Radio-frequency identification:
Radio-frequency
identification (RFID)
is the wireless non-contact use of radio-frequencyelectromagnetic fields to transfer data, for
the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to
objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. Some tags are
powered by and read at short ranges (a few meters) via magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction). Others use a local
power source such as a battery, or else have no battery but collect energy from
the interrogating EM field, and then act as a passive transponder to emit
microwaves or UHF radio waves (i.e., electromagnetic radiation at high frequencies).
Battery powered tags may operate at hundreds of meters. Unlike a bar code, the tag does not
necessarily need to be within line of sight of the reader, and may be embedded
in the tracked object.
RFID
tags are used in many industries. An RFID tag attached to an automobile during
production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line.
Pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses. Livestock and pets may have tags injected,
allowing positive identification of the animal.
Since
RFID tags can be attached to cash, clothing, everyday possessions, or even
implanted within people, the possibility of reading personally-linked
information without consent has raised serious privacy concerns
Small
RFID chip, here compared to a grain of rice, is incorporated in consumer
products, and implanted in pets, for identification purposes
History
In 1945 Léon Theremin invented an espionage tool for the Soviet Union which retransmitted
incident radio waves with audio information. Sound waves vibrated adiaphragm which
slightly altered the shape of the resonator, which modulated
the reflected radio frequency. Even though this device was a covert listening device, not an identification
tag, it is considered to be a predecessor of RFID technology, because it was
likewise passive, being energized and activated by waves from an outside source.[2]
Similar
technology, such as the IFF transponder,
was routinely used by the allies and Germany in World War II to identify aircraft
as friend or foe. Transponders are
still used by most powered aircraft to this day. Another early work exploring
RFID is the landmark 1948 paper by Harry Stockman, titled "Communication
by Means of Reflected Power" (Proceedings of the IRE, pp 1196–1204,
October 1948). Stockman predicted that "... considerable research and
development work has to be done before the remaining basic problems in
reflected-power communication are solved, and before the field of useful
applications is explored."
Mario
Cardullo's device, patented on January 23, 1973, was the first true ancestor [3] of modern RFID, as it
was a passive radio transponder with memory.[4] The initial device
was passive, powered by the interrogating signal, and was demonstrated in 1971
to the New York Port Authority and other potential users and consisted of a
transponder with 16 bit memory for use as a
toll device. The basic Cardullo patent covers the use of RF, sound and light as
transmission media. The original business plan presented to investors in 1969
showed uses in transportation (automotive vehicle identification, automatic toll
system, electronic license plate, electronic manifest, vehicle routing, vehicle
performance monitoring), banking (electronic check book, electronic credit
card), security (personnel identification, automatic gates, surveillance) and
medical (identification, patient history).
An
early demonstration of reflected
power (modulated
backscatter) RFID tags, both passive and semi-passive, was performed by Steven
Depp, Alfred Koelle, and Robert Freyman at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1973.[5] The portable system
operated at 915 MHz and used 12-bit tags. This technique is used by the
majority of today's UHFID and microwave RFID tags.[6]
Design
Tags
A radio-frequency
identification system uses tags,
or labels attached to the
objects to be identified. Two-way radio transmitter-receivers called interrogators or readers send a signal to the
tag and read its response.
RFID
tags can be either passive, active or battery-assisted passive. An active tag
has an on-board battery and periodically transmits its ID signal. A
battery-assisted passive (BAP) has a small battery on board and is activated
when in the presence of an RFID reader. A passive tag is cheaper and smaller
because it has no battery. However, to start operation of passive tags, they
must be illuminated with a power level roughly three magnitudes stronger than
for signal transmission. That makes a difference in interference and in
exposure to radiation.
Tags
may either be read-only, having a factory-assigned serial number that is used
as a key into a database, or may be read/write, where object-specific data can
be written into the tag by the system user. Field programmable tags may be
write-once, read-multiple; "blank" tags may be written with an
electronic product code by the user. A tag with no inherent identity is always
threatened to get manipulated.
RFID
tags contain at least two parts: an integrated circuit for storing and
processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal,
collecting DC power from the incident reader signal, and other specialized
functions; and an antenna for receiving and
transmitting the signal. The tag information is stored in a non-volatile
memory. The RFID tag includes either a chip-wired logic or a programmed or programmable
data processor for processing the transmission and sensor data, respectively.
