What are radio frequency identification systems?

Radiofrequency identification systems are a form of inventory management and monitoring system that some commercial companies and government agencies use to monitor the location and use of goods, vehicles and people based on individual items. Retail products often have radiofrequency identification brands (RFID) connected somewhere to their packaging and each brand has a unique identification (ID) code. If these brands are scanned by RFID readers, it is possible to determine the location of the building and when it is sold or open. Some RFID brands contain batteries, so they always transmit their ID code to any available reader and others are passive, which means they can be read without the need for battery. RFID readers are so you can read more brands at the same time through the packaging itself. However, it is estimated that this scan process is in some cases only 80% accurate. Accuracy readings are improving by means of shorter systems that are designed to pull out the information from the brand below the rangem about 3 feet (0.91 meters).

RFID systems with a longer range with the ability to read a brand up to 300 feet (91 meters) are also used. The technology of radio frequency identification systems has existed since the beginning of the 70s and one of its first uses was to monitor farm animals on large ranch. The new use for this technology since 2011 is the insertion of tokens into clothing to monitor medical patients in hospitals, in speed passage systems for cars passing through automated toll cabins and maintaining current data on the location of military hardware and staff.

One of the main restrictions on radio frequency identification systems is that RFID chips cannot store a large amount of information. RFID brands can usually hold about 2 kilobytes of data, which attracts some companies to use brands simply for long chain identifier codes up to 96 bits informmation. The trend of industry is to make cheaper, mass -produced brands that store less information than more sophisticated versions that would be costly in thousands, because RFID systems are often designed to suit.

Because RFID brands often occur in an environment where they are closely grouped together or among other radio frequency transmissions, such as mobile phones, electromagnetic binding or electrostatic binding, they can often occur. This involves the production of electromagnetic interference (EMI), as the transmissions overlap and in some cases cancel each other. This difference between RFID and barcodes is part of the reason why this technology has not replaced barcodes that are simple, passive stamps that are cheaper for mass productions.