All RFID tags are used to hold and eventually remit data. They can best be seen of as the replacement for the bar code. However, they have significant advantages over bar codes. For example: RFID tags can store much more data than bar codes; they can be scanned from further away and they can in point of fact transmit information, not only store information.
There are three varieties of RFID tags: passive, active and hybrid. Passive RFID tags are the cheapest, because they are less complicated. They need to be induced to divulge their information by taking power from an RFID reader. When the reader's radio waves hit them, they echo back their information. This is the sort of tag used in goods in a retail outlet or on boxes in a warehouse.
On the other hand, active RFID tags have a battery, a transmitter and an antenna so that they are always transmitting. These units are obviously a lot more expensive and so are used only on more costly items such as a container, a battle tank, an aircraft, on criminals ankle bands or on an animal of an endangered species.
The hybrid RFID tag is capable of transmitting, but it has to be told to transmit; it has to be turned on by a signal. This signal could be a satellite passing over head. These hybrid RFID tags are also costly, but the battery lasts longer because they are not 'always on'. These tags have the same uses as the active tags, but are suitable for use where it is not critical to know where something is every minute of the day: for example cattle in a field or goats on a mountain.
Passive tags can be affixed permanently by sewing them into hems or placing them under skin because they do not have their own electricity source and do not wear out. This is a cause of concern to some people who agonize about an invasion of their privacy or the erosion of their human rights.
Active and hybrid tags are most often clearly visible so that the batteries can be replaced as and when necessary. If this is going to be not likely to take place, as in the case of wild animals, the tag can have a biodegradable clasp which will break sometime after the expected expiry of the battery.
Some applications for RFID tags are on season tickets so that the holder can pass through the style more rapidly than a customer paying by cash. It has applications in security; most of the ID badges you see pinned to shirts have RFID built into them so that security guards do not have to stop and query everyone.
They can be put in trucks that regularly cross borders so that they do not have to stop for identification. They can be put on windscreens so that, as you pass through a motorway toll station, either your credit card is billed or the charge is added to your company's monthly account.
Hospitals use them on patients so that they do not lose anyone or misidentify them. RFID tags are helpful in our daily lives but people are worried about criminals being able to read all this data too readily as well.
About this Author
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on various subjects, but is presently involved with the RFID asset tracking. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
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