What are RFID tags

Tags

Since 1966, products in the supply chain are tagged with barcodes from the point of production which are left on until selling. These are correspondingly read and recorded by scanners for the respective product identity number and price. The system largely increased Company productivity and mechanized product management. But, barcodes which are simply printed over pieces of paper can be easily scraped, scratch, water damage, if not creased making it unavailable for scanning.

Radio identification tags are more compensating over the usual barcodes. The tags attached on goods can be read and identified while in transit, which means the merchandize does not have to be on static position to figure out its data. For example in shipping containers or in trucking, the merchandize does not have to be unloaded for inventory. As well, monitoring starts from the production site to the vendors selling areas, or until after the radio frequency identification is turned off by the vendor which is an indication of sale.

According to the author,” Each RFID system has different components and customizations so that it can support a particular business process for an organization; as a result, the security risk for RFID systems and the controls available to address them are highly varied. The enterprise and inter-enterprise subsystems involve common IT components such as servers, databases, and networks and therefore can benefit from typical IT security controls for those components” (Karygianis, Tom et al., 2007).

Common devices that employ RFID

What is Radio Frequency Spectrum

Radio Frequency Spectrum

The gamut of incidence of motion of electrical charges within a circuitry commonly called radio frequency may be expanded as essential electromagnetic waves in space varying upon the number of cycles electrical current resonate in a coupling. This is categorized as low frequency, high frequency, ultrahigh frequency, and microwave.

Figure 3 : Radio Frequency Field

Legend

Arrow = Direction of the RF field

Dash = Radio Frequency (Signal)

The figure shows that the RFID reader or interrogator creates a radio-frequency field dependent on the specifications of the users to activate multiple passive tags, and to interrogate multiple active tags simultaneously. This means that the multiple RFID tags can be read simultaneously. An interrogator can be programmed to read as much as fifty (50) tags per second .

The RFID tags can be programmed to contain an encryption on information that allows it to be tracked and monitored as to the movements of packages in the supply chain, whether in pallets, in boxes or in container vans, even in boats merchandize can be tracked.

Connection between circuit or coupling and Resonance

Connection between Circuits or Coupling

In a radio frequency identification system, the inductance circuit can be coupled. It is this inductance coupling principle that is commonly employed in tags. Nevertheless, capacitive and radiative or backscatter coupling may also be used.

Resonance

The dimensions of the inductance circuit determine its natural frequency limits which are in turn dependent on its stored energy. The stored energy which is in the form of electrical charges is capable of movement within the circuit creating a situation called resonance or back and forth motion of positive and negative charges from one circuit to another and back. The incidence of motion of charges is in itself the radio frequency capable of working with an antenna.

Voltage induction and magnetic fields

In a circuit, electrical charges move along a conductor line or wire. These charges when allowed to pass through a multimeter would create an anode and a cathode terminal. These terminals can be affixed to a coiled conductor line creating a station of magnetic field as stored energy. The whole set is called an inductance circuit.

What is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Radio frequency identification is not a commonplace item in the distribution and supply chain at the moment worldwide. It may however be in a few years time if the small business enterprises that do not mind costs would indulge considering additional input to pricing. High-end Companies though have employed the technology for the ease, and comfort in the monitoring of production as well as distribution of the business outputs, subsequently tracking shipments to distant lands without losing a single item in the inventory. Plus, is the ease of stocks inventories.