Introduction

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of the automatic identification or

auto ID systems like bar codes, smart cards, voice recognition etc., used to hel
p machines identify objects. This technology is often coupled with automatic dat
a capture systems to identify objects and capture information and transfer them
into computer without data entry. Naturally, the aim of these systems is to incr
ease efficiency and reduce data entry. RFID has been around for long time with m
any literature published on it. This article is just a little extract of those,
and hopes to give a high level overview of the RFID technology, its characterist
ics, its applications, and its relevance to Windows CE world.
What is Radio Frequency Identification?
It is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically iden
tify people or objects.
Components of a RFID System:
A transponder or tag consisting of a microchip and a miniature antenna. Informat
ion to be processed is written in microchip. The antenna is used to emit/receive
radio signals.
An interrogator or reader consisting of a transceiver, decoder, and antenna. The
transceiver is used to receive radio signals which is decoded to byte stream by
decoder. The antenna is used to emit/receive radio signals.
How does a RFID system work?
The object to be tracked is affixed with a RFID tag or transponder.
The reader, kept at some position like entrance or door frame through which obje
cts to be tracked pass, emits radio signals.
When the object containing RFID tag comes within the range of radio signals emit
ted by the reader, the tag is activated and it starts sending the information st
ored in it in the form of radio signals.
The reader captures the radio signals, decodes it to a byte stream, and sends th
e information for further processing to the host system connected to it.
More about RFID tags:
A RFID tag can store up to 2000 bits of information. They come in a variety of s
hapes and sizes. For example, animal tracking tags inserted beneath the skin are
small as pencil. Tags used to track trees or wooden items are screw shaped. Cre
dit card shaped tags are used for security applications. A RFID tag can be furth
er categorized as Active or Passive. Active tags are powered by internal battery
and information written to it can be modified. Passive tags operate without ext
ernal power and obtain operating power from the radio waves generated by the rea
der. Passive tags are lighter and less expensive than Active tags. Their lifetim
e is virtually unlimited. But they have shorter read ranges and require a high p
owered reader.
Frequencies:
Based on the type of domain or application targeted, RFID systems are generally
distinguished to three frequency ranges - Low, Intermediate and High. The follow
ing table summarizes these three frequency ranges, along with the typical system
characteristics and examples of major areas of application:
Frequency Band Characteristics Typical Applications
Low
100-500 KHz Short to medium read range, inexpensive, low reading speed
Access control, Animal identification, Inventory control, Car Immobilizer
Intermediate
10-15 MHz Short to medium read range, potentially inexpensive, medium read
ing speed Access controls, Smart cards
High
850-950 MHz
2.4-5.8 GHz Long read range, high reading speed, line of sight required, exp
ensive Railroad car monitoring, Toll collection systems
Applications of RFID Systems:
Potential applications for RFID may be identified in virtually every section of
industry, commerce, and services where data is to be collected. Principal areas
of applications for RFID that can be currently identified include:
Transportation and logistics
Manufacturing and processing
Security
A range of miscellaneous applications may also be distinguished, some of which a
re steadily growing in terms of numbers. They include:
Animal tagging
Waste management
Time and attendance
Postal tracking
Airline baggage reconciliation
Road toll management
Some of the prominent specific applications include:
Electronic article surveillance - clothing retail outlets being typical.
Protection of valuable equipments against theft, unauthorized removal, or asset
management.
Controlled access to vehicles, parking areas, and fuel facilities - depot facili
ties being typical.
Automated toll collection for roads and bridges - since the 1980s, Electronic Ro
ad-Pricing (ERP) systems have been used in Hong Kong.
Controlled access of personnel to secure or hazardous locations.
Time and attendance - to replace conventional "slot card" time keeping systems.
Animal husbandry - for identification in support of individualized feeding progr
ammes.
Automatic identification of tools in numerically controlled machines - to facili
tate conditional monitoring of tools, for use in managing tool usage, and minimi
zing waste due to excessive machine tool wear.
Identification of product variants and process control in flexible manufacturing
systems.
Sport time recording.
Electronic monitoring of offenders at home.
Vehicle anti-theft systems and car immobilizers.
Drawbacks of RFID:
For all the applications of RFID, no standardization has been done as of now. Al
l major RFID vendors offer proprietary systems not compatible with each other. A
nother drawback is the cost. RFID Readers and tags are fairly expensive. There i
s also the collision of signal from one reader with signal of another reader whi
ch is called Reader collision. Like Reader collision, there can also be Tag coll
ision in which more than one tag reflects back the signal of the reader at the s
ame time, confusing the reader.
Windows CE and RFID:
Many third party vendors like Socket Communications, Symbol Technologies are pla
nning in a big way to provide support and solutions for RFID on Windows CE devic
es. In fact, Socket Communications has announced a pair of kits intended to assi
st developers in integration of RFID technology to mobile RFID applications on P
ocket PC. For more details, please refer this link. Symbol Technologies is the a
ctive member of EPCglobal, a non profit organization entrusted to derive a globa
l standard for RFID solutions. So in the coming future, we can see many develope
r kits and products on RFID being released by these vendors. Everything depends
on how fast the standardization of RFID is done.
Conclusion:
In the RFID standardization front, the good news is that International Organizat
ion for Standardization (ISO) is working on standards for tracking goods in the
supply chain. EPCglobal, a joint venture setup to commercialize Electronic Produ
ct Code technologies, has its own standards process, which was used to create ba
r code standards. EPCglobal intends to submit EPC protocols to ISO so that they
can become international standards. So let's keep our fingers crossed :).