RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

10 Basic Questions Answered About RFID Tagging

WhatisRFIDTagging,10AnswerstotheTop10Questions

1. WhatisanRFIDTag?2. WhatdoesRFIDTaggingmean?3. WhatdoesanRFIDTagLookLike?4. WhatdoesanRFIDTagdo?5. CanyouputanRFIDTagonMetalItems?6. HowFarDoesanRFIDTagSignalTravel?7. HowLongDoesanRFIDTagLast?8. WhatCanRFIDTagsBeUsedFor?9. ShowMeSomeRealWorldBenefitsofRFID?10. WhatHappensNextWithRFID?

1. What Is An RFID TAG?

Basicdescription:anRFIDTagisanaerialwithasmallmicrochip.Themicrochipcanstoreasmallamountofdata,likeabarcode,plussomeotherinformationrelatedtotheitemortheowneroftheitemwiththetagon.WhentheTagreceivesaradiowavesignalthatsignalbrieflypowersthemicrochip.Theinitiatingdevicethenreceivesthedatafromthetag.Thisallhappensextremelyquickly.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

2. WHAT DOES RFID TAGGING MEAN?

RFIDTaggingistheplacingoftagsontoassetstoenablethoseassetstobemanaged.

ForRFIDenableditemslikeaccesscardsoranOystercardforexample,theRFIDtaggingprocessispartofthemanufacturingprocess.ItwouldnotbeclassedasRFIDtagging.

Foritemsthatare‘taggedatsource’,againthiswouldnotreallybewhattheindustryclassesasRFIDTagging.Whensomethingismanufacturedthereareoftenmanylabelsattached during the process, if thatmanufacturer puts an RFID tag on the item orpackagingitispartoftheoverallprocess,classedassourcetagging.

RFIDTaggingreallyreferstotheretrospectivetaggingofassets,manydifferenttypesofassets.

Thoseassetscouldbelibrarybooks,powertools,ITequipment,files,patientrecords,theyareallclassedasassets.

TheprocessofRFIDTaggingmeansthattheseassetshaveatagplacedonthem,usuallythetaghasanadhesiveback,thensomereferencetotheitemisprogrammedontotheRFIDtagsmicrochip.

Notalltagshaveadhesiveontheback,itdependswhattheyaremeanttobeattachedto.

Oncetheassethasatagattacheditcanbereadbyan‘RFIDReader’.UsuallytherearesomesecurityfeaturesbuiltinsoonlythedesiredRFIDReadercangetdatafromthetags.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

3. WHAT DOES AN RFID TAG LOOK LIKE?

TherangeofRFIDTagsisverywide,we’llgiveyoualinktoRFIDTagImages.But,allRFID Tags have one thing in common, they are built with pretty much the sametechnology.

ToseearangeofRFIDTagImages:CLICKHEREToSeeRFIDTagsBeingPutinLibraryBooksCLICKHERE

Thereisamicrochip,usuallysomewherenearthecentrebutnotalways.

Thereisanaerial,usuallydesignedlikethisone.

AnACTIVERFIDtagwillalsoincludeabattery.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

4 WHAT DOES AN RFID TAG DO?

AnRFIDtagisawayoftransferringinformationfromanitemtoareaderandthentoadatabaseofsomekind.

LibrarybooksareaneasywaytoexplainwhattheRFIDTag,andoverallRFIDsystem,do.

ThinkofaLibrarybookwithabarcodeon.Whenyouwanttoissueorreturnthebookyouneedtoscanthebarcode.Simple,butiftherearealottodoittakestime.Thesamethingwithcheckingthestockinalibrary.Ifyou’reonlyusingabarcodetheneachbookneedsindividuallychecking.

RFIDTagstakeawayabigpartofthelabourandtimeinvolvedincheckingitems.IftheTag only had the items barcode number in thatwould be enough to be beneficial.Ratherthanscanningasinglebarcodeatatimeyoucanreadalotofitemsveryquickly.

Figure1:TraditionalBarcodeMethod

ItemBarcode BarcodeScanned

1itemataTime

DatabaseAccessed

ItemRFID Tag

RFIDReaderReads6+Items

inunderasecond

MultipleItemsRead

DatabaseAccessed

10,000BooksWithRFIDTags

Portable RFIDReader,Logsall

BooksinMinutes

FullItemListGenerated

DatabaseUpdated

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

5. CAN YOU PUT AN RFID TAG ON METAL

ITEMS?

Overthe last fewyearsthetechnologyhasadvanced,youarenowabletoRFIDTagmetalitems.

Thetagsarespecificallydesignedtobeplacedonmetal.Theyoperateinthesamewayasothertagsapartfromthedirectionoftheradiosignaltheygiveoff.Thisisbecausethesignalispushedawayfromthemetalitem,metalandRFIDsignalsdon’tmixwell.

