Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a technology used to identify stuff and track things that move. This can include anything from an ocean container to an individual product. RFID technology consists of a RFID tag and a RFID reader. The RFID tag is secured to the item that is being tracked, and RFID readers (fix-site or hand-helds) read and interact with RFID tags.
RFID Technology is More Than a Replacement for Bar Codes. RFID technology goes a lot further than just replacing bar codes. RFID technology as a minimum allows for fully automated, non-line-of-sight tracking. RFID tag technology can also have a full range of functions to support any type of tracking as well as being fully integrated with sensor technologies and computer applications. See, RFID Tracking Networks 101, for more on the full range of RFID applications.
RFID Tags. At the basic level, a RFID tag consists of an integrated circuit that stores and process information, and an RF antenna that receives and transmits signals with an RF interrogator. Depending on functionality, RFID tags can be as small as a bar code label or as big as a brick. Passive RFID tags have no battery with limited capabilities and transmission ranges from a couple of inches to a couple of feet. An active RFID tag has a battery with the capability of advance computing functions as well as a RF range of up to 1,000 feet.
RFID Interrogators. RFID interrogators (also called RFID readers) connect via wireless with RFID tags and in turn can interact real-time with various computer software programs to perform such functions as item and shipment visibility. RFID interrogators can come in many forms to include RFID reader tunnels to handheld devices to long-range interrogators that look like saucer-shaped hatboxes. RFID readers also have the capability to communicate in “real-time” with multiple RFID tags.
RFID Communications Protocols. When RFID first started (and continues today in many closed RFID networks) there were a lot of different communications protocols. Many of them only worked in certain environments or were proprietary in nature. Now RFID communications is being standardized with RFID standards such as DASH7 for active RFID tags and ISO 18000-6 for passive RFID tags.
RFID Data Standards RFID tags have data standards similar to bar codes, but more robust. A key RFID tag data standard is the Electronic Product Code (EPC). The EPC standard is a family of coding schemes that are similar to the standards used for bar codes, but are used for RFID tags. The EPC was created as a low-cost method of tracking goods using RFID technology. EPC tags are designed to identify each item manufactured, as opposed to just the manufacturer and class of products, as bar codes do today. Find out more about the EPC standards for RFID tags.
See Managing RFID Data for a detail technical design overview on RFID systems.
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