RFID. A Technology That Changes

Everything

John Davis

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Imagine a strange new world

• Nothing gets lost• Everything can be identified

automatically (including people)• We always know where everything can

be found• Money will count itself• Things will communicate with other

things automatically

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This World Is Now Here

It is the world of RFID

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RFID What are they?

Radio Frequency Identification

They work by using radio waves to automatically identify individual items.

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How big are they?Grains of rice

RFID Chip

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How Does an RFID System Work?

• The system consists of a tag, which is made up of a microchip with a coiled antenna, and an interrogator or reader with an antenna. The reader sends out electromagnetic waves that form a magnetic field when they "couple" with the antenna on the RFID tag.

• A passive RFID tag draws power from this magnetic field and uses it to power the microchip’s circuits. The chip then modulates the waves that the tag sends back to the reader and the reader converts the new waves into digital data.

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A simplified layout

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Semi-passive Tag

require the tag to use battery power for the digital logic on the chip, but still use harvested power for communication.

They are far more reliable and have greater read ranges than purely passive tags,

they also have shorter lives (due to their reliance on battery power), are more fragile, and are significantly more expensive.

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Active Tag Systems have an active radio frequency (RF)

transmitter (i.e. they are capable of peer-to-peer communication) and use batteries to power the logic chip and to communicate with the reader (i.e. they do not use harvested power).

Read range increases (up to several kilometres) and reliability improves; active tags can be read while moving at up to 100 mph (e.g. in automatic toll-road payment systems) and the readers are capable of reading up to a thousand tags per second.

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Active Tags continued

Active tags can also be equipped with built-in sensors e.g. for monitoring temperature control (reporting unacceptable fluctuations on refrigerated products whilst in transit)

This does increase the cost even more – to over £55 (around $100 or €80) per tag (IDTechEx, 2005). They also have a much larger memory than passive tags and are also more secure.

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How much do RFID tags costs?

• Sometimes less than30 cents • Can be more expensive up to $50 depending

on the type of tag and the application. • Generally speaking, finished smart labels that

can be applied to products typically cost 50 cents or more. Active tags – those with a battery – can cost far more. And if you bundle in a sophisticated sensor, the cost could rise to more than $100.

BUT

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January 2003 ZDNet article cites Alien Technology:

"The company does predict that in quantities of 1 billion, RFID tags will approach 10 cents each, and in lots of 10 billion, the industry's holy grail of 5 cents a tag."

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In January 2003, Michelin announced that it has begun testing RFID transponders embedded into tyres. After a testing period that is expected to last 18 months, the manufacturer will offer RFID-enabled tires to car-makers. Their primary purpose is tyre-tracking in compliance with the United States Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act).

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RFID Case Study: Fleet Hospital, US Navy

• The system requirements of the US Navy's Fleet Hospital Three, in its search for a– system to streamline administration, patient ID

and tracking while engaged in Iraq. Learn more

– about the solution, TacMedCS, that the Navy employed, to keep important information with each patient, and to track his or her whereabouts automatically.

HMC Michael Stiney, U.S. Navy, Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory

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RFID can go anywhere

• Into people (Iraqi prisoners of US troops)

• Into clothes (tells the washing machine how to wash it?)

• Into everything that is made

• Into money (self destruct when stolen?)

(money that counts itself €500 notes)

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What are the managerial implications of RFID?• More knowledge about

the supply chain• Less waste• Elimination of privacy• Track product life• Improve food safety• Manage service costs• Identify stolen goods

• Asset Management could be automated

• Track children• Track prisoners &

students?• Track patients• Track customers• Health records can be

inserted into patients

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Problems

• Will there be customer rejection?

• Is the technology reliable

• Is the privacy issue “too political”

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What are the prizes to be won?• True E Commerce?

• Automated supply chains?

• Elimination of faulty goods?

• A safer environment?

• Elimination of waste?