Embedded RFID Solutions: Challenges for Product Design and Development

Rfid Technology Overview

RFID is a wireless tracking technology that allows a reader to activate a transponder on a radio frequency tag attached to, or embedded in, an item, allowing the reader to remotely read and/or write data to the RFID tag (Das, 2009). Essentially, an RFID system comprises an RFID tag, also called transponder, a reader, also called transceiver, and the supporting IT infrastructure. An RFID tag embodies a built-in antenna connected to an electronic microchip. These tags carry on a unique identifier that relates the tag with the precise tagged object, allowing unique product identification. A tag receives and retransmits signals on a set of predetermined frequencies, in other words, in response, a tag transmits a predetermined message to a predefined received signal.

RFID tags can be read-only or read-write. A read-only tag includes a programmed identification code, recorded at the time of manufacture or when the tag is allocated to an object. Once programmed, the data cannot be modified but may be read multiple times. Read-write tags can have their memory changed, or written many times; in this way, they offer greater functionality. RFID tags can be categorized in three general varieties: passive, semi-passive and active tags (Table 1).