RFID Chips

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. This technology is a wireless technology which identifies objects or people with help of the radio waves. This is a data collection technique which is gaining rapid popularity. Every one of us has seen the bar code technique in the retail shops. Use of both the techniques is similar but there are fundamental differences too.

Working of RFID Chips

In an RFID system there is an antenna and transceiver which receives the radio frequency transmissions and transfer the information to a reader or RF chips. This RFID chips consist he RF circuitry and information to be transmitted. The data embedded in this chip is read by the RFID readers wirelessly. Now, this digital information is forwarded to the computers and is analyzed for various purposes. Often the purpose are detecting the position of a particular item and then changing its status. There are two types of chips

1. Active RFID
2. Passive RFID

Active RFID and Passive RFID

For transmitting data over relatively long distance, Active RFID is used. It has an internal battery by which it is powered. Its operational lifespan is limited. Passive RFID is different then an Active RFID chips. Passive RFID works as read-only. So, once you programmed the data then you can’t change that data. Instead of this, Active chips work as Read and Write. Passive chips are used for transmitting the data over shorter distances as compared to Active RFID chips.  It gets the power generated from the RF reader transmission. Active chips are larger than the Passive chips. Active chips are costlier then Passive chips.   

Uses of RFID Chips

Application of RFID Chips is found in almost all big industries. It is used to track variety of items. It is used to tag clothes, machines, automobiles and even humans. Real time examples of uses of RFID Chips are patient and staff tracking at hospitals, automated toll collection, vehicle anti-theft devices, wild animal tracking, retails stores, etc. Even US passports now carry a RFID chip at the back.    
In Hospitals, with the use of RFID system, we can keep track on patient’s movement, doctors and nurse’s locations in the hospitals. You can keep also track on medicines, expensive equipments and movements in restricted area. US FDA too has shown keen interest in technology and has conducted various pilot programs.
This RFID Chips are injected into the animals by syringe. After this in future whenever you scan these animals, you will get all the information about that animal history and owner’s information.
In Retail stores, you can keep track of inventory supplies by tagging items with RFID chips.

Advantages of RFID Chips

The biggest advantage of RFID technology is that it doesn’t require long cables. The technology can cover a decent area and the reader can detect any RFID chip in the area. Also the active RFID chips can be reprogrammed and tagged to different items. Thus the chips are reusable.

Disadvantages of RFID Chips

The frequency range of RFID chips is limited. Its data transfer rate is also relatively low. Hence, detection can be slow at times. Moreover, if the place has solid structures then this can act as an obstruction and the readers can fail to detect the tags. In places like shopping malls, a customer with bad intention can swap tags on two items. This way he/she can buy an expensive item at a price of a cheap item.

Comparison with other technologies

RFID chips are a relatively new technology and strongly compete with Barcode technology. However, RFID is yet to get standardize completely. Moreover, organizations find it incorporating difficult because it leads to change into the existing supply chain management systems too. Plus, the technology is quiet expensive to implement as compared to Barcode. Passive RFID chips still cost around 20 cents per chip. A large organization, say, in textile industry would produce million plus piece and there would be cost of installing readers and the relevant software across the whole supply chain and distribution process. On other hand, Barcode technology has a fundamental limitation that the barcode should be in line of sight of the barcode scanner. Also one code can be read at a time making the overall process slow.