Radio Frequency Identification So What?

What is RFID Type of technology that uses electromagnetic radio frequency to identify objects, animals and humans Transponders and Readers Replacement of barcodes

Types of RFID tags Type of TagPower source RangeDescription Passive Rely on radio signal that was transmitted to them 10 cm – a few meters Can only reflect signals back Semi Passive Internal battery meters Power source activates chip, does not emit signal ActiveInternal battery Hundreds of meters Generate powerful responses – reliable and effective

It goes way back… WWII – U.S., British, Germans, Japanese using plane radar 1970’s Los Alamos Nat’l Laboratory – tracking nuclear material 1950’s – electronic article surveillance tags 1980’s – use of RFID for bridge tolls

Progress of RFID Auto-ID center 1999 Track items through supply chain Sarma and Brock create network to link objects to internet companies supporting Auto-ID EPC used by retailers to track goods

Wal-Mart meets RFID Use RFID to count inventory and detect when they are out of stock Only 3 % of suppliers use RFID Take small steps – slowly implement system. Use RFID to support promotions

U.S. DoD uses RFID As of January 1, 2007 all cases and pallets must have RFID tags Tacking weapons and supplies shipped overseas Only passive tags used when in foreign countries so enemies can’t read the tags

Healthcare wants RFID Anti-Counterfeiting – history of medicines available at all times RFID on patients to give information about medical history. Error prevention – prevents wrong procedure from happening

Other Uses

The Concerns… Possibility of being tracked through our belongings Knowing where people are at all times. Using RFID to find and steal goods Information available to anyone with an RFID reader

References asphttp:// asp ?articleID= http:// ?articleID= w/1080/1/1/ w/1080/1/1/