Radio Frequency Identification

Radio frequency has been transformed from obscurity to mainstream application that helps to speed up the process of manufacture products and material. A few years ago, people usually considered RFID from a supply chain perspective. But today, RFID is being used in a variety of ways without realising it. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a system to read information and automate identification of an object or person by using radio waves. RFID uses multiple radio frequencies and many types of tags with different modes of communications and power sources.

RFID systems consists of 3 components; a transceiver (RFID Reader), a scanning antenna and a transponder. Transponder is the RFID tag that consists of microchip, antenna and case that has been programmed with information and the scanning antenna outputs the radio frequency signal over a relatively short period of time. It provides a means of communicating with the transponder and provides the communication energy to the RFID tag in the case of passive tag. Passive RFID tags needed energy transfer from the reader via radio frequency which do not insists of batteries and communication range are very short. Active RFID tags have its own power source and these tags can still get the signal even if the reader stays farther. Sometimes called semi-passive or semi-active, battery-assisted passive (BAP) tags virtually passive RFID tags that combine important active tags. To power on the chip, BAP tags typically use an integrated power supply, usually a battery and the energy captured from the reader then can be used for backscatter. When an RFID tag enters a red zone of the scanning antenna, its data is captured by the reader which microchips activated and sends out the information on the microchip to a host computer or programmable controller for action.

Almost all libraries around the world are using RFID tags to tag books. According to managing director Lim Peck Hui of Tunity Technology, ‘When it comes to tagging or tracking items, RFID works better than barcodes and QR codes as multiple RFID tags can be read from a distance at an instant, so data is captured quickly’. RFID systems can improve the ability if staff or customer to find out the location of books. When compare barcodes system with RFID systems, RFID systems can read multiple tags more than 100 simultaneously but barcodes can only be read one at a time manually. In additional, barcodes scanners needs to read the barcode directly whereas RFID tags does not need to be placed in line with the scanner and can be scan or read farther than barcode. The data in the barcode printed on the sticker and needs to be clearly visible so that it can be scan easily. The exposure of the label can easily be damaged due to weather or other reasons and forgery become easier whereas RFID doesn’t suffer from any of this because it does not require sight and its electronic nature means that data can be encrypted to prevent any leakage of information.

Although RFID technology has been effectively used which possess a lot of benefits that convince people, but there are still exist some technical barriers need to be conquered to optimize its application. First of all, compare with barcode system, RFID systems are usually more expensive whether software or hardware. RFID needs to maintain more expensive equipment throughout the life of the solution.