Most consist of two parts, an integrated circuit that that stores and processes the information and an antenna that receives and transmits the signal.
There are 3 different types of RFID tags,
- Passive RFID tags which have no power source, and require an electromagnetic field to create a signal.
- Active RFID tags which contain a battery and are active once an external source has been identified.
- Battery Assisted Passive RFID tags which require a battery to power them up but can work at a higher range.
History
The first RFID tag was designed in 1973 by Mario Cardullo for use as a electronic toll collector. The original design was presented in 1969 for use in transportation, medical, security and banking. Today you can see how RFID tags have been incorporating into these fields such as GPS tracking, electronic credit cards and personal identification.
Present Use
RFID tags used to be and still are used in transportation, such as GPS tracking, electronic license plate registration and electronic toll collection. Today their uses are getting more and more advanced. Mobile phone technology is incorporating the tags into handsets to allow the users to link to their bank accounts from their phone. A couple of companies have introduced a reward/ loyalty card system to allow their customers to receive coupons for money off. The tags are attached to the phone and they receive the information via a download which then can read by a specialised device in store. One of the main uses of the RFID tags is for tracking packages and this was only introduced a couple of years ago. Originally the entire container was tracked using GPS and even then it was mystery where your package was in the days between sending it and receiving it. GPS was too expensive to put into each individual package so RFID tags were used. They can carry a larger amount of information and do not need to visually scanned in order to be registered.
In 2003 the London Underground introduced the Oyster Card to allow uses of the underground prepay for use of the underground. The card is the size of a normal credit card and contact less technology is used to scan the card and register the ticket value the card contains. Passengers can use their home computers and mobile phones to top up the card before they use the underground, so they can go straight down to the platforms after swiping the cards. The Oyster Card contains a tiny RFID tag in the bottom right corner of the card that holds the information.
Another slightly weirder use for RFID tags is human implants. A night club owner who ran night clubs in Barcelona and Rotterdam offered RFID tags implants to those on the VIP list at the club to allow them quicker access to the club and as a quicker payment method at the bar.
Future Uses
In the future RFID tags are set to become more and more popular and commonplace in many areas. IBM, a leading business in the technology market, created this commercial to demonstrate the 'evolution of supermarkets' through the use of RFID tags.
This clever advertisement shows how RFID can make simple everyday tasks, such as shopping, quicker and easier for us to complete.
Advantages
- They are very small so can be implanted and placed almost anywhere including into humans and animals. This makes them perfect for concealing into packages to help track them without adding the size or weight of the package.
- They can hold a larger amount of information compared to similar technology like GPS tracking. Information can include lots of details of the item that RFID is attached to.
- They are very secure and not very easily to replicate which increases the security of the product.
Disadvantages
- RFID technology can be very expensive, they are costly to install which only makes the financially beneficial to large businesses.
- Tags require certain conditions for them to be read. If they are placed in liquids or metal they are impossible to read as the material blocks the electromagnetic field.
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