RFID or Radio Frequency identification is a technology that enables the tracking or identification of objects using IC based tags with an RF circuit and antenna, and RF readers that "read" and in some case modify the information stored in the IC memory.
The RF tags could be divided in two major groups:
Passive, where the power to energize the tag’s circuitry is draw from the reader generated field.
Active, in this case the tag has an internal power source, in general a battery that could be replaceable or not, in some case this feature limited the tag lifetime, but for some applications this is not important, or the tag is designed to live more than the typical time needed.
The RF tags could be seen at first sight an "improvement" of the bar codes used today almost everywhere. But they provide several key advantages over the classical optical systems:
1- Do not require line of sight.
2- Could store far more information than a printed bar code.
3- In some case are writable, so they could store data during its lifecycle.
4- Could have additional electronic that could sense environmental factors as temperature, humidity, light, pressure, etc.
In the following sections we will analyze in detail several aspects of RFID systems.
The power to activate the tag microchip is supplied by the reader through the tag antenna when the tag is in the interrogation zone of the reader, as is the timing pulse
Active RFID tags have a battery in them and are therefore more capable in terms of range and data handling.
RFID deployments tend to use unlicensed frequencies for their obvious cost benefits. There are four commonly used frequencies: low frequency (LF) 125/134.2 KHz, high frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz, ultra high frequency (UHF) (including 869 and 915 MHz) and microwave (at 2450 MHz, a band familiar to ISPs).
There are several areas where you could find practical uses for RFID technologies:
RFID could be used for access control of people, by using just a card (credit card size), a badge or any item that can be tagged. People can either use the card for contactless reading by a terminal or simply walk through a "gateway" for registration and authorisation. For access control of vehicles, active tags are most used, since they can be read, at longer distances.
By tagging retail and consumer products, a business can boost its efficiency and introduce new customer driven services throughout the manufacturing, distribution and point-of-sale process. Luxury goods or high risk/value products can also be tagged with a unique identifier, which is effective in preventing fraud and illegally copied versions. Customer loyalty programs and E-commerce can also be effectively integrated with RFID technology.
The service industry , especially hotels and hospitals , can also benefit through use of RFID technology to provide better customer service , when tags are use to identify, trace and store guests/patients information, track guest's/patient's laundries, provide guest/patient security e.t.c.
Transportation and Fleet management RFID solutions allows for automatic identification of both the vehicle and the goods they carry. Active and passive tags with both short and long reading distances are available for different kinds of applications. Close reading distances from a few centimetres up to 1 metre and long reading distances even up to 40 metres are possible.
RFID transport and fleet Management software together with suitable tags, antennas and readers allows vehicles and goods to be identified and tracked in/out of distribution areas for loading and unloading. Furthermore, together with our range of mobile data terminals, automatic vehicle location systems and GPS/GSM products, RFID can offer complete tracking of vehicles and security of goods even when the vehicles are travelling from one geographic area to another.
In the pharmaceutical industry, RFID tags on drug bottles are being used as anti-counterfeiting devices.
In libraries, books are being tagged for self-automated checkout, freeing up librarians to perform other tasks. This also allows a librarian to easily locate a book misplaced on the wrong shelf.