RFID - Radio Frequency Identification Device

What Is It?

Radio Frequency Identification or RFID is the use of radio waves to identify objects. This means, unlike a barcode, one can track an item without actually having to come in contact with it. The way it works is that an identifying serial number is stored in a microchip which is then attached to an antenna. (Together these are called the transponder or tag.) The chip is now able to transmit any identifying information to the receiver. The reader will convert the information to a digital format to be read by computers.

A typical RFID tag consists of a microchip attached to a radio antenna mounted on a substrate. The chip can store from as little as 64 bits to as much as 2 kilobytes of data. For example, information about a product or shipment—date of manufacture, destination and sell-by date—can be written to a tag.

To retrieve the data stored on an RFID tag, a reader is required. A typical reader is a device that has one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from the tag. The reader then passes the information in digital form to a host computer system.

RFID Benefits and Advantages:

Ø       The ability to eliminate time consuming bar-coding or other tracking processes. Instead, all data can be collected along the production line. This also helps to lower production costs.

Ø       Prevention of the distribution of counterfeit products.

Ø       Elimination or reduction of theft and loss.

Ø       Reduction of supply chain cost.

Ø       Elimination of data entry and other tedious manual business process transactions.

Ø       Much more efficient order fulfillment process.

Ø       Less time spent in check out lines, as consumers will only have to push their shopping carts in front of the readers.

RFID offers specific features not available with other Automatic Identification technologies. Although not all systems offer all features, below are some common advantages of RFID.

Ø       Permanent identification or read/write capabilities

Ø       Non-contact, non-line-of-sight reading

Ø       Virtual immunity from obscuring paint, dirt, grease, etc.

Ø       Automatic operation

Ø       Wide range of tag options and frequencies

Ø       Read range from several inches to several feet (depending on the system)

Ø       Extremely high data integrity

RFID Applications other than retail include Animal (livestock and domestic) identification, Flexible manufacturing (tracking and control), Asset identification, Laundry tracking, Vehicle Identification/Electronic Toll Collection, Parking and access control.

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