6. HOW FAR DOES AN RFID SIGNAL TRAVEL?

FirstyouneedtoknowaboutdifferenttypesofRFIDTags,notshapesandsizesbutthedifferenttechnologyusedwithinthem.

Thecategoriesusedwidelyare:

HFTags–HighFrequency

UHFTags–UltraHighFrequency

BothtypescanbePassiveorActive(Activehasabatterypassivedoesnot)

HighFrequencymeansthattheradiowaveusedforthesetagsisontheHighFrequencyscale,UltraHighFrequencyoperatesonaHigherFrequencyscale.

UHFcantravelfurtherthanHF.ThemostbasicHFsystemsusingpassivetagsandsmallaerialscanonlyberead30-40cmaway. WhereasUHFwith largeaerialsandActive(powered)tagscanbereadupto100metersaway.

Thedifferencebetweenpassiveandactivetagsisimportant.Apassivetagdoesnothaveabattery in it, it ispoweredbythesignal itreceivesfromtheRFIDreader. AnActivetaghasabattery,whichmeansitbooststhesignalbeingsentout.

ThinkofthedifferencebetweenanOystercard,whereyouneedtoplaceitonareader,thisisHFPassivetechnology.WhereasasystemwhichreadsataginacartoconfirmithaspassedthroughatollroadisprobablyUHFActive.ThisisbecausethatsignalneedstotravelfurthersoUHFandActiveareusedtomakethishappen.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

There are many other variables in read range depending on the system, but theminimumisaround30cmandthemaximumaround100meters.

7. HOW LONG DOES AN RFID TAG LAST?

Thereisnodefinitiveanswertothisquestion.IntheoryaPassiveTagwithnobatteryshould,orcould, lasta lifetime. AnActiveTagwithabatterywill lastas longasthebatterylasts.Howlongthatisdependsonhowoftenthetaghastoomitasignal.

Thelifespanofanactivetagdependsonitsusesandenvironment,somewherebetween1yearand10years.

APassiveTaghoweverissimplerandhasnobatterytoreplyon.Intheoryitcouldlastalifetime,butthatwoulddependwhereiswasandhowitwastreated.

Likeanyelectronicdevice itwillbeeffectedbytemperature,humidity,handlingandwearandtear.

8. WHAT CAN RFID TAGS BE USED FOR?

Many Many Things, See Below:

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

A Small Selection of Uses for RFID Systems

9. REAL WORLD BENEFITS OF RFID? 1. Ifyouknowwhatyouhaveyouknowwhatyouneed.Retailstoreshaveshownan

8%salesgrowth(thefiguresvary,8%isonthelowside)fromknowingwhattheyhaveinrealtime.Customersarefickle,ifit’stheretodaythey’llgetitbecausethat’swhattheycamefor,theymaynotcomebackifit’snotthere.UsingRFIDtechnologyforrealtimestockanalysismeanspopularitemsdon’trunoutofstock.

2. UsingRFIDtounderstandyourequipmentstock.Werecentlytaggedequipmentforabuildingfirm,oncompletiontheclienthadaquicklookatthedatabase.“WhythehellhasTonygot5ofthose”.TheimmediateinferenceisthatTony,andpossiblymanymorepeoplewithinthecompany,likedtohogcertaintools.Bydoingsotheyarenotdeployedcorrectlyandreplacedunnecessarily.Thesavingsaredifficulttoassesssoearlyintheprocess,buttheyareexpectedtobeconsiderable.

•Legal•Medical•Accounting•Many More

•LibraryBooks•Retail Stores•Pallets ofgoods•Containers ofgoods•Thecontainersthemselves•ManyMore

•OysterCards•DisneyParkPasses•DoorAccess•ManyMore

•CasinoChips•Golf Balls(comingsoon)•ITAssets•PowerTools•HealthcareEquipment•ManyMore

Tracking Access

DocumentsStockControl

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

3. Librarybooks.ProbablyoneofthesimplerformsofRFID,replacingabarcodewithan RFID tag that holds the barcode details in it. Quite apart from the fact thatreaderscanissueandreturnmultiplebooksinseconds,comparedtoqueuingupatacounterorscanningeachoneseparately.Thetechnologyallowsalibraryofsay50,000 books, or aUniversitywith 350,000 books, to be stock checked in a tinyfractionofthetimeitwouldtakewithbarcodes.Itcanalsolocatebookswhichhavebeenre-shelvedincorrectly,orscanashelfandcheckthebooksareinthecorrectorder.Itcanevenfindbookshiddeninvariousweirdandwonderfulplacesaroundthelibrary.

4. TherearesomanyexamplesofrealworldbenefitstoRFID. Thesearticles intheRFIDJournalareexcellentexamples:ClickHere

10. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH RFID?

ForaveryinterestingarticleonnewandupcomingRFIDdevelopmentsfromRFIDArenaClickHere.

Toreceiveourupcomingindustryexperts’viewsonRFIDadvancements,ClickHere