RFID TECHNOLOGY

RFID TECHNOLOGY

Although the foundation of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology was laid by past generations, only recent advances opened an expanding application range to its practical imple-mentation.
RFID is only one of numerous technologies grouped under the term Automatic Identification (Auto ID), such as bar code, magnetic inks, optical character recognition, voice recognition, touch mem-ory, smart cards, biometrics etc. Auto ID technologies are a new way of controlling information and material flow, especially suitable for large production networks.
The RFID technology is a means of gathering data about a certain item without the need of touch-ing or seeing the data carrier, through the use of inductive coupling or electromagnetic waves. The data carrier is a microchip attached to an antenna (together called transponder or tag), the latter enabling the chip to transmit information to a reader (or transceiver) within a given range, which can forward the information to a host computer. The middleware (software for reading and writing tags) and the tag can be enhanced by data encryption for security-critical application at an extra cost, and anti-collision algorithms may be implemented for the tags if several of them are to be read simultaneously.
One important feature enabling RFID for tracking objects is its capability to provide unique identifi-cation. One possible approach to item identification is the EPC (Electronic Product Code) [4], pro-viding a standardized number in the EPCglobal Network, with an Object Name Service (ONS) pro-viding the adequate Internet addresses to access or update instance-specific data. However, cur-rently, ONS cannot be used in a global environment, and since it is a proprietary service, its use is relatively expensive, especially for participants with limited resources such as SMEs. As an alter-native, researchers from the Helsinki University [7] have proposed the notation ID@URI, where ID stands for an identity code, and URI stands for a corresponding Internet address. This allows sev-eral partners to use the system and still guarantee unique identification. The project ‘Identity-Based Tracking and Web-Services for SMEs’ (http://www.traser-project.eu) is currently working on further development of this concept.