Introduction to Radio Frequency Identification Technology - Essay Example

Running Head: Overview of RFID Technology Overview of RFID Technology [Institute's Overview of RFID Technology Introduction to RFID Technology RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification technology that has been emerged almost 50 years back. It is a technology that is used for the objective of automatically tracking and identifying by the use of radio waves. This technology makes use of an object that is referred to as the RFID tag; this RFID tag is implemented or integrated with any product for tracking purpose. RFID is a very powerful and innovative technology and is quite useful for the companies enabling them to perform he tracking operation effectively. This technology can be implemented in every company or industry for performing many different operations. The technology resembles with the bar code identification technology to the large extent. But there is a big difference in both the technologies; the bar code identification technology uses line of sight reading for scanning. Whereas, the RFID technology does not depend on this line of sight reading. RFID can read the tags that are some meters away and also can read the tags that are not in the line of sight of the reader. RFID has made significant improvements in the inventory tracking and management processes. The RFID is a technology that is needed and is being used in almost every field that needs a unique identification and tracking system. The RFID tags can hold any kind of information whether simple or complex one. The RFID tags can hold almost 2000 bytes of data. RFID technology has no doubt replaced the bar code detection system and is considered to be the enhanced technology. The RFID is capable of tracking and identifying a great number of items simultaneously. This feature definitely saves a great amount of time and money that is spent on monitoring individual items. Due to many enhancements this technology is being widely used in almost every field. (Discover RFID, 1, n.d) History of RFID Generally, the technology of Radio Frequency Identification evolved from the roots of the radar systems which have now become one of the hottest supply chain technologies. Most of the Europeans were at that time using radar systems which came into existence in 1935 by a physicist from Scotland, Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt, which helped them caution against planes which were approaching them even when they are miles away. The problem which the countries faced due to radar system was that they could not identify the planes approaching them, whether it was an enemy's plane or country's own pilot. At that time Germans invented a method following which the base could alert them which aircraft is a German one and which is the Allied aircraft, which was that the German pilots if roll their planes while returning to base that would enable the base and ground crew that the approaching aircraft is a German plane. We can say that this was crude method was the first RFID system. After this method the Scottish physicist helped British developed an IFF system, known as Identify Friend or Foe. The British installed a transmitter on each of their aircrafts, which when received signals from the radar systems from the ground would send the signal back enabling the base to identify their aircrafts. This concept then became the evolution of the RFID systems and was just the same as RFID, which sent signals to a transponder which then reflects the signal back to where it received the signals or even broadcast an active system back to its source. Different advancements were made in radar and RF systems through 1950's and 1960's. (The History of RFID Technology, 1, n.d) Functionality of RFID RFID works has three different parts of the system which includes a scanning antenna, a transceiver which is used to interpret the data by the help of a decoder and a transponder which has been programmed with all the information. Scanning antenna is used to transmit signals at a short range by sending radio frequency signals. These radio signals help providing signals with the transponder and also energy is being provided to the RFID Tags in case of passive tags so that they can communicate. This is very useful as then the RFID Tags does not need batteries to run and hence they can be used for a long time of period. These scanning antennas can be fixed permanently onto a surface and apart from this handheld antennas are also available. These antennas can also be framed in a door to receive all the data from its surroundings. On the process of RFID tag passing through the field of a scanning antenna it receives signals and responds to them, which then activates the RFID chip which then transmit all the information onto its microchip which then is received by the antenna. In this way the information is being passed from RFID tag to scanning antenna, which then is acknowledged by the people controlling the antenna device. There are two types of RFID tag, an active and a passive one. In an active RFID tag it has its own power source, which is quite useful as the reader can still get the signal even if he is further away from the scanning antenna. These devices are commonly built for a life span of 10 years but still have a limited life span. On the other hand the passive RFID tags do not require batteries to operate and almost has an unlimited life span. (How RFID works, 1, n.d) Advantages of RFID There are different advantages of RFID which are being discussed as below: Rapid Charging/Discharging The time required to complete operations is being reduced by the help of RFID. The time taken by the barcodes to transmit information took much time but by the introduction of RFID the information can be transmitted very quickly and the time is significantly saved. The reason why the information is being processed at such a high speed is that the RFID tags can transmit signals even when the object if moving