RFID Technology

RFID Technology

RFID technology is the latest upcoming technology that has spread through all sectors of the industry . RFID stands Radio-Frequency Identification . These are chips that have information embedded in them These are implanted chips and can be the size of a dust particle that is inserted into or tagged to the product . This is product specific and hence identifies and tracks it throughout the lifetime of the product To get the information RFID is scanned . RFID is still in the infancy stage and it will take some time before all its

features can be exploited . There are many companies that have started to invest a lot in the research of RFID design and manufacturing this will greatly enhance its popularity

History

The RFIDs were used way back in World War II , as IFF or (Identification Friend or Foe . Coded radar signals were used to identify planes as a friend or a foe . These signals triggered the transponders which identified the plane . After the war the other functionalities of IFFs were researched further . One of the major steps had been achieved in 2004 when VeriChip (Applied Digital 1 ) of subsidiary of Applied Digital became the first ever Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) cleared implantable RFID microchip for humans (Applied Digital 1 . This gave a further boost to the already expanding area of RFID research

Uses of RFID

Research has become so advanced that companies are trying to create innovative ways of using this remarkable technology . Some of uses are mentioned below (CNNMoney .com 1

Hospitals , where by they can track the records incases of case of emergencies or if the patient becomes unconscious (RFID Lowdown 1

Police Force , where in the guns can be tagged so that officers cannot be shot by their own or each others guns (Whelan 1

Nursing Homes , where in sometimes the hospitals needs to keep track on patients and their whereabouts , especially those patients who are incoherent . For instance patients affected with the Alzheimer 's disease (Swedberg 1

US Army , where in if the soldiers are implanted with the chips and can be easily tracked if he is found dead , or in enemy territory

Another advantage includes tagging products so that it is not stolen from the shops . This way the stock accuracy is improved and the product is available for customers according to the Mark and Spencer retail giant (McCue 1 . Philips is going to introduce an off switch ' in the RFID device . This allows the user to disable the device when it is not being used so that the device is not misused by others (Chai 1

Research so far

There has been a lot of research that has been done . Research has become so advanced that companies are trying to create innovative ways of using this remarkable technology . Research in the area has expanded by leaps and bounds and people are trying to study different ways of using it Some of the uses were mentioned in the previous section . Some other areas...