An
RFID reader transmits an encoded radio signal to interrogate the tag. The RFID
tag receives the message and then responds with its identification and other
information. This may be only a unique tag serial number, or may be
product-related information such as a stock number, lot or batch number,
production date, or other specific information.
Readers
RFID systems can be
classified by the type of tag and reader. A Passive
Reader Active Tag (PRAT)
system has a passive reader which only receives radio signals from active tags
(battery operated, transmit only). The reception range of a PRAT system reader
can be adjusted from 1–2,000 feet (0.30–609.60 m)[citation
needed], allowing flexibility in applications such
as asset protection and supervision.
An Active Reader
Passive Tag (ARPT)
system has an active reader, which transmits interrogator signals and also
receives authentication replies from passive tags.
An Active Reader
Active Tag (ARAT)
system uses active tags awoken with an interrogator signal from the active
reader. A variation of this system could also use a Battery-Assisted Passive
(BAP) tag which acts like a passive tag but has a small battery to power the
tag's return reporting signal.
Fixed
readers are set up to create a specific interrogation zone which can be tightly
controlled. This allows a highly defined reading area for when tags go in and
out of the interrogation zone. Mobile readers may be hand-held or mounted on
carts or vehicles.
Signaling
Signaling between the reader and the tag is done in several
different incompatible ways, depending on the frequency band used by the tag.
Tags operating on LF and HF bands are, in terms of radio wavelength, very close
to the reader antenna because they are only a small percentage of a wavelength
away. In this near field region, the tag is closely
coupled electrically with the transmitter in the reader. The tag can modulate
the field produced by the reader by changing the electrical loading the tag
represents. By switching between lower and higher relative loads, the tag produces
a change that the reader can detect. At UHF and higher frequencies, the tag is
more than one radio wavelength away from the reader, requiring a different
approach. The tag can backscatter a signal. Active tags may
contain functionally separated transmitters and receivers, and the tag need not
respond on a frequency related to the reader's interrogation signal.
An Electronic Product Code (EPC) is one
common type of data stored in a tag. When written into the tag by an RFID
printer, the tag contains a 96-bit string of data. The first eight bits are a
header which identifies the version of the protocol. The next 28 bits identify
the organization that manages the data for this tag; the organization number is
assigned by the EPCGlobal consortium. The next 24 bits are an object class,
identifying the kind of product; the last 36 bits are a unique serial number
for a particular tag. These last two fields are set by the organization that
issued the tag. Rather like a URL, the total electronic product code
number can be used as a key into a global database to uniquely identify a
particular product.[11]
Often more than one tag will respond to a tag reader, for
example, many individual products with tags may be shipped in a common box or
on a common pallet. Collision detection is important to allow reading of data.
Two different types of protocols are used to "singulate"a
particular tag, allowing its data to be read in the midst of many similar tags.
In a slotted Aloha system,
the reader broadcasts an initialization command and a parameter that the tags
individually use to pseudo-randomly delay their responses. When using an
"adaptive binary tree" protocol, the reader sends an initialization
symbol and then transmits one bit of ID data at a time; only tags with matching
bits respond, and eventually only one tag matches the complete ID string.
An example of a binary tree method
of identifying an RFID tag
Both methods have drawbacks when used with many tags or with
multiple overlapping readers. Bulk reading is
a strategy for interrogating multiple tags at the same time, but lacks
sufficient precision for inventory control.
Miniaturization
RFIDs are easy to
conceal or incorporate in other items. For example, in 2009 researchers at Bristol University successfully glued
RFID micro-transponders to live ants in order to study
their behavior.This trend towards
increasingly miniaturized RFIDs is likely to continue as technology advances.
Hitachi
holds the record for the smallest RFID chip, at 0.05mm × 0.05mm. This is 1/64th
the size of the previous record holder, the mu-chip. Manufacture is
enabled by using the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. These
dust-sized chips can store 38-digit numbers using 128-bit Read Only Memory (ROM). A major challenge is
the attachment of antennas, thus limiting read range to only millimeters.
Uses
The RFID tag can be affixed to an object and used to track
and manage inventory, assets, people, etc. For example, it can be affixed to
cars, computer equipment, books, mobile phones, etc.
RFID offers advantages over manual systems or use of bar codes.
