Monday, June 4, 2018

RFID And Bringing The World Into The Future

By Ruth Fisher


It used to be that in order to keep track of something, one had to use their eyes. Once it was out of sight, it was practically lost. But as society evolved, so did the tools used by humanity. Nowadays, keeping track of something is as easy as slapping a tag on it and using a CSL RFID reader connected, wirelessly or otherwise, to a computer.

RFID means radio frequency identification. It is a method by which a device, a reader, wirelessly scans information from a tag embedded with a chip. There are two types of tags, the passive and active. Passive tags rely on siphoning power from the radio waves of a reader, while an active tag will have its own power source such as a battery.

UHF means ultra high frequency. Most wireless communications operate on radio frequencies in some form of another, and uhf is the frequency at which many of the most necessary wireless systems operate on. Wi-Fi, mobile phone coverage, and GPS are among the systems which operate on an ultra high frequency.

RFID tags are used widely in for security purposes. Items embedded with an RFID tag will often go off if taken out in a store. Similarly, identification cards can often contain chips in them, especially if there are systems in place to deny entry to outsiders. A chipped card simply allows entry into such places. Similarly, casinos chips are often tagged to prevent theft.

Tagged chips can also be use to keep track of living things. Pet owners often implant their animals with chips in order to make keeping track of them much easier and also to find them easily should they get lost. Animals can also be tagged while in zoos or other amusement parks, to keep track of them and to make sure that they remain in their respective enclosures.

But the interesting thing about the technology is that as advanced as it is, there is still room for it to grow. Retail could be streamlined with an RFID reader by simply tagging all the items in a store and then having the reader read note just the items, but also the credit card of a customer to automatically charge the card when a customer walks out, checkout lines and waiting in them would become a thing of the past. RFID chips can also be turned into dust and then ingested in some form or another by a person, thereby introducing the dust into the bloodstream to monitor health and wellness. Of course, there are some privacy concerns, as the technology that keeps track of animals can easily be applied to human beings.

Now, simply picking a reader is easy. There are many that are currently on the market. Picking the right one is the key.

Start with the price. Even a low cost device can cost hundreds of dollars. It might be a solid investment but is still a hefty one to make. Next, is the durability. Some devices will have to remain outside, because cars and trucks can also be tagged. Find one that can withstand being outside.

Time flies. Human kind must fly with it. The future and the technology therein are inevitable.




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