Introduction of Rfid

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) is a tiny wireless communication technology to enable consumers with readers to automatically identify tagged objects or people. RFID technology becomes pervasive in our daily lives and society. It has been applied routinely. Here are some up-to-date examples:

 Access control system, such as proximity cards used for building access and employee identification

 Automatic toll-payment systems, which are mainly found at the entrances of tunnels and bridges in recent years

 Payment tokens, such as the ExxonMobil’s SpeedPass token for petrol station payment in the United States.

 Animal tracking devices are increasingly being used on pets, livestock, exotic animals and endangered species with RFID tags to enable tracking, recovery and management.

RFID was first used during the Second World War in Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems on board military aircraft. Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) discovered that a receiver stimulated by RF power could send back a coded radio signal in the 1970s. This Livermore system is developed for controlling access to sensitive materials at nuclear weapons sites at that time. After a few years, the project became the first application for building entry access systems based on the proximity devices and it was the first use of RFID in commercial fields .

RFID becomes a cost effective technology in the recent years. The applications of Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense (DoD) with RFID into their supply chains management increasing the development of this technology. Wal-Mart and the DoD are respectively the world’s largest retailer and largest supply chain operator. Because of the powerful combined size of their operations, the RFID mandates are sharply growing and bringing this technology into the mainstream in the 21 century. RFID is now widely equipped in many fields like aviation industry, postal package tracking and baggage and passenger tracing in...