The tag can be read if passed near a reader, even if it is covered by the
object or not visible. The tag can be read inside a case, carton, box or other
container, and unlike barcodes, RFID tags can be read hundreds at a time. Bar
codes can only be read one at a time using current devices.
In 2011, the cost of passive tags started at US$0.09 each;
special tags, meant to be mounted on metal or withstand gamma sterilization,
can go up to US$5. Active tags for tracking containers, medical assets, or
monitoring environmental conditions in data centers start at US$50 and can go
up over US$100 each. Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) tags are in the US$3–10
range and also have sensor capability like temperature and humidity.[citation needed]
·
Access management
·
Tracking of goods
·
Tracking of persons and animals
·
Toll collection and contactless payment
·
Tracking sports memorabilia to
verify authenticity
·
Airport baggage tracking logistics[18]
In 2010 three key factors drove a significant increase in
RFID usage: decreased cost of equipment and tags, increased performance to a
reliability of 99.9% and a stable international standard around UHF passive
RFID. The adoption of these standards were driven by EPCglobal, a joint venture
between GS1 and GS1 US, which were responsible for driving global adoption of
the barcode in the 1970s and 1980s. The EPCglobal Network was developed by the Auto-ID
Center, an academic research project headquartered at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with labs at five leading research
universities around the globe: Cambridge, Adelaide, Keio, Shanghai, Fudan, St.
Gallen.[19] At RFID Journal Live 2010 in Orlando, Airbus
detailed 16 active projects, IBM and—most recently added to the team—CSC. The two other areas of significant
use are financial services for IT asset
tracking and healthcare. RFID is becoming increasingly
prevalent as the price of the technology decreases.
Payment by mobile phones
Since summer 2009,
two credit card companies have been working with Dallas, Texas-based
DeviceFidelity to develop specializedmicroSD cards. When inserted
into a mobile phone, the microSD card can be both a passive tag and an RFID
reader.[22] After inserting the
microSD, a user's phone can be linked to bank accounts and used in mobile
payment.
Dairy Queen in conjunction with Vivotech has
also begun using RFIDs on mobile phones as part of their new loyalty and
rewards program.[23] Patrons can ask to
receive an RFID tag to place on their phone. After activation, the phone can
receive promotions and coupons, which can be read by ViVOtech's specialized Near Field Communication (NFC) devices.
Similarly, 7-Eleven has been working
alongside MasterCard to promote a new
touch-free payment system. Those joining the trial are given a complimentary
Nokia 3220 cell phone – after activation, it can be used as an
RFID-capable MasterCard credit card at any of 7-Eleven's worldwide chains.[24]
Nokia's 2008 device, the
6212, has RFID capabilities also. Credit card information can be stored, and
bank accounts can be directly accessed using the enabled handset. The phone, if
used as a vector for mobile payment, has added security in that users would be
required to enter a passcode or PIN before payment is authorized.[25]
Asset management
RFID combined with mobile computing and Web technologies
provide a way for organizations to identify and manage their assets. Mobile
computers, with integrated RFID readers, can now deliver a complete set of
tools that eliminate paperwork, give proof of identification and attendance.
This approach eliminates manual data entry.
Web
based management tools allow organizations to monitor their assets and make
management decisions from anywhere in the world. Web based applications now
mean that third parties, such as manufacturers and contractors can be granted
access to update asset data, including for example, inspection history and
transfer documentation online ensuring that the end user always has accurate,
real-time data. Organizations are already using RFID tags combined with a
mobile asset management solution to record and monitor the location of their
assets, their current status, and whether they have been maintained.
RFID
is being adopted for item-level retail
uses. Aside from efficiency and product availability gains, the system offers a
superior form ofelectronic article surveillance (EAS), and a superior self checkout process for
consumers.
2009
witnessed the beginning of wide-scale asset tracking with passive RFID.
Wells Fargo and Bank of America made announcements that they would track every
item in their data centers using passive RFID. Most of the leading banks have
since followed suit. TheFinancial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) set a
technical standard for tagging IT assets and other industries
have used that standard as a guideline. For instance the US State Department is
now tagging IT assets with passive RFID using the ISO/IEC 18000-6
standard.
