RFID solutions for industrial applications

An overview of RFID technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a wireless technology capable of identifying and counting a diverse range of objects, without contact or line of sight. It enables automated, handsfree communication between objects and computers.

RFID relies on the use of small tags or ‘smart labels’, which can be attached to, or embedded within, a wide range of objects. These tags are generally ‘passive’, in that the electrical power for their operation is provided by an electronic ‘reader’, which transfers information to and from a tag and a computing system. Such information may simply be a unique (and unalterable) identification code, or more sophisticated data that can be written wirelessly into the memory of individual tags, allowing each tagged object to store a small database that can be dynamically updated throughout a product’s lifecycle.

RFID offers many benefits over traditional identification technologies (such as bar codes), including:

• No requirement for ‘line of sight’ - tags can be read (and written) when totally or partially obscured by wood, plastic, glass, paint, oil, dirt, snow, ice and many other materials


• ‘Re-writeable’ memory - each tag has a small memory that can be read from and written to many times, allowing information associated with a tagged object to be changed


• Unique code - the identification code stored in each tag is unique and unalterable, providing unambiguous identification of products and assets


• Secure transactions - secure reading and writing to a tag prevents unauthorised modification of a tag’s memory


• Fast data capture - large numbers of tags can be read quickly and without error, thus minimising human involvement and automating data capture


• Rugged technology - RFID is a rugged, durable technology that continues to operate in the challenging conditions typically found in industrial environments

The use of RFID allows hundreds of individually tagged objects to be uniquely identified and counted in less than a second, over ranges that can vary from near contact, to many metres. Typical applications include: supply chain logistics; manufacturing automation; library systems and rental services; livestock management; and vehicle immobilisers.

For more information about RFID and its applications please visit Wikipedia or How RFID works.

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