Types of Radio Frequency Identification
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Types of Radio Frequency Identification
Radiofrequency identification (RFID) is a type of wireless communication that entails the use of electrostatic or electromagnet in the electromagnetic spectrum. The aim of this is to identify a person, animal, or object. RFID is mainly used in glass, food, metal, textile, wood, and metal and electronics industry. It is a system that consists primarily of three parts that are a transceiver, transponder, and a scanning antenna (Ali & Haseeb, 2019). Radiofrequency waves are used in the transmission of signals, which then activate the tag, after which the tag sends the wave to the antenna ad this is where it is translated into data. It is similar to barcoding in that the data f both systems store data captured to form a tag in a database. There are different types of RFID system which can be categorized under active, passive, and semi-passive.
Active RFID systems are one of the types of RFID which use sensor tags powered by batteries, and the tags connect to different points in an area, for example, a building and then transfer the data to the cloud. The systems are mainly used for real-life tracking to determine the location of objects, people, or animals. Since they have their power tags they the signal can be detected even when they are very far away. They are mainly used to track high-value assets, for example, vehicles and are more effective when there is a need to control items tightly. The advantage of using this type of technology is that it is cheaper than other alternatives, for example, WIFI. They also have high scalability since they can read tags very long distances. The battery life of active RFID systems as long as the tags are estimated to last for abbot five ears and some even ten years.
On the other hand, passive RFID does not have a battery since the reader supplies the power. As a result of the reader being encountered by a passive RFID, the coiled antenna in the tag formulates a magnetic field. The tag then sources its power from the magnetic field created, and as a result, the circuits in the tag are energized. The tag then sends the data that is encoded in its memory. Unlike active RFID, passive systems cannot be read over long distances (Kolarovszki, Kolarovszká, Perakovic, & Periša, 2016). They are mainly used for applications such as timing races, file tracking, smart labels, and in supply chain management. The benefits of using passive tags are the fact that they do not require a battery to function, and therefore they have a useful life of about 20 years. They are less expensive to manufacture, and the tags’ size is small; hence, they are portable. Semi-passive RFID, just like active RFID, use internal batteries when powering their circuits. They also can be read over long distances and are therefore preserved for tracking items that are costly, for instance, vehicles.
The electronics industry is the industry that is associated with the creation, producing, designing, and selling electric devices such as computers, televisions, radios, and stereos. It is one of the largest industries since as technology grows and as more people embrace it, there is a need for more electronic devices. For instance, in the United Arab Emirates, the electronic industry grew from 200 million in 1927 to 266 billion in 1990. As a result of the growth of the electronics industry, there was a transformation of other sectors, for instance, offices, homes, and manufacturing companies. In 2019 there was a 5% VAT that was added across the UAE. Therefore the consumer market growth for the year decreased as most of the consumers postponed their purchases expecting that the prices of the products will decrease. In the same year 2019, there were major discoveries in the industry the major players; for example, Samsung made developments on electronic devices.
One of the industry’s major key players is Samsung, which continues to increase its market shares, whereas the sales of Huawei remain volatile. The strength of Samsung is mainly from smartphones, television, and tablets, where the company focuses on capitalizing on its portfolio and selling the products at affordable prices. One of the fastest-growing retailing sectors in the electronic industry is the use of the internet. Due to the access to fast and affordable internet, many consumers have bought electronic devices and thus boosting the growth of the industry. Consumers can now shop online, and the products can be delivered to the doorstep of an individual, and hence it becomes very convenient for them and motivates them to shop more.
RFID systems are used in the glass industry to manufacture glass products. The main type of tags that are used in the industry is the active tags. This is because most of the glass industry assets are of high value and require to be read from a wide range, which is possible when using active tags. The active RFID tags are mainly used in the industry to improve processes such as asset management, inventory control, shipping and receiving, and production tracking. The RFID tags are attached to the glass equipment and on fixed assets that include pallets, vehicles tractors, and other equipment. Therefore they are used for inventory control, which involves the monitoring of the assets. Since assets that need to be monitored may be at a wide range of active RFID are used more often since they can be read form a wide range.
