RFID Labels
Radio Frequency IDentification - Labels
At-A-Glance
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RFID Tag: A microchip attached to an
antenna that is packaged in a way that it
can be applied to an object. The tag picks
up signals from and sends signals to a
reader. The tag contains a unique serial
number, but may have other information,
such as a customers' account number.
RFID tags can be active, passive or semipassive. |
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Antenna: The microchip antenna is the
conductive element that enables the microchip to
send and receive data. Readers also have
antennas which are used to emit and receive
radio waves. |
| Reader: This is the device used to communicate with RFID
microchips. The reader has one or more antennas, which
emit radio waves and receive signals back from the tag.
The reader is also sometimes called an interrogator
because it "interrogates" the signals from the microchip. |
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Is RFID Right For My Business?
That's a tough question with no easy, standard answers. To
help you determine what to do about RFID in your business,
we have provided
this questionnaire.
What Is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
A method of identifying unique items using radio waves.
Typically, a reader communicates with a microchip
embedded in a label which holds digital information.
How Does RFID Work?
Think of RFID as a system of several key components.
These components are: a a microchip with an antenna, a
label that "carries" the microchip and a reader with an
antenna that receives the microchip's signal. The reader
sends out electromagnetic waves. The microchip's antenna
is tuned to receive these waves. The chip then modulates
the waves that the antenna sends back to the reader and the
reader converts the new waves into digital data.
Why Is RFID In Demand?
RFID can have many benefits, from controlling shrinkage in
retail environments to speeding distribution throughout entire
supply chains to tracking individual purchases to specific
items and so on. The uses are many and varied - based on
saving resources or gathering valuable data or both.
The real limits to RFID have more to do with costs of
implementation an ongoing use and support than they do
with the actual benefits available. RFID can be costly and
the business that looks into RFID needs to be very specific
about their expected return on investment. That said, RFID
is used by thousands of companies - and growing daily.
Who Is Using RFID Labels?
As RFID technology costs diminish, more and more
businesses are relying on RFID. From wholesale distribution
to retail sales from animal tracking to property protection,
RFID is used across all industries.
Recently, the big box retailers like Wal-Mart have introduced
initiatives to ultimately place an RFID label on every item
they sell. While it may be some time before consumers take
home a bag of RFID products, the emerging trends are
clearly leading in that direction.
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