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RFID Technology
- Talking Prescriptions - 13.56 MHz tags are being placed on prescriptions for Visually Impaired Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient pharmacies are now supplying the tags with label information stored inside that can be read by a battery powered, talking prescription reader. This reader speaks information such as: Drug Name; Instruction; Warnings; etc. ["Scriptalk" http://www.envisionamerica.com/scriptalk.htm]
- Low-frequency RFID tags are commonly used for animal identification. Pets can be implanted with small chips so that they may be returned to their owners if lost. Beer kegs are also tracked with LF RFID. Two RFID frequencies are used in the United States: 125 kHz (the original standard) and 134.2 kHz (the international standard).
The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency began using RFID tags as a replacement for barcode tags. The tags are required to identify a bovine's herd of origin and this is used for trace-back when a packing plant condemns a carcass. Currently CCIA tags are used in Wisconsin and by US farmers on a voluntary basis. The USDA is currently developing its own program.Image:CCIA tags.jpg
- High-frequency RFID tags are used in library book or bookstore tracking, pallet tracking, building access control, airline baggage tracking, and apparel item tracking. High-frequency tags are widely used in identification badges, replacing earlier magnetic stripe cards. These badges need only be held within a certain distance of the reader to authenticate the holder. The American Express Blue credit card now includes a high-frequency RFID tag, a feature American Express calls ExpressPay.
UHF RFID tags are commonly used commercially in pallet and container tracking, and truck and trailer tracking in shipping yards.
- Microwave RFID tags are used in long range access control for vehicles.
- Optical RFID is a subcategory of RFID that is based on optical readers. Applications for optical RFID tags may be found in future supply chain scenarios. The main advantage in comparison to traditional RFID tags is their low prize and the usually employed offline preaggregation of data to the class level.
Unlike most other RFID chips, optical RFID operates in the electromagnetic spectrum between the frequencies of 380 THz (3.8×1014 hertz, or 708 nm) and 750 THz (7.5×1014 hertz, or 400 nm). The tag information is communicated to the reader by reflecting the read request. Parts of the incoming signal are filtered by the tag in a well-defined way as it is send back to the reader. On the reader's side, the tag data can be deducted by analysing the pattern used for filtering.
Regarding privacy, optical RFID provides much more protection against abuse than RFID based on common electromagnetic waves. This is mainly due to the fact, that line of sight is required for malicious read out. (Such an attack can easily be preventend with low cost optical RFID sight blockers).
- RFID tags are used for electronic toll collection at toll booths with Georgia's Cruise Card, California's FasTrak, Illinois' I-Pass, the expanding eastern states' E-ZPass system, Florida's SunPass, Massachusett's Fast Lane, The "Cross-Israel Highway" (Highway 6), Philippines South Luzon Expressway E-Pass, Central Highway (Autopista Central) in Chile and all highways in France (Liber-T system). The tags are read remotely as vehicles pass through the booths, and tag information is used to debit the toll from a prepaid account. The system helps to speed traffic through toll plazas as it records the date, time, and billing data for the RFID vehicle tag.
- Sensors such as seismic sensors may be read using RFID transceivers, greatly simplifying remote data collection.
- Location sensing of RFID with milimeter accuracy is possible by adding a low cost photosensor. The real time location sensing (RTLS) supports many complex geometric queries.
- In January 2003, Michelin began testing RFID transponders embedded into tires. After a testing period that is expected to last 18 months, the manufacturer will offer RFID-enabled tires to car makers. Their primary purpose is tire-tracking in compliance with the United States Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act).
- Some smart cards embedded with RFID chips are used as electronic cash, e.g. SmarTrip in Washington, DC, USA, EasyCard in Taiwan, Suica in Japan, T-Money in South Korea, Octopus Card in Hong Kong, and the Netherlands and Oyster Card on the London Underground in the United Kingdom to pay fares in mass transit systems and/or retails.
- Starting with the 2004 model year, a Smart Key/Smart Start option became available to the Toyota Prius. Since then, Toyota has been introducing the feature on various models around the world under both the Toyota and Lexus brands, including the Toyota Avalon (2005 model year), Toyota Camry (2007 model year), and the Lexus GS (2006 model year). The key uses an active RFID circuit which allows the car to acknowledge the key's presence within approximately 3 feet of the sensor. The driver can open the doors and start the car while the key remains in a purse or pocket.
- In August 2004, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRH) approved a $415,000 contract to evaluate the personnel tracking technology of Alanco Technologies. Inmates will wear wristwatch-sized transmitters that can detect if prisoners have been trying to remove them and send an alert to prison computers. This project is not the first such rollout of tracking chips in US prisons. Facilities in Michigan, California and Illinois already employ the technology.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "RFID".
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