Rfid - the Next New Thing?

1 Introduction

In our quest for an innovative issue, we bumped into the technology of RFID. Radio

Frequency Identification is considered by some to emerge as one of the most pervasive

technologies in history. As shown in the graph below, this topic has also become a hot item in

today’s business media.

Although RFID is still in its infancy, it has potential to finally appear in our every day

life. Because the technology is rapidly evolving at present, the amount of research and new

applications is constantly increasing.

However, the impact of this new technology is currently causing a massive debate.

While industrialists hope that the use of RFID will bring about great benefits, others warn

against the dangers, especially the potential violation of privacy. Nevertheless, all participants of the discussion seem to agree that huge changes will be brought about by new RFID

applications. Given that we already were introduced to RFID in one of our previous courses, it

seemed to us that this would be the perfect opportunity to explore this matter in depth. We

also discovered that an American company �Alien Technology’ won an innovation award in

2005 for their efforts to manufacture a process that reduces cost of RFID tags. This is another

great example of the fact that the RFID technology is booming these days.

In this paper, we will initially focus on the development and the implementation of

RFID. Next, we will take a look at the economic impact of this technology and analyse its

strengths and weaknesses. During our reflection, we will also take into account the critical

attitudes towards this innovative appliance.

1 What is RFID?

1.1 An innovative technology

Radio Frequency Identification technologies provide a wireless means of communication

between objects and readers. RFID involves the use of tags, or transponders, that collect data

and manage it in a portable, changeable database. The tags offer the possibility of reading,

writing, transmitting, and storing and updating information.

Unlike bar codes, RFID has the ability to identify and track products and equipment in

real-time without contact or line-of-sight. Within the field of the wireless reading device, it is

possible to automatically read hundreds of tags a second. Therefore, using RFID technology

for the collection and transfer of information provides one with an inexpensive and nonlabour

intensive means of identifying and tracking products.

The RFID market is already a million dollar industry and the applications of smart chip

technologies are limitless. In the following part we will enlighten how RFID is put in practice.

1.2 RFID tags

There are two types of RFID tags: passive and active ones. The means in which they

receive power for transmission determines their classification. Passive tags depend on a power

source provided by the RFID reader’s energy field and may have read-write or read-only

capabilities, whereas, the active tags have an internal power source and are rewritable.

Passive tags generally have shorter read ranges but have a life that usually outlasts the

object that it is identifying. Active tags have longer reading ranges, high memory, and better

noise protection. However, these tags are larger and heavier, more expensive, and have a

shorter life (3 to 10 years) than passive tags.

A RFID tag consists of a single reader, which is provided with an antenna.