Still Grappling With Tech Limitations

The RFID technology that has been around since World War II continues to
generate considerable hype around itself, inspite of the fact that it hasn't
really managed even ground level adoption.

RFID is still grappling with technical limitations like interference, less
than 100% read rates, tag placement problems, etc. Added to this is the fact
that the technical standards have been in a dynamic state and are likely to
continue to remain so for some time to come. Further, a lawsuit over the
infringements of patent between

two equipment vendors has put some question marks on the issue of
standardization. 

However, all said and done, the RFID technology has undergone significant
evolution. Considering that it's still into the early stages of adoption, it
has already embarked upon its journey into the second generation with the
ratification of Gen 2 UHF Electronic Product Code (EPC) standard. Electronic
product codes, trademarked by EPCglobal, are unique identifiers that provide
detailed information about the contents of a tagged item. With the technology
undergoing constant evolution, moving towards greater maturity and bringing
about more clarity on the issue of standards, it's surely doing well to boost
the confidence levels of enterprises with respect to RFID. And now with the
second-generation technical standards coming in, the industry is already upbeat
about its role in ensuring the necessary thrust to the technology. The
enterprises, though, may decide to be cautious and wait for the standards to
stabilize.

Driving forces

The two key developments that are going to impact RFID's evolution in the
coming years as well as the leading drivers in the medium to long run, are the
emergence of the Gen 2 standard and the firming up of single frequency (UHF) for
supply chain applications, and the freeing up of radio frequency in UHF 865-867
MHz band by the Indian government. According to TS Rangarajan, RFID Solutions
group head at TCS, these are very significant developments, which will create
more interest in UHF in India as well as interest among companies to develop
solutions and test them.

Gen 2 EPC Standard: Gen 2 specifications were frozen in Dec 2004 and
the new samples are expected to be out this quarter. The standard is critical,
as it will address the interoperability issue between the regions. The
ratification of UHF Generation 2 as a standard is expected to be a significant
step towards standardization and is also likely to bring about commercialization
and mass adoption of EPC technology. According to Ravi Kathuria, director
marketing-SSA Global, India, "The standardization of technology and
standards will make is easier for vendors to manufacture products in bulk as
well as help RFID adopters standardize on a single technology". 

The Govt of India freeing up the radio frequency in UHF 865-867 MHz band: The
freeing up of radio frequency in UHF 865-867 MHz band by the Government of India
takes cognizance of international developments wherein radio frequency is being
allocated within 860-960 MHz for operating mission critical supply chain
applications across various industry segments. This has the potential to alter
the face of the supply chains in India.

According to Ravi Mathur, CEO, EPCglobal India, implementation of the RFID
technology using this frequency band enables creation of applications like
counterfeit detection, product visibility and recall, ensuring safety and
security of goods, food traceability, patient identification, etc. Unlike other
countries, India had earlier not decided on the UHF bandwidth for using RFID,
which was affecting the adoption of retail applications or any system where one
needs to have a good range for operational reasons.

Emerging technology trends

Besides developments on the standards front, RFID technology has been
undergoing innovations in the areas of tags, readers, printers and software in
the last few years, enhancing the technology's capabilities.

Some of the key emerging technology trends are in the areas of smaller tags,
more compact readers, network security, encryptions, multiple technology use
like biometrics, RFID sensors, smart readers (the next generation of RFID
readers), which provide the capability of more edge level processing enabling
higher value and providing a new horizon for edge deployment. NFC (Near Field
Communication: wireless connectivity technology allowing efficient short-range
communication between electronic devices) is also picking up for applications
like contact-less payment (although futuristic), where the device containing the
tag reads to the reader and the payment is made automatically without having to
swipe a card.

Anand P Surana, CEO, Icegen Computing, points out trends emerging in the
areas of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) tags and chip-less tags: "The new
focus area for RFID tags is developing chip-less tags. These tags would be
electronically printed on a substrate and are expected to be cheaper due to the
absence of integrated circuitry. They are also expected to perform better, even
in adverse conditions". SAW tags, on the other hand, have the ability to
read room temperature, give the direction at which it is placed or moving, its
distance from the reader, etc.

Vendors are trying to develop better computing processes to manage the
multi-terabytes of data that RFID is expected to generate. Work is being done to
develop new microprocessor designs that will help in performing multiple tasks
at higher computing speeds. There is also a trend towards developing distributed
architecture, which would enable users to build their required applications and
at the same time provide the ability for remote access and management of
devices.

Aligning technology with business processes

With capabilities like online data capture, traceability, re-usability and
longevity of tags, no requirement for Line of Sight as that of bar code, and
ability to take any harsh conditions and temperatures of upto 400 degrees
Celsius, RFID technology has various inherent advantages. However, it still
faces issues of manufacturing expertise like reader/antenna support, read rate
success, etc.

According to Mathur, for now much of the focus is on the first of the three
layers within an RFID ecosystem, ie, the RFID layer that includes tags, readers,
middleware and servers. "Once RFID data is made available from tagged
pallets and cases, companies will need to move to the enterprise applications
and system infrastructure layer of the equation as it here that companies need
to leverage existing application and infrastructure to access and use the RFID
data," he explains.

While streamlining the technology and the gaps within is going to be an
important aspect for RFID's success, the key will lie in understanding how the
technology would fit in with and change existing business processes, and what
benefits it would actually provide. It is the business processes that will have
to ultimately dictate how the RFID layer will be designed and deployed.
Technology, on its own, will not be able to handle the pain points in the
business.

Shipra Arora