Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) refers to a wireless system comprised of two components: tags and readers using radio waves to identify tagged people or objects. The reader is a device that has one or more antennas that emit radio waves and receive signals back from the RFID tag. Tags, which use radio waves to communicate their identity and other information to nearby readers, can be passive or active.
Passive RFID tags are powered by the reader and do not have a battery. Active RFID tags are powered by batteries. RFID tags can store a range of information from one serial number to several pages of data. Readers can be mobile so that they can be carried by hand, or they can be mounted on a post or overhead. Reader systems can also be built into the architecture of a cabinet, room, or building.
A Little History. RFID, a wireless spectrum technology has existed for over 50 years and has been used by the Department of Defense (DoD) since World War II. RFID technology has been commercially available in one form or another since the 1970s. It is now part of our daily lives and can be found in car keys, employee identification, medical history/billing, highway toll tags and security access cards.
In October 2003 DoD issued a policy memorandum directing the immediate use of high-data capacity, active RFID technology that will affect all companies supplying goods to the DoD. But even earlier, in 2003, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery implemented a Tactical Medical Coordination System. Using versatile RFID technology, this custom-developed system simplifies hospital administration, reduces medical practice errors, provides better medical care, tracks common injuries and analyzes long-term trends by transferring patient information stored on RFID tags. Linking to a wireless local area network, unique data are exchanged, further eliminating manual reentry at a computer workstation.
Also in 2003, Wal-Mart required its largest suppliers to tag all cartons and pallets with wireless RFID sensors by 2005. Target followed suit in 2004, requiring some suppliers to use RFID tags on each case and pallet.
Operations. In a normal operating environment, the result can be many tags and a number of frequency compatible transceivers. Since RFID is based on proximity, unlike bar codes and their line-of-sight associated readers, the transceiver can process and analyze all of the packages as an entire pallet transits a loading dock. The time savings by not requiring visual contact with the tag are significant.
Active RFID tags come with a battery and transmit a signal to a reader. Active tags can be read from 100 feet or more away, but at present they are significantly more expensive than their passive sibling. They are used for tracking expensive items over long ranges. Currently, the U.S. military uses active tags to track containers of supplies arriving in ports. Active RFID tags are typically read/write and this flexibility supports variable application requirements. Semi-passive RFID has an internal power source to monitor conditions, but, similar to passive tags, requires RF energy from the reader/interrogator to power a response.
The Electronic Product Code stored on the RFID tag offers IT systems a method of matching the EPC to information about the associated item. Similar to the Internet’s Domain Name Service (DNS), the EPC world has the Object Name Service (ONS), which provides a global lookup service to associate an EPC with an automated referral service that directs enquiries and applications to one or more Internet Uniform Reference Locators (URLs) where further information on the object may be found on the World Wide Web.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an enabling technology that allows military logisticians to synthesize and integrate end-to-end information about assets. The Department of Defense (DOD) is a globally sophisticated user of active RFID, with more than a decade of experience in this technology and the most extensive RFID network in the world. Now, DOD is attempting to standardize the use of active RFID and is moving ahead with the application of passive RFID technologies.
The desired end state for the DOD supply chain is a fully integrated, adaptive entity that uses state-of-the-art enabling technologies and advanced management information systems to automate routine functions and achieve accurate and timely in-transit, in-storage, and in-repair asset visibility with the least amount of human intervention. RFID is a foundational technology on the path to achieving this vision. Ultimately, DOD will operate a single, seamless, responsive enterprise visibility network that will be accessible across the network backbone and usable by both people and systems throughout the supply chain.
From scanning a metro card on a daily commute, to locating a lost pet that’s gone missing, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags touch most Americans’ lives frequently throughout a given day. RFID technology, which uses radio waves to automatically identify people or objects, was initially developed at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the 1970s to track vehicles and nuclear materials, as well as to track livestock to help control the spread of disease for the Department of Agriculture.
After developing the technology for government use in the 1970s, the team of LANL scientists moved this technology to the private sector in 1983, when they founded Animal Management Technology (Amtech) Corporation, in addition to Santa Cruz-based Identronix Research, to explore RFID commercialization opportunities including the cattle industry and railroad cars. RFID tags not only transmit locational data, but they can derive further information on the contents of the cars, and are much more reliable than optical tracking devices, such as bar codes, that can deteriorate and become obscured along the track. By 2008 there were more than 46 million RFID tags and 67,000 readers deployed worldwide in various transportation applications such as electronic toll collection, traffic management, rail, truck, container, barge and intermodal tracking and monitoring, homeland security border control, airport ground transportation, parking and secure vehicle access control.
Throughout the late-1990s and early 2000, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) engineers made significant advances in long-range, semi-passive RFID technology, creating tags that are smaller, less expensive, able to be read at high speed, and with over 10 times the range of previous tags. PNNL collaborated with the American Textile Partnership and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to embed the tiny tracking devices into clothing tags. These commercial advancements contributed to creating an entire new market for the applications of RFID technology – In 2005, the RFID industry was projected to grow from $1.95 billion to $27 billion by 2015.
