and completes the test which results in the exam grades.

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Business Process of The Examination (Cont.)

The Examination process can be divided into three tasks: the registration, the student identification and the test completion.

RegistrationThe business workflow of the examination process begins with the exam registration where the following information is required: Student, Course, Examination date and place.

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Business Process of The Examination (Cont.)

Student identificationAfter successful registration, at the examination the student uses the student card or the mobile equipment for identification. The identification process requires the teachers mobile equipment containing a card reader and the students id card (either an NFC card or a simulated card on a mobile equipment). The student waves the card (or the mobile phone) in front of the teachers NFC capable mobile equipment (in examination mode).

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Business Process of The Examination (Cont.)

Test completionAfter the student completes the test either using his mobile equipment or a terminal, the answers are given back to the backoffice. After the completed test has been sent to the backoffice the execution environment (DIAD NFC framework) on the students equipment or on the terminal used by the student automatically removes the test script. The teacher uses the mobile equipment and the backoffice to check the answers and to determine the mark.

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Communication ChannelsThe CUE system utilizes a number of

communication channels for data exchange:NFC interface is used for secure data

transfer. The components with NFC interfaces can be the mobile equipment (both the students and teachers) the NFC card or the terminal. The data transferred via secure interface are the student identifier and the examination permission passed by the teacher after the student has been successfully identified.

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Communication Channels (Cont.)

Common ad-hoc wireless communication channels (bluetooth, GPRS, WLAN, etc.) are established between the mobile equipments and the backoffice to exchange public data such as examination information, or registration information. The secured wireless data channel based on secure http (https) is built up between the teachers mobile equipment and the backoffice to transfer student related personal data and examination permission key.

Wired data communication channels are used between the terminals and the backoffice for public data transfer.

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DiscussionAt a university the big number of students

along with the big number of exams requires a rapid and efficient examination process. By providing automatic test generation service the CUE system removes the burden of test creation from the teacher. Furthermore the smart posters may reduce significantly the time consumption of the administration process in connection with the exam and course registration.

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ConclusionThe CUE system supports the

examination process by utilizing the benefits of the mobile and NFC technologies. The CUE system covers both administrative – such as taking courses or registering to exam – and technical – like test generation – processes. The modules and functionalities of the elaborated system have been tested.

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References1. B. Sódor, G. Fördos, T. Doktor, B. Benyó,

“Building a contactless university examination system using NFC”, INES 2011 • 15th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems, pp. 57-61, June 2011

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Thanks for listening