7 basic rfid tagging questions answered - the tagging team - the expert in rfid...

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

10 Basic Questions Answered About RFID Tagging

WhatisRFIDTagging,10AnswerstotheTop10Questions

1. WhatisanRFIDTag?2. WhatdoesRFIDTaggingmean?3. WhatdoesanRFIDTagLookLike?4. WhatdoesanRFIDTagdo?5. CanyouputanRFIDTagonMetalItems?6. HowFarDoesanRFIDTagSignalTravel?7. HowLongDoesanRFIDTagLast?8. WhatCanRFIDTagsBeUsedFor?9. ShowMeSomeRealWorldBenefitsofRFID?10. WhatHappensNextWithRFID?

1. What Is An RFID TAG?

Basicdescription:anRFIDTagisanaerialwithasmallmicrochip.Themicrochipcanstoreasmallamountofdata,likeabarcode,plussomeotherinformationrelatedtotheitemortheowneroftheitemwiththetagon.WhentheTagreceivesaradiowavesignalthatsignalbrieflypowersthemicrochip.Theinitiatingdevicethenreceivesthedatafromthetag.Thisallhappensextremelyquickly.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

2. WHAT DOES RFID TAGGING MEAN?

RFIDTaggingistheplacingoftagsontoassetstoenablethoseassetstobemanaged.

ForRFIDenableditemslikeaccesscardsoranOystercardforexample,theRFIDtaggingprocessispartofthemanufacturingprocess.ItwouldnotbeclassedasRFIDtagging.

Foritemsthatare‘taggedatsource’,againthiswouldnotreallybewhattheindustryclassesasRFIDTagging.Whensomethingismanufacturedthereareoftenmanylabelsattached during the process, if thatmanufacturer puts an RFID tag on the item orpackagingitispartoftheoverallprocess,classedassourcetagging.

RFIDTaggingreallyreferstotheretrospectivetaggingofassets,manydifferenttypesofassets.

Thoseassetscouldbelibrarybooks,powertools,ITequipment,files,patientrecords,theyareallclassedasassets.

TheprocessofRFIDTaggingmeansthattheseassetshaveatagplacedonthem,usuallythetaghasanadhesiveback,thensomereferencetotheitemisprogrammedontotheRFIDtagsmicrochip.

Notalltagshaveadhesiveontheback,itdependswhattheyaremeanttobeattachedto.

Oncetheassethasatagattacheditcanbereadbyan‘RFIDReader’.UsuallytherearesomesecurityfeaturesbuiltinsoonlythedesiredRFIDReadercangetdatafromthetags.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

3. WHAT DOES AN RFID TAG LOOK LIKE?

TherangeofRFIDTagsisverywide,we’llgiveyoualinktoRFIDTagImages.But,allRFID Tags have one thing in common, they are built with pretty much the sametechnology.

ToseearangeofRFIDTagImages:CLICKHEREToSeeRFIDTagsBeingPutinLibraryBooksCLICKHERE

Thereisamicrochip,usuallysomewherenearthecentrebutnotalways.

Thereisanaerial,usuallydesignedlikethisone.

AnACTIVERFIDtagwillalsoincludeabattery.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

4 WHAT DOES AN RFID TAG DO?

AnRFIDtagisawayoftransferringinformationfromanitemtoareaderandthentoadatabaseofsomekind.

LibrarybooksareaneasywaytoexplainwhattheRFIDTag,andoverallRFIDsystem,do.

ThinkofaLibrarybookwithabarcodeon.Whenyouwanttoissueorreturnthebookyouneedtoscanthebarcode.Simple,butiftherearealottodoittakestime.Thesamethingwithcheckingthestockinalibrary.Ifyou’reonlyusingabarcodetheneachbookneedsindividuallychecking.

RFIDTagstakeawayabigpartofthelabourandtimeinvolvedincheckingitems.IftheTag only had the items barcode number in thatwould be enough to be beneficial.Ratherthanscanningasinglebarcodeatatimeyoucanreadalotofitemsveryquickly.

Figure1:TraditionalBarcodeMethod

ItemBarcode BarcodeScanned

1itemataTime

DatabaseAccessed

ItemRFID Tag

RFIDReaderReads6+Items

inunderasecond

MultipleItemsRead

DatabaseAccessed

10,000BooksWithRFIDTags

Portable RFIDReader,Logsall

BooksinMinutes

FullItemListGenerated

DatabaseUpdated

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

5. CAN YOU PUT AN RFID TAG ON METAL

ITEMS?

Overthe last fewyearsthetechnologyhasadvanced,youarenowabletoRFIDTagmetalitems.

Thetagsarespecificallydesignedtobeplacedonmetal.Theyoperateinthesamewayasothertagsapartfromthedirectionoftheradiosignaltheygiveoff.Thisisbecausethesignalispushedawayfromthemetalitem,metalandRFIDsignalsdon’tmixwell.