In 2000, Battelle, which operates PNNL for the Energy Department, formed a spinoff company called Wave ID to manufacture and market the tags. Within a year, Wave ID was acquired by California-based Alien Technology. By producing high numbers of RFID tags at a low cost, Alien Technology helped drive this technology into the mainstream and is today one of the leading providers of Ultra High Frequency RFID tags. Their tags are used for document tracking, portable equipment tracking in hospitals, baggage tagging, retail inventory tracking and more.
There are many distinct protocols used in the various RFID systems, some using the lower end of the spectrum (135 KHz) and others using the super high frequency (SHF) at 5.875 GHz. There are various standards involved in RFID:
Evolving Applications.
The United States government uses two types of RFID technology for border management vicinity and proximity: Vicinity RFID-enabled documents can be securely and accurately read by authorized readers from up to 20 to 30 feet away. While Proximity RFID-enabled documents must be scanned in close proximity to an authorized reader and can only be read from a few inches away. Trusted traveler programs NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST have used vicinity RFID technology to speed travelers through land border entries since 1995.
RFID systems use radio waves at several different frequencies to transfer data. In health care and hospital settings, RFID technologies include the following applications:
The FDA has taken steps to study RFID and its potential effects on medical devices including:
Enhanced Drivers Licenses. State-issued enhanced drivers licenses (EDLs) provide proof of identity and U.S. citizenship, are issued in a secure process, and include technology that makes travel easier. They provide travelers with a low-cost, convenient alternative for entering the United States from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean through a land or sea port of entry, in addition to serving as a permit to drive. DHS has been working with states to enhance their drivers licenses and identification documents to comply with travel rules under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), effective June 1, 2009.
Enhanced drivers licenses make it easier for U.S. citizens to cross the border into the United States because they include a vicinity Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip that will signal a secure system to pull up your biographic and biometric data for the CBP officer as you approach the border inspection booth, and a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) or barcode that the CBP officer can read electronically if RFID isn't available. The top 39 land ports of entry, which process more than 95 percent of land border crossings, are equipped with RFID technology that helps facilitate travel by individual presenting EDLs or one of the other RFID-enabled documents.
Argonne National Laboratory has developed a radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for the management of nuclear and radioactive materials packages in transportation and storageerial packages during storage and transportation. Development of the technology involved hardware design (e.g., form factors, sensors, and batteries), application software development, secured database and web server development, and irradiation experiments.
The DOE Packaging Certification Program (PCP) of the Office of Packaging and Transportation, Office of Environmental Management (EM-335), and DOE national laboratories are working on several RFID system implementation projects for field testing at DOE sites, along with continuing device and system development and expanding applications. Potential benefits of the RFID system are enhanced safety, security, safeguards and materials accountability; reduced need for manned surveillance; real-time access to status and event history data, including continuous environmental condition monitoring for managing aging packagings; and overall cost-effectiveness.
Extended Range RFID and Sensor Tag. NASA's Johnson Space Center has developed a novel technology that enhances the performance of surface acoustic wave radio frequency (SAW RF) tags for passive radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor applications. This innovation significantly extends operational range without necessitating additional transmit power. Conversely, it can reduce transmit power requirements for shorter range passive RFID systems. The inherent temperature-and pressure-sensitive qualities of the SAW RF components also render this device ideal for remote sensing applications.
Benefits Include:
This scalable technology uses a pair of phase-matched SAW RF tags coupled with a Van Atta antenna array. Typically composed of piezoelectric lithium niobate or quartz, SAW RF tags convert the interrogating signal into a surface acoustic wave, which is then encoded with the tag's unique identification number as the wave encounters a series of reflectors etched in the crystal. With the ID added, the modulated signal then converts back to electromagnetic energy and is transmitted back to the interrogator. The influence of temperature and pressure on the reflected signal can also be measured, making the devices useful as remote sensors.
The Van Atta antenna component receives the interrogating signal and then, once the signal has been imprinted with the code from the SAW RF tags, reflects it in the direction of its arrival. The result is passive beam-steering and tracking of the interrogator without prior knowledge of its location. The increased gain provided by the array allows for extended range or for reduced transmit power from the interrogator within shorter distances.
RFID technology is also used to tag and track livestock with animal identification numbers (AIN) for the purposes of animal health and disease control. The tagging systems approved by the USDA can be found at https://vsapps.aphis.usda.gov/aims/AllProductNew.do. The RFID transponder, in these options, is incased in the visual tag. Such technology is considered supplemental identification (the visual tag remains the animal’s official identifier). Tags with RFID technology (referred to as AIN RF tags) must have all 15 digits of the AIN printed on the tag pieces that contains the transponder. The Official Eartag Shield and text, “Unlawful to Remove” must be printed on the other piece. AIN RF tags, when applied, are to be attached to the animal’s left ear according to the manufacturer’s instructions. RFID injectable transponders are also available with the AIN number for certain species including equine, alpacas, llamas, sheep and goats.