What is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a form of wireless communication that uniquely identifies an object, animal, or person using electromagnetic or electrostatic communication in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

How does RFID work?

Each RFID system consists of three components: a scanning antenna, a transceiver and a transponder. When a scanning antenna and transceiver are combined, it is called an RFID reader or interrogator.

There are two types of RFID readers: fixed readers and mobile readers. RFID readers are network-connected devices that can be carried or permanently connected. It transmits a signal that uses radio waves to activate the tag. When the tag is activated, it sends the signal back to the antenna to convert it into data.

The transponder is on the RFID tag itself.

The read range of an RFID tag depends on factors such as tag type, reader type, RFID frequency and environmental interference or other RFID tags and readers. Tags with more powerful power supplies also have longer read ranges.

What are RFID tags and smart labels? 

The RFID tag consists of an integrated circuit (IC), an antenna and a substrate. The part of the RFID tag that encodes identification information is called the RFID tab.

There are two main types of RFID tags.

RFID active.

 An active RFID tag has its own power source (usually a battery).

passive RFID. Passive RFID tags are powered by a read antenna in which electromagnetic waves induce a current in the RFID tag’s antenna. There is also a

semi-passive RFID tag, which means that the circuit is battery powered and communication is provided by an RFID reader.

Embedded, low-power non-volatile memory plays an important role in any RFID system. RFID tags typically contain less than 2000 KB of data, including a unique identifier/serial number. A tag can be read-only or read-write if the reader can append data to it or overwrite it with existing data. The read range of a

RFID tag depends on factors such as tag type, reader type, RFID frequency and environmental interference or other RFID tags and readers. Active RFID tags have a longer read range than passive RFID tags due to a more powerful power supply.

A smart label is a simple RFID tag. These labels have RFID tags embedded in adhesive labels and barcodes. It can also be used for both RFID and barcode readers. Smart labels can be printed on demand with a desktop printer, whereas RFID tags require advanced hardware.