6. HOW FAR DOES AN RFID SIGNAL TRAVEL?

FirstyouneedtoknowaboutdifferenttypesofRFIDTags,notshapesandsizesbutthedifferenttechnologyusedwithinthem.

Thecategoriesusedwidelyare:

HFTags–HighFrequency

UHFTags–UltraHighFrequency

BothtypescanbePassiveorActive(Activehasabatterypassivedoesnot)

HighFrequencymeansthattheradiowaveusedforthesetagsisontheHighFrequencyscale,UltraHighFrequencyoperatesonaHigherFrequencyscale.

UHFcantravelfurtherthanHF.ThemostbasicHFsystemsusingpassivetagsandsmallaerialscanonlyberead30-40cmaway. WhereasUHFwith largeaerialsandActive(powered)tagscanbereadupto100metersaway.

Thedifferencebetweenpassiveandactivetagsisimportant.Apassivetagdoesnothaveabattery in it, it ispoweredbythesignal itreceivesfromtheRFIDreader. AnActivetaghasabattery,whichmeansitbooststhesignalbeingsentout.

ThinkofthedifferencebetweenanOystercard,whereyouneedtoplaceitonareader,thisisHFPassivetechnology.WhereasasystemwhichreadsataginacartoconfirmithaspassedthroughatollroadisprobablyUHFActive.ThisisbecausethatsignalneedstotravelfurthersoUHFandActiveareusedtomakethishappen.

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

There are many other variables in read range depending on the system, but theminimumisaround30cmandthemaximumaround100meters.

7. HOW LONG DOES AN RFID TAG LAST?

Thereisnodefinitiveanswertothisquestion.IntheoryaPassiveTagwithnobatteryshould,orcould, lasta lifetime. AnActiveTagwithabatterywill lastas longasthebatterylasts.Howlongthatisdependsonhowoftenthetaghastoomitasignal.

Thelifespanofanactivetagdependsonitsusesandenvironment,somewherebetween1yearand10years.

APassiveTaghoweverissimplerandhasnobatterytoreplyon.Intheoryitcouldlastalifetime,butthatwoulddependwhereiswasandhowitwastreated.

Likeanyelectronicdevice itwillbeeffectedbytemperature,humidity,handlingandwearandtear.

8. WHAT CAN RFID TAGS BE USED FOR?

Many Many Things, See Below:

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

A Small Selection of Uses for RFID Systems

9. REAL WORLD BENEFITS OF RFID? 1. Ifyouknowwhatyouhaveyouknowwhatyouneed.Retailstoreshaveshownan

8%salesgrowth(thefiguresvary,8%isonthelowside)fromknowingwhattheyhaveinrealtime.Customersarefickle,ifit’stheretodaythey’llgetitbecausethat’swhattheycamefor,theymaynotcomebackifit’snotthere.UsingRFIDtechnologyforrealtimestockanalysismeanspopularitemsdon’trunoutofstock.

2. UsingRFIDtounderstandyourequipmentstock.Werecentlytaggedequipmentforabuildingfirm,oncompletiontheclienthadaquicklookatthedatabase.“WhythehellhasTonygot5ofthose”.TheimmediateinferenceisthatTony,andpossiblymanymorepeoplewithinthecompany,likedtohogcertaintools.Bydoingsotheyarenotdeployedcorrectlyandreplacedunnecessarily.Thesavingsaredifficulttoassesssoearlyintheprocess,buttheyareexpectedtobeconsiderable.

•Legal•Medical•Accounting•Many More

•LibraryBooks•Retail Stores•Pallets ofgoods•Containers ofgoods•Thecontainersthemselves•ManyMore

•OysterCards•DisneyParkPasses•DoorAccess•ManyMore

•CasinoChips•Golf Balls(comingsoon)•ITAssets•PowerTools•HealthcareEquipment•ManyMore

Tracking Access

DocumentsStockControl

RFID TAGGING EXPLAINED

3. Librarybooks.ProbablyoneofthesimplerformsofRFID,replacingabarcodewithan RFID tag that holds the barcode details in it. Quite apart from the fact thatreaderscanissueandreturnmultiplebooksinseconds,comparedtoqueuingupatacounterorscanningeachoneseparately.Thetechnologyallowsalibraryofsay50,000 books, or aUniversitywith 350,000 books, to be stock checked in a tinyfractionofthetimeitwouldtakewithbarcodes.Itcanalsolocatebookswhichhavebeenre-shelvedincorrectly,orscanashelfandcheckthebooksareinthecorrectorder.Itcanevenfindbookshiddeninvariousweirdandwonderfulplacesaroundthelibrary.

4. TherearesomanyexamplesofrealworldbenefitstoRFID. Thesearticles intheRFIDJournalareexcellentexamples:ClickHere

10. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH RFID?

ForaveryinterestingarticleonnewandupcomingRFIDdevelopmentsfromRFIDArenaClickHere.

Toreceiveourupcomingindustryexperts’viewsonRFIDadvancements,ClickHere