What is RFID?
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a generic term describing a system that uses radio waves to identify an object or person. There are three fundamental components in a passive RFID system: a passive RFID tag, an RFID reader, and a database. A passive RFID tag is a battery-less device that consists of a radio antenna attached to a microchip which stores a unique identifier (i.e. a unique number). An RFID reader is a device equipped with one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from nearby passive RFID tags. Specifically, an RFID reader’s antenna emits radio waves that energize one or more passive RFID tag(s) in front of that antenna; that energy is in turn used by those tag(s) to send their unique identifier(s) back to the antenna. Finally, a database in an RFID system contains a table that maps tag identifiers to information about the tagged items. The database also contains the list of all tags detected by antennas and the time when they were detected
A. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a method of using radio waves to communicate information about products. RFID systems can collect data about a product quickly, with reduced human error. An RFID/EPC (Electronic Product Code) tag consists of an antenna connected to a microchip that contains information about the product and can be placed on a product. This tag can then transmit its product information (EPC) back to a reader. The reader converts the radio wave into digital information that is interpreted by computers.
RFID stands for radio frequency identification. It is an automatic identification technology whereby digital data encoded in an RFID tag or “smart label” is captured by a reader using radio waves. Put simply, RFID is similar to bar code technology but uses radio waves to capture data from tags, rather than optically scanning the bar codes on a label. RFID does not require the tag or label to be seen to read its stored data—that’s one of the key characteristics of an RFID system.
Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can make use of it.
