Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a technology that allows objects, animals and even human beings to be identified and tracked using radio frequency signals. RFID relies on a transponder, or tag, attached to each object, which is read, wirelessly, by a reader, allowing data about the object to be collected. RFID is not a new technology, but as of the time of publication, businesses have started to explore its full potential only recently.
Origin
The invention of RFID is usually credited to Scottish inventor and physicist, Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt. During World War II, Watson-Watt led a secret British project, whereby active, battery-powered RFID tags were installed in each British aircraft and, when they received radio frequency signals from stations on the ground, broadcast signals back in the opposite direction. This system allowed friendly aircraft to be differentiated from enemy aircraft, and became known as Identification Friend or Foe, or IFF.
Electronic Article Surveillance Tag
The development of RFID technology continued, globally, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and resulted in the so-called electronic article surveillance tag, which is still in use today. Essentially, an electronic article surveillance tag contains just a single binary digit, or "bit," which can be switched on or off. If someone pays for an item in, say, a retail outlet, the bit is switched off, but if they attempt to remove the item without paying, the bit is read by a reader at the exit and activates an alarm.
Patents
In 1969, Mario W. Cardullo, then chairman of the Communications Satellite Corporation, examined the limitations of an optical system for identifying railroad cars and began working on an active RFID tag with rewritable memory, which he patented in 1973. The same year, Californian inventor Charles Walton also patented a portable radio frequency emitting identifier, which formed the basis of a sensor-based electronic door key.
Continuing Development
The first private applications using passive RFID tags, whose power is supplied by the RFID reader, appeared in the 1980s. In 1997, Mobil used RFID technology to process credit card transactions at the gas pump, and in 2005, Wal-Mart announced that it required its top 100 suppliers to supply RFID-enabled shipments. RFID remains a promising technology, which industry analysts expect to become commonplace in the fields of asset tracking, supply chain management and security in the years to come.
Tags: RFID technology, radio frequency, article surveillance, electronic article surveillance, frequency signals, radio frequency signals