Report on Radio Frequency Identification

Questions: Evaluate the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.Your evaluative report should include the following: a) Briefly explain how the technology works. b) Explain the business or technical problem the technology is designed to solve. c) Identify the technologys limitations. Does it create any new problems? d) Evaluate at least one organizations implementation of the technology. e) Assessment of the technologys prospects for success in the marketplace. Answers: 1. Introduction As opined by Geng et al (2014) the radio frequency identification technology is a technology that is growing promptly in the field of identification and tracking of objects or a person due to its lesser cost and the reliability than the other technologies. This technology uses the electromagnetic field to transfer the data from tag that is attached with an object with the target of identifying and tracking the object. The reader system does not require a line of sight to read a tag or its information. This report describes how this technology works, the problems that are solved using this technology, its limitations and the chances to be successful in the marketplace. As stated by Coisel Martin (2013) the use of the RFID technology has increased but still it have to address the privacy concerns for an individual. The RFID tags can help in providing a larger set of unique IDs that the traditional methods so that more number of objects or individuals can be tracked at a lesser cost. 2. The working principle of RFID There are different types of RFID are in existence, but generally the RFID devices are categorized into two categories, i) Active and ii) passive devices. The active RFID tags are those, which need some continuous power source to operate. On the other hand the passive RIFD tags are built with an inbuilt power source (Zhu et al., 2014). These types of tags have a limited lifetime and provide a limited number of read operations. An example of the passive RIFD tags is the transponders that are attached with the aircrafts to determine the national origin of it (Howell et al., 2014). 2.1 Passive tags: The passive tags are integrated with inbuilt power source or batteries and have an indefinite operational lifetime. The tag contains three components that are a semi-conductor chip, an antenna, and some kind of encapsulation. A RFID tag is a combination of a transponder and an antenna and the receiver part consist of a transceiver and an antenna (Bekkali et al., 2015). The transceiver produces a feeble radio signal that may be at a distant of two feet or a couple of yards. This signal is important to activate the tag and this signal is transmitted using the antenna. The signal from the reader works as a source of energy that is used by the tag. The transponder is the part of the RFID tag that changes the radio frequency or signal into energy, additionally it sends and gets messages from the tag. When the transponder is hit by the radio waves, the waves oscillate along the length of the wave. When RFID tag have some energy and is activated then the transponder is also awakened (Landt Melville, 2013). Then the transponder instantly spread out all the data it has on it. This entire procedure can be completed in a couple of milliseconds. Therefore it can be stated that the RFID technology works in the following steps, i) The reader sends signal to the tag and awakens the transponder ii) The transponder and the transceiver use the properties of the electromagnetic fields and waves using the radio frequency antenna. Fig: Working procedure of RFID (Source: Michael Michael , 2013,pp-80) 2. Use of RFID in solving different business and technology problems The RFID tags are used in the various fields of various industries for tracking, sending and receiving data and also protecting the personal organizational assets. Other uses of the RFID tags are discussed below. 2.1 Identifying the location of an object or person: If a tag is assigned in a known area then it can be possible to identify the current position of the item. Different postal services and logistic companies like Finland post, FedEx, implemented this RFID based tagging and locating system of their packages ( Michaelides Forster, 2013). This technique is used to determine the handling and the destination of a particular package. 2.2 Tracking the organizational asset: The RFID techniques are also used in the tracking the assets of any organization. This technique are used in the system to locate the assets or equipments that are often stolen (Lu et al, 2013), less utilized or are not found at the time when they are needed. 2.3 In retailing and supply chain management: The RFID technique is also used in the retail business and in the supply chain management. For the retail business, the retailers are right now concentrating on improving the network proficiency and ensuring item is on the shelf of the shop, when consumer need to purchase it. Also the companies are using the RFID tags to track their shipments from the source to destination until it arrives ( Zhang, Dong Hu ,2012). 2.4 In security and access control: At any jobsite, workplace or at home the RFID tags are used as a method of security and controlling the access. At the jobsite it is done to restrict the persons or the vehicles from entering into the restricted area. Also at any workplace the use of the RFID tags makes it easier to control the access. Since the employees can hold up a card attached with a RFID tag and unlock the door rather than using the traditional key and lock process (Kumar Rahman , 2014). Since this process consists of lesser wear and tear then the maintenance is also less. All this helps in decreasing the total implementation cost and affordable to the companies providing a higher level of security. 3. Limitations of RFID technology Although the RFID technology adoption rate is increasing day by day by but there are some issues are also emerging related to this technique. Like, 3.1 Interference of other wireless devices: The tag and the reader often face problems in transmitting the frequency waves if any other wireless devices is working within the range. Also trying to read the signals from several tags ends up with collisions of the signals (Ajaegbu et al., 2014). This kind of can be solved by using the trial and error method in practical situations. Like the repositioning of the devices may solve the issue. 3.2 Economic and manufacturing issues: The cost of the RFID tags depends on their types. It can cost from minimum 25 cents to $1 depending on their quality (Mayordomo et al., 2014). This forces the application of the tags only in the costly goods or items over the long range. Again the production of the tags is also not flawless. 25-30% of the tags used in the pilot projects marked as defective in real scenarios. 3.3 Privacy and security issues: The issue of privacy and the security is most important point of concern. For the tag and the readers its important to ensure that the data transmitted by the tags cant be seen or read by the unauthorized person. To do this the company can force a encryption technique over the transmitted data. 4. Implementation of the RFID technology in the Pilkington Library: The Pilkington university is situated ThePilkington Libraryis an academic library atLoughborough University, situated inLeicestershire. This library previously used the technology of Barcodes to issue the books to the readers by self service method, but in the year 2008 the administrators decided to change the technology with the RFID. The university purchased the five smartServe units (Mahajan Singh, 2014). These units are able to issue, return and renew books, permit the readers to access to their records. So that they can see their status of holds, fines, outstanding amounts etc. The users can pay fines utilizing coins through the units. In the new system the users dont have to put the books in a certain way for the issuance of the books. The units also have the swipe mechanism instead of the slot mechanism that were used for the barcodes. 5. Future prospect of the RFID technology Advancements in RFID innovation helps in, In expanding the memory limits, Extended range of connectivity and quicker handling of the tags and the readers. The better designing of the antennas that are required for the better performance of the tags then so improved antennas are also going to improve the quality of services by this technology. The RFID would not be be able eventually replace the barcode mechanism. The reason behind this is the incorporated circuit in a RF tag will never be as practical as a standardized tag mark (Liao et al., 2013). In any case, RFID will keep on growing in its set up specialties and the standardized tags will be alternately used in the industry simultaneously. 6. Conclusion The RFID technology is able to provide large number of benefits. With the advancements in the technology its possible to have its applications in the areas in which no one has imagined to do (Hkli et al. 2013). 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