RFID White
Paper
The purpose of
RFID White Paper is to provide an initial understanding of the
components of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) hardware and the
benefits of the different hardware. RFID White Paper also gives
several examples of the types of industries RFID has been
implemented in and the benefits it provides in those
environments.
A free RFID
White Paper covering:
- Chip and
Chipless RFID
- Paybacks
and advantages
- Range, data
and cost comparisons
- Applications and markets
- The
future
Radio Frequency
Identification RFID White Paper: RFID is a technology that enables
the electronic labeling and wireless identification of objects using
radio frequency communications. RFID is also a subset of the broader
area of Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC)
technologies, which include the more mature barcode, optical
character recognition, and infrared identification systems. RFID is
a means of storing, and retrieving data through electromagnetic
transmission to an RF compatible integrated circuit. RFID White
Paper provides readers with a basis of education regarding RFID
technology, markets, and applications as well as a discussion of
certain RFID technology
characteristics.
RFID White
Paper contains information on RFID & its
working.
How does RFID
work? RFID uses a tag able to reflect waves in a way that the
returned waves carry data. RFID is classified as an Automatic Data
Capture (ADC) technology, together with bar codes, character
recognition, forms recognition and magnetic stripe cards.
An automatic
identification system using RFID has a reader, which transmits a
signal at a given frequency to all RFID tags within its range. These
RFID tags return a signal. When the tags are "activated" by the
reader, a dialogue is established according to a predefined
communication protocol for exchanging data. RFID systems operate at
low, medium, UHF, or microwave frequencies between 9 Khz and several
GHz.
The reader and
the RFID tag communicate via electromagnetic fields created by the
antennae on the reader and the RFID tag. A battery, the
electromagnetic field, or a combination of both provides the power
that activates the tag. The IC (integrated circuit) executes the
programs for which it has been designed. The RFID tag IC transmits
information by amplitude, frequency or phase modulation of the
carrier. The reader receives the signals and transforms them into
binary data (0 or 1).
Likewise, the
reader modulates the carrier to send data to the RFID tag where the
modulated carrier is reconverted into digital information by the
RFID tag IC. One characteristic of this operating principle is that
the lower the operating frequency, the larger the antennas on the
RFID tag for a given power supply to the RFID tag IC. As a result,
low operating frequencies increase the complexity of manufacturing.
The RFID tag
can be attached to, carried by or embedded in an object. The word
"object" is used in its widest sense: it may be a smart card
(telephone card, bankcard), a parcel, a vehicle,
etc.