and it does not require an object to be in a stationary position. Also it can read several items at the same time making the process faster. Simplified Patron self charging/discharging Self charging for the patrons became improved as they could charge many items at the same time and also they do not require placing the materials within a selected pattern. Apart from this patron discharging was also improved as it shifted the work from staff to patrons by installing readers. High Reliability Readers which are used to shift the work from staff to patrons are highly reliable thus making RFID a highly reliable system to be used in different circumstances. High Speed Electronic Inventorying RFID has a unique advantage that it can read and scan the books from the shelves without having to remove them. If wireless technology is used the inventory can be updated and also it will help determine the order and re-order the books which are being placed on the shelves in a wrong order. Long Tag Life Barcodes have a less life span as compared to the RFID tag which makes it one of the most valuable technologies which has been discovered. Disadvantages of RFID There are some disadvantages of RFID one of which is high cost. This is one of the major disadvantages of RFID; barcodes are less expensive than tags making the RFID tag system one of the most costly technology of today. Also RFID tags are vulnerable to compromise, and the exit sensors has many problems, as the readers can charge and discharge easily it is difficult for a tag to exit sensors. Thus RFID has different advantages and disadvantages which account for its daily use and also depends on the future stability of this technology. (Boss, 1, n.d) Uses of RFID The implementation of RFID systems can be made anywhere whether it is a simple food shop or it is a complex business. RFID can be used in libraries, retail centers, companies and businesses and so on. As soon as the expenses of this technology are reducing; the use of this technology is increasing. Following are some of the most common current uses of RFID technology: Passports: Many countries of the world like the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Germany, the United States, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Ireland, Serbia and Spain are making use of RFID technology in passports. The RFID passports can be known as the E-passports. The RFID passports not only provides the information but also provides the visual information. International Civil Aviation Organization has established standards for these RFID based passports. The RFID passports have made the unauthorized access difficult. (Broache, 1, 2006) Transportation and logistic The field of transportation and logistics can be known as one of the major areas where the RFID technology has been implemented. RFID has helped a lot in providing the businesses and companies with the information about their assets and also provides information regarding the location of the assets. The implementation of RFID in the area of transportation and logistics has no doubt increased the utilization of inventories. The overall expenditure that was made in operating the fleet of equipment has also been reduced. The reason is that RFID provides the information that what is the amount of equipment that is needed to fulfill the requirements of the customers. The RFID has provided the significance to this field of transportation and logistics by providing accurate and reliable information. (RFID in the transportation and logistics industry, 2, n.d) Product Tracking The RFID technology is widely being used for the product tracking. The traditional method for product tracking was bar code reading technology but it has almost completely removed from the scene and its place has been taken by the RFID technology. In product tracking the RFID technology uses the high frequency tags. These RFID tags are being used for products like books, jewelry, baggages, pharmaceutical items and apparels and so on. There are also high frequency RFID tags but these are used at certain cases like for trucks, shipping containers, pallets and so on. This technology has made the process of product tracking very reliable and fast. It does not scan or track the products one by one or individually rather it can track bulk of items at the same time. (Makris, 1, 2005) Library Management The RFID technology is a new innovation in the libraries but is being extensively used for avoiding the library theft. Decades ago, the technologies that were used in the libraries were electro mechanical and radio frequency systems. These traditional systems are no longer being used and are replaced by the RFID technology. The tags of RFID contain all the information regarding boos like name of the book, author's name and year of publication and so on. All this information is then read by the reader of RFID. The RFID reader then finds out the antennae of the tags and then read the information that is stored in the tags. The RFID systems began to make their place in the libraries since 1990s. This technology is efficient for avoiding the misplacement and theft of the material that is available in the libraries. (Boss, 1, 2007) Human Implants The human implanting using RFID technology si one of the hottest issues now days. The chips that were designed for the purpose of animal tacking and identification are now also being used in humans. In the year 1998, the British professor did this experiment of implanting this chip with in his hand. These chips are being used in human implanting for different purposes. Majorly this technology is used in human implanting for the purpose of security and authorized access. (RFID Gazette, 1, 2007) Supply Chain The use of RFID technology is being crucially important for making the manufacturing process efficient and effective. This technology has emerged as an innovative technology for the tracking and identification of goods, products and services. The products are automatically