In the food industry, the main used type of RFD is passive tags. They use electromagnetic fields to recognize and store information relating to the object in which the tag is affixed to. Since they are food products, there is no need for the use of batteries, and passive tags do not use batteries and are also small and can be affixed to the food products easily. In the food industry, traceability, food safety management, and inventory management (Bibi, Guillaume, Gontard, & Sorli, 2017). RFID has been used in the controlling temperature of the food, which prevents consumers from getting sick as a result of eating food that is contaminated. When an RFID tag is placed on a food product, one can scan it and learn about its history, which then collects information that can be used later. The use of RFID in the food industry has revolutionized the industry and has benefited both the consumers and the producers.
RFID is used in the textile and clothing fields in inventory control, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution, and automatic object tracking, and logistics. The main type of RFID used in the textile and clothing industry is the passive tags. They are mainly used since they are flexible, and they can be made out of textiles. Since they can be made out of textiles, they become more environmentally friendly (Brink et al. 2018). The passive tags are small in size and have a long lifespan, which makes them more suitable for clothes to be used since clothes are to be worn, the tags have to be light and not have a large impact on the appearance of the clothes.
The main type of RFID used in the metal industry is active RFID. Active RFID is mainly used in the industry for tracking purposes, and one of the advantages of active RFID is that it can cover a long-range and hence more suitable. The metal surfaces reflect energy produced by the RFID readers, which creates interference for the RFID tags. Most of the devices made of metal that use the RFID are laptops, servers, and medical devices in the health care sector. Other applications include vehicle tracking oil and gas pipelines and in industrial manufacturing. The active RFID used in the metal industry are enhanced with hard shells, mainly because they are rugged and are expected to survive hard impacts. Active RFID is stronger than passive and semi-passive ones, and hence they are most suitable since the applications involve exposure to moisture and extreme temperatures.
In the wood industry, the common type of RFID used is semi-passive RFID. This is because the tags used are flexible and can be read within a wide range of areas. The main application of RFID in the wood industry is the tracing of timber. The RFID has an asset tracking system that alerts the managers ahead of time and documents the service electronically, which keeps a paperless history. The use of semi-passive tags helps the managers monitor the wood products’ movement conveniently, which is very important in protecting the bottom line. It can also be used as a safety measure where it is used to ensure that there is safety in the whole manufacturing process of the timber. The batteries are mainly placed on the tag, which provides power; therefore, the products can be easily traced from a long-range (Müller, Jaeger, & Hanewinkel, 2019). The transmission of the data is the same as that of the passive ones, which makes them cheaper compared to active but at the same time expensive when compared to the passive RFID.
The electronics industry uses all the types of RFID that are active, semi-passive, and passive RFID. Due to the long, demand volatility, complex supply chain, and high rates of theft in the industry application of RFID are very vital. The systems enable the producers to lock tablet devices, for instance, when they are traveling in the supply chain, which means that even if an item is stolen when in transit, they cannot be used since they do not work, which reduces the cases of theft. For easy tracking, especially over long distances, active RFID is mainly used. Passive RFID is used when, for instance, the customers want to send electronic devices as gifts; they attach the tags which send commands through RFID. Active RFID is mainly used since there are many devices, so it can read a large number of devices simultaneously, which makes the process faster. Therefore RFID has a wide variety of uses and can be used in various industries for different purposes.
References
Ali, A., & Haseeb, M. (2019). Radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology as a strategic tool towards the higher performance of supply chain operations in the textile and apparel industry of Malaysia. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 7(2), 215-226.
Bibi, F., Guillaume, C., Gontard, N., & Sorli, B. (2017). A review: RFID technology having sensing aptitudes for the food industry and their contribution to tracking and monitoring of food products. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 62, 91-103.
Brink, M., Berkemeyer, F., Ohlendorf, J. H., Dumstorff, G., Thoben, K. D., & Lang, W. (2018). Challenges and Opportunities of RFID Sensor tag Integration by Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Components Production. Procedia Manufacturing, 24, 54-59.
Kolarovszki, P., Kolarovszká, Z., Perakovic, D., & Periša, M. (2016). Laboratory testing of active and passive UHF RFID tags. Transport and Telecommunication Journal, 17(2), 144-154.
Müller, F., Jaeger, D., & Hanewinkel, M. (2019). Digitization in wood supply–A review on how Industry 4.0 will change the forest value chain. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 162, 206-218.