Inventory systems
An advanced
automatic identification technology based on RFID technology has significant
value for inventory systems. The system can provide accurate knowledge of the
current inventory. In an academic study performed at
Wal-Mart, RFID reduced Out-of-Stocks by 30 percent for products selling between
0.1 and 15 units a day. The RFID can also help the company to ensure the
security of the inventory. With the just in time tracking of inventory through
RFID, the computer data can show whether the inventory stored in the warehouse
is correct with quantity currently. Other benefits of using RFID include the
reduction of labor costs, the simplification of business processes, and the
reduction of inventory inaccuracies.
In
2004, Boeing integrated the use of RFID technology to help reduce maintenance
and inventory costs on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. With the high costs of
aircraft parts, RFID technology allowed Boeing to keep track of inventory
despite the unique sizes, shapes and environmental concerns. During the first
six months after integration, the company was able to save $29,000 in labor.[29] Airbus began an RFID
program in 2006 that received the 2008 Best RFID Deployment award at the RFID
Journal Live event.[30]
In
2007, Recall Corporation integrated the use of
RFID to help organizations track and audit their records, to support compliance
with regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA
Product tracking
In 2005, the Wynn Casino,
Las Vegas, began placing individual RFID tags on high value chips. These tags
allowed casinos the ability to detect counterfeit chips, track betting habits
of individual players, speed up chip tallies, and determine counting mistakes
of dealers. In 2010, the Bellagio casino was robbed of $1.50
million in chips. The RFID tags of these chips were immediately invalidated,
thus making the cash value of these chips $0.[32]
RFID
can also be used for supply chain management in the fashion industry. The RFID
label is attached to the garment at production, can be read/traced throughout
the entire supply chain and is removed at the point of sale (POS).
Access contro
RFID
tags are widely used in identification badges,
replacing earlier magnetic stripe cards.
These badges need only be held within a certain distance of the reader to
authenticate the holder. Tags can also be placed on vehicles, which can be read
at a distance, to allow entrance to controlled areas without having to stop the
vehicle and present a card or enter an access code.
Social media
In
2010 Vail Resorts began the EpicMix program to allow skiers to earn virtual
badges, compete for vertical feet skied and other milestones using UHF Passive
RFID tags in ski passes. The EpicMix system not only allowed automated social
sharing and capturing of ski data but also streamlined the verification process
which used to be performed by using a bar code and line-of-sight scanner. Soon
other brands began adopting this method and in 2013 it has become a growing
area of use for RFID. Facebook is using RFID cards at most of their live events
to allow guests to automatically capture and post photos. The automotive brands
have adopted RFID for social media product placement more quickly than other
industries. Mercedes was an early adopted in 2011 at the PGA Golf Championships,[33] and
by the 2013 Geneva Motor Show many of the larger brands were using RFID for
social media marketing.
Promotion tracking
To
prevent retailers diverting products, manufacturers are exploring the use of
RFID tags on promoted merchandise so that they can track exactly which product
has sold through the supply chain at fully discounted prices.
Transportation and logistics
Logistics and
transportation are major areas of implementation for RFID technology. Yard
management, shipping and freight and distribution centers use RFID tracking
technology. In the railroad industry, RFID tags
mounted on locomotives and rolling stock identify the owner, identification
number and type of equipment and its characteristics. This can be used with a
database to identify the lading, origin,
destination, etc. of the commodities being carried.[36]
In
commercial aviation, RFID technology is being incorporated to support
maintenance on commercial aircraft. RFID tags are used to identify baggage and
cargo at several airports and airlines.[37][38]
Some
countries are using RFID technology for vehicle registration and enforcement.[39] RFID can help detect
and retrieve stolen cars.
Public transport
RFID cards are used
for access control to public transport.
In
London travellers use Oyster Cards on the tube, buses
and ferries. It identifies the traveller at each turnstile and so the system
can calculate the fare.
Infrastructure management and protection
Passports
The first RFID
passports ("E-passport") were issued by Malaysia in 1998. In addition
to information also contained on the visual data page of the passport,
Malaysian e-passports record the travel history (time, date, and place) of
entries and exits from the country.
Other
countries that insert RFID in passports include Norway (2005),[43] Japan (March 1,
2006), most EU countries (around
2006), Australia, Hong Kong, the United States (2007), India (June 2008),
Serbia (July 2008), Republic of Korea (August 2008), Taiwan (December 2008),
Albania (January 2009), The Philippines (August 2009), Republic of Macedonia
(2010), and Canada (2013).
