Rfid: A Broad Overview

RFID: A Broad Overview

Network and Telecommunications Concepts I/360

Ms. Marjorie Marque

December 5, 2005

RFID: A Broad Overview

Introduction

Radio Frequency Identification is part of the expansive category of automatic identification technologies. Auto-ID technologies include bar codes, optical character readers and others, such as retinal scans. So what is RFID and what can this technology be used for? Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a system consisting of a tag, a reader and any particular form of electronic data processing equipment, such as a computer (see Tag below). The system is fairly simple to operate. Unlike bar codes, which must be close to the scanner for reading, encoded signals from the tag and the reader are wirelessly transmitted through radio waves across greater distances. RFID not only has the advantage of longer read distances, it also has the ability to read through dirt, rain, snow, fog, direct sunlight and non-metallic objects. RFID can be used to identify, track and sort a wide variety of objects.

RFID Tag

History

This technology has recently had an impact on so many companies that the majority of people would presume the RFID proposals are new. Conversely, research indicates that RFID technology appears to have had its grass roots in World War II. According to the RFID Journal, Germans discovered the radio signals were changed as they were reflected back to the base after bouncing off planes rolling in the air. This method would alert the radar crew on the ground that the plane was friend or foe and, as such, was the first passive RFID system (2005). In 1932, the British invented the IFF transponder under Watson-Watt. It was the first active system to identify friend of foe (IFF). The paper, entitled "Communication by Means of Reflected Power" (Proceedings of the IRE, pp1196-1204, October 1948) by Harry Stockman, is seen as a landmark in the development of RFID technology and has lead to much more exploration.

It was not until the 1960's companies such as Sensormatic, Checkpoint and Knogo, developed electronic article surveillance (EAS) equipment to counter theft. This was a revolutionary endeavor that can still be seen in operation today. The tags were inexpensive to make and provided effective anti-theft measures (Landt, 2001). The next major transformation in the use of the RFID tags occurred in the late 60's, early 70's. Security and safety issues surrounded the use of nuclear materials and compelled the need for further development of the tagging equipment. The Department of Energy asked the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories (LASL) to develop a system for tracking nuclear materials. Since that time, the system was a proven asset to the economic success of America's industry but no one realized the extent of the device's capability.

Commercial

Commercially, RFID is still in the infancy stage of development. Various applications have spun off from the original applications of RFID such as identification of fleet vehicles, automatic toll collections on highways, access control to secured and monitored areas and even remote keyless entry or smart keys for automobiles, are fairly common. Ranging from proximity cards that unlock doors to immobilizer chips built into many modern car keys, RFID technologies are already broadly deployed worldwide (see below). Tags in items such as clothing can also link an individual to the item and the tag. Amusement parks, hospitals, and schools are putting RFID tags into wristbands to keep track of patrons, patients, and students. Roughly 40 million Americans carry some form of RFID device everyday (Garfinkel, 2004).

Frequency Operational Range From Reader Approximate Tag Cost Applications

Low-frequency125 - 148 KHz 3 feet $1+ Pet and ranch animal identification;car key locks

High-frequency13.56 MHz 3 feet $0.50 library book identification;clothing identification; smart cards

Ultra-high freq915 MHz 25 feet $0.50 Supply chain tracking:Box, pallet, container, trailer tracking

Microwave:2.45GHz 100 feet $25+ Highway toll collection;vehicle fleet identification

There are virtually unrestricted possibilities to the uses because RFIDs are growing in functionality while shrinking in size. They can be attached to or implanted in almost any object, including humans. For example, doctors and nurses can read the patient identification number and use it to retrieve patient records from the hospital database. Currently, most Americans willing accept and are aware of the fact that pet owners and breeders have, for a number of years, used implanted RFIDs for pet identification and recovery. However, on October 13, 2004, after two years of review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the practice of injecting humans with Applied Digital Solution's VeriChip for medical purposes. Other countries have been implanting the chips in thousands of patients. Furthermore, the chips are being used as a resourceful authentication tool for building or enhancing security and financial transactions. In fact, the Attorney General of Mexico and nearly 200 of his staff have been implanted with VeriChips as part of an effort to control access to secure areas (Weissert, 2004).

Supply

As mentioned earlier, RFID technology has recently received a lot of press despite having been in existence for over 50 years. This phenomenon resulted from Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, mandating that their top 100 suppliers use RFID technology on all crates and pallets by January of 2005. Furthermore, David Williams went on to state that an additional 200 suppliers and manufacturers were forced to comply by January of 2006 (2005). This will send RFID production to well over 3 billion chips per year from the 300 suppliers. The chips have not been reliable in terms of a variety of uses and users. However, this mandate will invariably standardize and settle the RFID market. More to the point, there are a myriad of benefits to this edict. As progressively more suppliers are forced to do the same, consumers could eventually stop having to physically search for products because all the items in the store would be tracked