Radio-frequency Identification - How Does RFID Work?
RFID is the abbreviated form of Radio Frequency Identification which is the latest technology that has replaced the bar code technology which also served its purpose to some extent. How does RFID work? Today, in factories, production of goods takes place at a large scale; besides this, all over the world a large number of retail chains have been opening. Management of all the logistics was done manually initially but later on this started to become increasingly difficult to handle. It was due to this that a labeling mechanism in an automated form became an important requirement. Management of the inventory could become a simplified process due to the automated mechanism.
RFID has replaced the old technology and is now able to do the labeling jobs much faster. All over the world this technology is being adopted which has a capacity that is wider in scope with wireless communication implemented. It is seen that departmental stores have thousands of products to sell and each of these products have to be labeled which is now being done by RFID technology. This technology was initially used for espionage purposes during the Second World War but since then has been changed to suit civilian purposes. In recent times this technology has found widespread use in the telecommunications field.
An RFID reader is used for object scanning. It is through this that product information which has the RFID tag embedded can be registered first and then later stored in the database. For reading the information there isn't any need for placing all the products in line. Information on the tag that is encoded can be read easily but it is very necessary for the product to be in the range of radio reception. When the RFID readers are used simultaneously, scanning of more than one product can be done. There is a particular mechanism on which this technology is based that allows easy RFID tag reading.
Using the radio technology used in communication, an intelligent application called the RFID is used. A circuit chip that is integrated is embedded in every RFID tag in products. The chip has memory for information storage with a mechanism called transponder for information transmission over a radio carrier. This transmission occurs after being encoded and modulated. Tags of RFID can be passive or negative. The tag is active when for data transmissions battery power is used. In the case of passive tag, energy is borrowed from an antenna that scans in the RFID reader so as to transmit data.
How does RFID work? Scanning of data takes place by when the antenna accepts signals from tags, gets them decoded and then processes them for database storage. First a signal for scanning is sent by the RFID antenna, later the signal is transmitted by the RFID and then the tag is received, decoded and later on stored. When RFID tags are used the advantages are less time spent on scanning and product identification in bulk. These tags are also being popularly used in the tracking animal population that has been dwindling.