Standards
for RFID passports are determined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and are contained
in ICAO Document 9303, Part 1, Volumes 1 and 2 (6th edition, 2006). ICAO refers
to the ISO/IEC 14443 RFID chips in
e-passports as "contactless integrated circuits". ICAO standards
provide for e-passports to be identifiable by a standard e-passport logo on the
front cover.
Since
2006, RFID tags included in new US passports will store the same
information that is printed within the passport and also include a digital
picture of the owner.[44] The US State Department initially stated the
chips could only be read from a distance of 10 centimetres (3.9 in), but
after widespread criticism and a clear demonstration that special equipment can
read the test passports from 10 metres (33 ft) away,[45] the passports were
designed to incorporate a thin metal lining to make it more difficult for
unauthorized readers to "skim" information when the passport is
closed. The department will also implement Basic Access Control (BAC), which
functions as a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in the form of characters
printed on the passport data page. Before a passport's tag can be read, this
PIN must be entered into an RFID reader. The BAC also enables the encryption of
any communication between the chip and interrogator.
Libraries
Libraries
have used RFID to replace the barcodes on library items. The tag can contain
identifying information or may just be a key into a database. An RFID system
may replace or supplement bar codes and may offer another method of inventory
management and self-service checkout by patrons. It can also act as a security device, taking the place of the more traditional electromagnetic
security strip.
It
is estimated that over 30 million library items worldwide now contain RFID
tags, including some in the Vatican Library in Rome.
Since RFID tags can
be read through an item, there is no need to open a book cover or DVD case to
scan an item, and a stack of books can be read simultaneously. Book tags can be
read while books are in motion on a conveyor belt,
which reduces staff time. This can all be done by the borrowers themselves,
reducing the need for library staff assistance. With portable readers,
inventories could be done on a whole shelf of materials within seconds.[67]However, as of
2008 this technology remains too costly for many smaller libraries, and the
conversion period has been estimated at 11 months for an average-size library.
A 2004 Dutch estimate was that a library which lends 100,000 books per year
should plan on a cost of €50,000 (borrow- and return-stations: 12,500 each,
detection porches 10,000 each; tags 0.36 each). RFID taking a large burden off
staff could also mean that fewer staff will be needed, resulting in some of
them getting laid off,[66] but that has so far
not happened in North America where recent surveys have not returned a single
library that cut staff because of adding RFID. In fact, library budgets are
being reduced for personnel and increased for infrastructure, making it
necessary for libraries to add automation to compensate for the reduced staff
size. Also, the tasks that RFID takes over are largely not the primary tasks of
librarians. A finding in the Netherlands is that borrowers are pleased with the
fact that staff are now more available for answering questions.
Privacy
concerns have been raised surrounding library use of RFID. Because some RFID
tags can be read from up to 100 metres (330 ft), there is some concern
over whether sensitive information could be collected from an unwilling source.
However, library RFID tags do not contain any patron information,[68] and the tags used in
the majority of libraries use a frequency only readable from approximately 10
feet (3.0 m).[65] Further, another
non-library agency could potentially record the RFID tags of every person
leaving the library without the library administrator's knowledge or consent.
One simple option is to let the book transmit a code that has meaning only in
conjunction with the library's database. Another possible enhancement would be
to give each book a new code every time it is returned. In future, should
readers become ubiquitous (and possibly networked), then stolen books could be
traced even outside the library. Tag removal could be made difficult if the
tags are so small that they fit invisibly inside a (random) page, possibly put
there by the publisher.
Museums
RFID
technologies are now also implemented in end-user applications in museums. An
example was the custom-designed temporary research application,
"eXspot," at the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco,
California. A visitor entering the museum received an RF Tag that could
be carried as a card. The eXspot system enabled the visitor to receive
information about specific exhibits. Aside from the exhibit information, the
visitor could take photographs of themselves at the exhibit. It was also
intended to allow the visitor to take data for later analysis. The collected
information could be retrieved at home from a "personalized" website
keyed to the RFID tag.
