Rfid Tagging

Radio Frequency Identification Detection (RFID) is a technology that involves a silicon chip and an antenna, which together is called a TAG. The tags emit radio signal to devices that are called readers. One of the things that is important to know about the Electronic Product Code (EPC) is that some people use RFID and EPC interchangeably, but they are different.

Would RFID work to track Products? Well, Bar Codes require a line of sight, so a person(s) with a bar code reader has to get right up on the bar code and scan it. When you are thinking about a supply chain, somebody in the warehouse would have to look at every single case. With RFID, all of the cases on the pallet would be picked up by a single swipe of a reader, even the ones stacked up in the middle that can't be seen. So it's much faster and more efficient and accurate.

In the retail sales market you may wonder why that type or kind of speed is important. In a recent interview about RFID usage in commercial sales, it was summoned up as follows "...We want our product to be on the shelf for consumers when they want it. A recent study of retailers showed that the top 2,000 items in stores had a 12 percent out-of-stock rate on Saturday afternoons, the busiest shopping day. I think the industry average for inventory levels is 65 days, which means products sitting around, taking up space for that time, and that costs about $3 billion annually. Often a retail clerk can't quickly find products in the crowded back room of a store to make sure that the shelves are filled for the consumer, or doesn't know that a shelf is sitting empty because they haven't walked by lately. With RFID, the shelf can signal to the back room that it is empty, and the clerk can quickly find the product..." (Sandra Hughes, Technology Review (Cambridge Mass), July-August 2004 v107 i6 p74 (2))

Now let us step to the other side of the Merchant counter as a consumer and realize how RFID can benefit the average person. Have you ever felt impatient when standing behind someone in line at the grocery store who insisted on paying by check? Well, get ready to get agitated at the slowpoke of the future--the techno challenged person using a credit card. Contactless cards, already used in Asia for several transit and payment systems, have been introduced to the United States via pilot programs sponsored by American Express and MasterCard. These "Proximity payment" systems use RFID technology that can essentially provide a consumer with a portable antenna that transmits and encrypted number when brought near a secure merchant terminal. The Average gas consumer may have already used this technology without knowledge. The "Speed Pass" by Mobile Gas, and the "Sun Pass" used in our local Toll System are just a few examples of RFID technology in use.

"The same computing power that once required and entire building to harness now can be inserted in you left arm."(Professor Warwick chips in", Computerworld, Jan. 11, 1999)

The simplest implantable microchip is a miniature passive transponder without any power source. It stores a permanent, unique identification number that can only be read but not modified. The transponder then responds by emitting the stored number. These devices are called implantable transponder or RFID tag.

RFID tagging "Micro Chipping" is an implantable microchip that is injected under the skin. It contains and electromagnetic coil and a microchip enclosed in a glass capsule the size of a grain of rice. A veterinarian using a special syringe is currently implanting these devices in animals. This passive transponder does not need a power supply and it last for decades. The identification number, which can be matched to the owner's name, address and phone number in a national pet database. Lost pets are scanned with hand held readers at animal shelters and returned to their owners. This technology is mostly used in Western countries for domestic type pets, like dogs, cats, birds and reptiles, Chips are also implanted into horses, livestock and wild animals - even fish , in order to monitor them and track their migration by satellites

The possibilities of implanting a RFID Tag into a human body as a tracking device is no longer limited to the Science fiction Realm, but now has become a fact of present life. If a person is tagged, he / she could be followed around the earth everywhere they go via satellites, ground sensors and computer networks. Some people have already begun using this new technology to provide identification and personal medical information. Medical records that are micro chipped could be saved and carried with at-risk patients for emergency response. Such a technology can be used to track down abducted children, lost adults with Alzheimer's, and National Security. After September 11th, with a new sense of heightened security at Airports, laboratories, and government buildings, many feel a personal identification record would be beneficial in the probability detection of another terrorist attack.

A Florida-based company, Applied Digital Solutions, has emerged and is the leader in this new technology. They have developed two products called VeriChip and Digital Angel. VeriChip is a RFID tag, with the potential to be used for security, financial, health, and identification. The microchip is energized and activated when a specific VeriChip scanner passes it. More recent testing has produced the newest line, the Digital Angel. It proposes to integrate wireless Internet technology with global positioning to transmit information directly to the Internet. These microchips are inserted under the fleshy part of the skin, typically under the upper arm. Contact with the body will enable the device to read body temperature, pulse, and even blood sugar content. Once implanted, the chip is virtually undetectable and indestructible. It has a special polyethylene sheath that helps skin bond to it to help keep it in place. The chip has no battery and thus no chemicals to possible leak into the body, and has an expected life of up to twenty years. Research is being done to produce a micro battery that will