Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags
Subject: Science and Technology
Section: Computer
Context: The government has decided to track all pilgrims for the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.
The decision was taken amid heightened security threat to the pilgrimage.
RFID
- Radio Frequency Identification: It’s a wireless tracking system that consists of tags and readers.
- Radio waves are used to communicate information/identity of objects or people to nearby readers – devices that can be hand-held or built into fixed positions like poles or buildings.
- The tags can carry encrypted information, serial numbers and short descriptions. There are also high-memory tags like the ones designed for use in the aviation industry.
Types of RFID tags
- There are passive and active RFID tags.
| Active RFIDs | Passive RFIDs |
| Active RFIDs use their own power source, mostly batteries. | Passive RFIDs are activated through the reader using the electromagnetic energy it transmits. |
| Active tags can ping information every few seconds like beacons, or they can get activated when a reader is in the proximity. | This is enough power for the tag to transmit information back to the reader. |
| Active tags have a longer read range, around 300 ft. | They have a shorter range. |
How do RFIDs work?
- RFID tags use an integrated circuit and an antenna to communicate with a reader using radio waves at several different frequencies – low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and ultra-high frequency (UHF).
- The message sent back by the tag in the form of radio waves is translated into data and analyzed by the host computer system.
- Unlike Barcodes, RFIDs do not require direct line of sight to identify objects. They also have a bigger range.
- They are used for inventory tracking in retail stores, toll payments, as access keys in labs and also built into credit cards and library books.
- To protect the data from hackers, grades of encryption can be introduced between the tag and the reader to verify credentials.