RFID Reader and Price

At a high level, RFID is an e-tagging technology that can be used to provide electronic identity to any object. Electronic information about an object is stored in RFID chips embedded or attached to the object. Using an RFID reader, the electronic identity (code in the form of several bits of data) can be read wirelessly using radio waves. This is where it differs from other e-tagging technologies such as barcode scanning, which uses optical recognition. Because it uses radio waves, no line of sight is required and RFID tags embedded inside an object can be sensed. Let’s see RFID Reader + Price in some more details.

Further, an RFID reader can read multiple RFID tags simultaneously, which is not possible using barcodes. RFID Reader + Price at the gate of a warehouse, for example, can immediately sense all the RFID-tagged objects within a container as soon as the container passes by the gate. RFID tags can either be passive (cheap and work without any battery) or active (costly, yet have an embedded power source). Further, the electronic identification stored in a tag can either be fixed or dynamically updatable. The range of sensing RFID tags from an RFID reader can vary from a few centimeters to a few meters depending on the frequency of operation and the type of tags.

Some more information about RFID Reader + Price: Radio frequency identification or RFID is gaining momentum in other parts of the world, but has yet to make a real dent here because of its high cost. There are a wide number of manufacturers of both RF tags and RFID reader technology. The design and manufacture of the reader antenna is normally the responsibility of the systems integrator. The price of an RFID reader varies from $50 to more than $1,000, depending on its size and the distance it covers - how far the reader can be from the tag for data to keep transmitting. The price of RFID readers varies between £1,800and £18,000, depending on the type of reader.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is - like the bar code - a data carrier. The difference is that the bar code reader needs contact with the cluster of bars, whereas RFID operates on radio waves and does not require a line of sight. At its simplest an RFID transponder is silicon chip (the memory) mounted onto an antenna (the transmitter). Its information is scanned by an RFID reader that sends energy in the form of radio waves to the transponder, which can thus send its information to the reader. The reason for the reduction in the reception time of the goods previously mentioned is that several hundred RFID transponders can be read at the same time. This the bar code cannot do.

RFID will not replace the bar code immediately. One hurdle is the price i.e. RFID Reader + Price. Today a transponder costs from 20 cents to one euro depending on the level of functionality and the package. In any case even the cheapest transponder is around five times more expensive than the traditional bar code. The effect of the price cannot, however, be computed quite so directly.

RFID technology adoption will happen in two stages. In the short- to medium-term, RFID costs will not have dropped enough to apply the technology for item-level tagging. At this level, RFID would find its way into supply chain applications involving container-level tagging, warehouse automation, etc. As the price point begin to dip down to a few cents, new market opportunities will open up, especially in sectors such as apparel, manufacturing, delivery and pharmaceuticals. The market for RFID solutions could explode once RFID costs have fallen below the single-cent level and new technologies drive RFID sizes smaller, making them appropriate for item-level tagging. Forrester Research predicts that by around 2007-2008, adoption of very cheap RFID tags (sub-$0.01 level) could explode to over 20 to 40 billion RFID tags.