identified and tracked in real time by using the radio waves. For the operations of supply chain this technology has proved to be the best solution by providing increment in the levels of products and also in the visibility of assets. (Hill, 1, 2007) RFID and Standardization Standardization can be referred to as the instrument that is used for supporting the policies and rules. When we talk about the RFID then there is no public body all around the world that is supporting the policies for the RFID. Every country has established its own rules and regulations. Few of the bodies that are governing the policies are FCC in the United States, CRTC in Canada, MIC in Japan, Anatel in Brazil, ICASA in South Africa, NCC in China, ERO in Europe and CEPT in Europe as well. All these bodies have set their own rules and policies. The limit of the high and low frequencies that are being used in the EFID are also set by these bodies and not on the global level. Although there are some standards that have been set by some international bodies. These standards do include ISO 14223/1, ISO/IEC 14443, ISO 15693, ISE/IEC 18000, ISO 18185, EPC global, ASTMD7434 and ASTM D7435. (RFID and standardization, 1, n.d) RFID and Security Although RFID has made great improvements in the business but still there are some security issues related to this technology that should be solved. The major security issue is the illegal tracking of RFID tags that can be a very great harm for the information about any product. This issue should be resolved as tags sometimes contain important information that can be sensitively important for the businesses. Security issues also include threats like unauthorized access, tag theft, tag privacy, authenticity, security of reader and also the security of tag databases. (Weinburg, 1, 2006) RFID and Privacy The RFID has got many issues regarding privacy and due to these issues many products have also been banned. There are two basic issues regarding the privacy. Sometimes it is possible that a person is having any item that contains RFID tag but he is unaware of it. The privacy issues raises here as this tag can be read by RFID from a distance without his knowledge. So, in this sense it can be said that RFID can get information regarding anything without the consent of owner. Another issue regarding the privacy is that if an item is purchased that contains RFID tag and the purchaser pay for the item using the credit card then the identity of the owner can be in some way deduced because of the globally unique id of that particular item. So, these are the basic privacy issue that must be solved for satisfying the customer. (Kuchinskas, 1, 2004) Future Applications of RFID In today's Industry it has been said by many of that RFID is one vital technology in today's era which helps in automatic identification and collection of data. It has also been of the view that the biggest benefit of RFID tags would be when an RFID tag can track goods, which is being attached to the goods, straight to the consumer's home after being manufactured in a factory. This benefit is yet to proven but many people are of the point of view that this will be one of the biggest benefits of technology for the entire world. Apart from this many others talk about RFID technology and the potential it has that can be put to use but before RFID could be used in different ways there should be some standards set and also the price of RFID has to come down so that it can be used to full effect. (Beal, 1, 2005) Conclusion This paper provides a great deal of information regarding RFID technology. The technology has taken over the place of previous technologies for tracking and identification. RFID technology tracks and identifies the products and goods by using radio waves and can perform the operation while having a distance from the object that is to be tracked. Although there are many advantages that has been provided by this technology but there are also still some bottlenecks of using this technology. It is recommended that for future use this potential technology should be improved for these bottlenecks. References Anne Broache, RFID passports arrive for Americans- CNET news (2006) http://news.cnet.com/RFID-passports-arrive-for-Americans/2100-1028_3-6105534.html Accessed April 30, 2009 Discover RFID, RFID in general (no date) http://www.discoverrfid.org/how-it-works/technology/rfid-in-general.html Accessed April 30, 2009 Frank Hill, RFID in the supply chain- A new demand for availability (2007) http://www.net-security.org/article.phpid=974 Accessed April 30, 2009 How RFID works (no date) http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Technology-Article.aspArtNum=2 Accessed April 30, 2009 Neal Weinburg, Security concerns could slow RFID (2006) http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/040406-rfid-security-concerns.htmlfsrc=rss-rfid Accessed April 30, 2009 RFID and standardization (no date) http://www.ictsb.org/Activities/RFID_and_standardization/Index.htm Accessed April 30, 2009 RFID in the transport and logistics industry (no date) http://www.spacecode-rfid.com/site/markets/pdf/transport.pdf Accessed April 30, 2009 Richard W. Boss, RFID technology for libraries (2007) http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plapublications/platechnotes/RFID-2007.pdf Accessed April 30, 2009 Steve Makris, Product tracking RFID technology comes of age in Canadian marketplace (2005) http://www2.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.htmlid=83cb019b-fa6f-4112-af56-1bbe60bb77bc Accessed April 30, 2009 Susan Kuchinskas, RFID privacy gap- Internet news. Com (2004) http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3366811 Accessed April 30, 2009 The history of RFID Technology (no date) http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/1338/1/129 Accessed April 30, 2009 Vangie Aurora Beal, All about RFID (2005) http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Computer_Science/2005/rfid.asp Accessed April 30, 2009 Read More