What is RFID?

With international business booming, globalization and mass production of retail goods, it has become increasingly important to be able to track merchandise and even people. Although bar codes have sufficed as the primary inventory system for many years, a new more advanced technology has emerged. Radio frequency identification (RFID), uses radio waves to track and identify virtually anything. This technology is made up of three components; antennas and microchips making up the “tag”, a reader and computer software. The antenna is used to write information to the chip, which gives off radio waves of various reaches depending on the chosen radio frequency. The antenna is also used to read the information encoded on the chip and then is read by the reader or is transmitted to a computer where the information can be used. Together these elements create an up to date and precise information system that has the potential to benefit most any industry.

Sources:

Spotlight On: RFID." Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. [http://www.aimglobal.org/technologies/rfid/what_is_rfid.asp].

"What is RFID?" RFID Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2010. [http://www.rfidjournal.com/faq/16/49].