Schools and universities
School
authorities in the Japanese city of Osaka are
now chipping children's clothing, backpacks, and student IDs in a primary
school.[70][dead link] A
school in Doncaster, England is piloting a monitoring system designed to keep tabs
on pupils by tracking radio chips in their uniforms.[71] St Charles Sixth Form College in
west London, England, started September, 2008, is using an RFID card
system to check in and out of the main gate, to both track attendance and
prevent unauthorized entrance. Similarly, Whitcliffe Mount School in Cleckheaton, England uses RFID to track pupils and staff in
and out of the building via a specially designed card. In the Philippines, some
schools already use RFID in IDs for borrowing books and also gates in those
particular schools have RFID ID scanners for buying items at a school shop and
canteen, library and also to sign in and sign out for student and teacher's
attendance.
Sports
RFID for timing races began in the early
1990s with pigeon racing, introduced by the company Deister Electronics in Germany. RFID can
provide race start and end timings for individuals in large races where it is
impossible to get accurate stopwatch readings for every entrant.
In
the race, the racers wear tags that are read by antennae placed alongside the
track or on mats across the track. UHF tags provide accurate readings with
specially designed antennas. Rush error, lap count errors and accidents at
start time are avoided since anyone can start and finish any time without being
in a batch mode.
The design of
chip+antenna controls the range from which it can be read. Short range compact
chips are twist tied to the shoe or velcro strapped the ankle. These need to be
about 400mm from the mat and so give very good temporal resolution.
Alternatively a chip plus a very large (a 125mm square) antenna can be
incorporated into the bib number worn on the athlete's chest at about 1.25m
height.
Passive
and active RFID systems are used in off-road events such as Orienteering, Enduroand Hare and Hounds racing. Riders have a
transponder on their person, normally on their arm. When they complete a lap
they swipe or touch the receiver which is connected to a computer and log their
lap time.
RFID
is being adapted by many recruitment agencies which have a PET (Physical
Endurance Test) as their qualifying procedure especially in cases where the
candidate volumes may run into millions (Indian Railway Recruitment Cells,
Police and Power sector).
Complement to barcode
RFID tags are often
a complement, but not a substitute, for UPC or EAN barcodes.
They may never completely replace barcodes, due in part to their higher cost
and the advantage of multiple data sources on the same object. Also, unlike
RFID labels, barcodes can be generated and distributed electronically, e.g. via e-mail or mobile
phone, for printing or display by the recipient. An example is airlineboarding passes.
The new EPC, along with several other schemes, is
widely available at reasonable cost.
The
storage of data associated with tracking items will require many terabytes. Filtering and
categorizing RFID data is needed to create useful information. It is likely
that goods will be tracked by the pallet using RFID tags, and at package level
with Universal Product Code (UPC) or EAN from
unique barcodes.
The
unique identity is a mandatory requirement for RFID tags, despite special
choice of the numbering scheme. RFID tag data capacity is large enough that
each individual tag will have a unique code, while current bar codes are
limited to a single type code for a particular product. The uniqueness of RFID
tags means that a product may be tracked as it moves from location to location,
finally ending up in the consumer's hands. This may help to combat theft and
other forms of product loss. The tracing of products is an important feature
that gets well supported with RFID tags containing a unique identity of the tag
and also the serial number of the object. This may help companies cope with
quality deficiencies and resulting recall campaigns, but also contributes to
concern about tracking and profiling of consumers after the sale.
It
has also been proposed to use RFID for POS store checkout to
replace the cashier with an automatic
system which needs no barcode scanning. In the past this was not possible due
to the higher cost of tags and existing POS process technologies. However,
Industry Standard, a couture shop and recording studio in Ohio has successfully
implemented a POS procedure that allows faster transaction throughput.
An
FDA-nominated task force concluded, after studying the various technologies
currently commercially available, which of those technologies could meet the
pedigree requirements. Amongst all technologies studied including bar coding,
RFID seemed to be the most promising and the committee felt that the pedigree
requirement could be met by easily leveraging something that is readily
available.
Telemetry
Active RFID tags
also have the potential to function as low-cost remote sensors that broadcast telemetry back to a base
station. Applications of tagometry data could include sensing of road
conditions by implanted beacons, weather reports, and noise level monitoring.[76]
Passive
RFID tags can also report sensor data. For example, the Wireless Identification and Sensing
Platform is
a passive tag that reports temperature, acceleration and capacitance to
commercial Gen2 RFID readers.
It
is possible that active or battery-assisted passive (BAP) RFID tags, used with
or in place of barcodes, could broadcast a signal to an in-store receiver to
determine whether the RFID tag (product) is in the store.
