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Though a half-baked cake, RFID has crawled out of the woodwork, but not yet
in strength of volumes. Tag functionalities on the inventory as well as supply
sides still target simple usage scenarios. Well, that at least keeps the price
of RFID tags down for the moment, but companies feel that further manufacturing
and middleware breakthroughs from RFID vendors could bring prices down further-depending
on demand.
RFID data is slowly being integrated into business applications, thanks to
RFID pureplays, platform giants, supply chain apps vendors like SAP, and
integration specialists like IBM, Oracle and Sun. RFID middleware developers
worldwide are increasingly combining core infrastructure attributes and packaged
application features-which includes device management, integration, data
management, and packaged business logic.
For those who still confuse RFID tags with the zebraic barcodes, RFID is a
wireless data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data.
Like barcodes, they are used to identify items. Unlike barcodes, which must be
brought close to the scanner for reading, RFID tags (containing micro-chips) are
read when they are within the proximity of a transmitted radio signal. RFID tags
are placed on any item that needs to be tracked, and thay will respond to a
radio-frequency query sent by a RFID reader or transceiver linked to an ILS
(Information Library System). Here, the data is transferred from the RFID tag to
the ILS via the RFID reader.
"RFID's potential to extract information and push it into the ERP
environment is immense," says Claus E Heinrich, a worldwide authority on
RFID, and a member of SAP's executive board.
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RFID Tracks |
There are four different kinds of RFID
tags commonly in use. They are categorized by their radio frequency:
Low frequency tags (125-134 kHz), High frequency tags (13.56 mHz),
UHF tags (868-956 mHz), and Microwave tags (2.45 gHz). UHF tags
still cannot be used globally as there aren't any global
regulations for its usage.
 The
widespread adoption of the technology will take a couple of
years to really ramp up, as tags are still relatively expensive,
ranging from a low of around $0.15 to a high of over $100.- Privacy issues remain a concern
for many applications of RFID, and currently courts and
governments around the world are in the process of determining
related legal issues.
- The second largest market for
RFID, after manufacturing, is consumer products, even as this
market is one of the most privacy-sensitive areas.
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RFID tags are poised to become the most far-reaching wireless technology
since the cell phone, according to high-tech market research firm, In-Stat.
Worldwide revenues from RFID tags will jump from $300 mn in 2004 to $2.8 bn in
2009, says In-Stat, as it forecasts the cartons/supply chain segment alone to
account for the largest number of tags/labels from 2005 through 2009.
Enter the mobility angle: Nokia is already producing cheap mobile RFID
readers for around $700, prices could inevitably come down quickly as they move
this technology into the mass product market. Then, touch-and-record functions
on phones like the Nokia 5140 will enable you to 'touch' a poster of Madhuri
Dixit with your RFID-enabled phone to download information and music. People
will soon be using their phones in many more ways-from checking whether an
item is in a shop stockroom to using Web services to finding more information
about products.
In recent years, tag prices have been falling and currently they are at
levels that make largescale mobile application implementations feasible. When
the price of tags becomes economical enough, it is expected that RFID will take
off in other venues. For example: were the tag to cost only about $0.10, it
could be placed on supermarket products, and everything in the shopping cart,
except produce, could be read at once. However, Gartner and Forrester analysts
agree that a price level of less than $0.10 is only achievable in 6-8 years.
Passive and active tags
Because RFID tags hold more data than barcodes, which generally contain only
a product ID, they can be used for tracking individual items. For example, one
of its first uses was to track livestock and other animals. Taking that a step
further, in 2004, an amusement park in Denmark and some Japanese schools
launched a child tracking system that uses RFID wristbands. Tags are also being
attached to retail products for tracking and security purposes (see Tesco
interview), and libraries use them to track books and videos.
 The
RFID tag, also called "electronic label," "transponder" or
"code plate," comes in two forms. Passive tags have no power source
but use the electromagnetic waves from the reader, upto approximately 15 to 20
feet away, to transmit back their contents. Such systems are used for ID badges
because employees need to only pass by the reader rather than having to stop and
insert a smart card. For high security, such systems can instantly display
pictures of the people as they approach manned entrance and exit ways.
Active tags use a battery to transmit up to 1,500 feet. These are used for
tracking trailers in yards and containers on the loading dock. RFID systems use
frequencies in the kilohertz, megahertz and gigahertz ranges. Active RFID tags
must have a power source, and may have longer ranges and larger memories than
passive tags, as well as the ability to store additional information sent by the
transceiver. At present, the smallest active tags are about the size of a coin.
Many active tags have practical ranges of tens of metres, and a battery life of
up to several years, making them expensive to manufacture.
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Past masters |
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Perhaps the first work exploring RFID
is the landmark 1948 paper by Harry Stockman, entitled
"Communication by Means of Reflected Power". Stockman
predicted that "...considerable research and development work
has to be done before the remaining basic problems in
reflected-power communication are solved, and before the field of
useful applications is explored." It required thirty years of
advances in many different fields before RFID became a reality.
Although some people think that
Leon Theremin invented the first known device as an espionage tool
for the Russian government in 1945, the first real usage of RFID
devices predates that. During World War II, the UK used RFID devices
to distinguish returning English airplanes from inbound German ones.
Radar then could signal the presence of a plane, not the 'kind'
of plane it was. RFID technology began to materialize in the 1980s
and 1990s. In 1997, Mobil introduced its Speedpass system in the US
that let you wave the tag in front of the pump to record your
transaction and debit your credit card. Automatic highway toll
collection systems are RFID-based, and General Motors' famous
OnStar vehicle tracking system is a satellite-based version of it. |
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But the advantages cannot be ignored: tracking an item like a container in a
port is no more based on computing probabilities of location co-ordinates.
Active tag systems can help identify the actual position of each container, at
any point in time, in combination with fixed reader stations at each possible
location. It's just that the high costs of such systems is often not
proportionate to enterprise requirements, say experts.
The aim is to produce tags for less than $0.05 to make widespread RFID
tagging commercially viable. However, chip manufacturers' supply of integrated
circuits is still not sufficient and worldwide demand is only still picking up,
for prices to come down soon.
VeriChip and other news
A tamper-proof identification device from VeriChip Corporation, a division
of Applied Digital Solutions, the VeriChip, is implanted under the skin of a
person for medical or security purposes. Using RFID technology, a wand is waved
over the skin to pick up the unique number stored in the chip, which is no
larger than the tip of a ballpoint pen. In an outpatient procedure, the VeriChip
is implanted with a small incision and local anesthesia. Combined with sensors
to monitor body functions, a VeriChip, like the Digital Angel device, can
provide monitoring for patients.
The Mexico City police department has implanted approximately 170 of its
police officers with the Verichip, to allow access to police databases and
possibly track them in case of kidnapping.
Current RFID usage outside India relates to animal identification, beer keg
tracking, and automobile key-and-lock anti-theft systems. Pets are often
embedded with small chips so that they may be returned to their owners, if lost.
In the United States, two RFID frequencies are used: 125 kHz (the original
standard) and 134.5 kHz, the international standard. Cards embedded with RFID
chips are widely used as electronic cash. The Octopus Card in Hong Kong and the
Netherlands is used to pay fares in mass transit systems and/or retails.
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Chips of Contention |
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How would you like it if one day you realized your underwear was reporting on your whereabouts?
-California Senator Debra Bowen,
at a 2003 Congressional hearing
The use of RFID technology has engendered considerable controversy and even product boycotts. The four main privacy concerns regarding RFID are:
 The purchaser of an item will not necessarily be aware of the presence of the tag or be able to remove it - The tag can be read at a distance without the knowledge of the individual
- If a tagged item is paid for by credit card or in conjunction with use of a loyalty card, then it would be possible to tie the unique ID of that item to the identity of the purchaser
- Tags create, or are proposed to create, globally unique serial numbers for all products, even though this creates privacy problems and is completely unnecessary for most applications.
Current concerns largely revolve around the fact that RFID tags affixed to products remain functional even after the products have been purchased and taken home, and thus can be used for surveillance, and other nefarious purposes unrelated to their supply chain inventory functions.
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Starting from the 2004 model year, a "smart key" option is
available to the Toyota Prius and some Lexus models. The key fob uses an active
RFID circuit, which allows the car to acknowledge the key's presence within 3
feet of the sensor. The driver can open the doors and start the car while the
key remains in a purse or pocket.
In August last year, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRH)
approved a $415,000 contract to trial the tracking technology with Alanco
Technologies. Inmates will wear "wristwatch-sized" transmitters that
can detect if prisoners have been trying to remove them and send an alert to
prison computers. This project is not the first such rollout of tracking chips
in US prisons. Facilities in Michigan, California and Illinois already employ
the technology.
But this 'inbuilt' solution is truly novel: Baja Beach Club in Barcelona,
Spain, uses an implantable VeriChip to identify their VIP customers, who in turn
use it to pay for drinks.
In passports
A number of countries have proposed to embed RFID devices in new passports
to facilitate efficient machine reading of biometric data. The RFID-enabled
passport uniquely identifies its holder, and is planned to also include a
variety of other personal information.
EPC Global is working on a proposed international standard for the use of
RFID and the Electronic Product Code (EPC) in the identification of any item in
the supply chain for companies in any industry, anywhere in the world.
RFID is in the early stages of adoption, but it's not too early to plan how
RFID data can expand business intelligence (BI) functions and create supply
chain visibility. Since most RFID data is about products, product movement
analysis and supply chain optimization are the obvious beneficiaries on the BI
front. RFID will also impact operational reports, operational BI, and
third-party syndicated data about products. More flexible and adaptable
solutions will address this evolving industry trend.
Ravi Menon
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