Wednesday, June 6, 2018

RFID And Bringing The World Into The Future

By Ruth Fisher


The beautiful thing about humanity is the unyielding march to progress. It is often said that time flies, but the last century has really shown how fast that can happen in terms of technological innovation. Radio was the great innovation of the twentieth century and the foundation for much of the progress that came after. Many of the devices that have been developed since then, like the CSL RFID reader, came as a direct result of what was done in the past.

Radio frequency identification, or RFID as it is more commonly known, is a system for the wireless reading of information. This is done via the use of tags which store information which an RFID reader then identifies. A passive tag will have no power source of its own and will instead rely on taking energy from radio waves emitted by a reader. An active tag will have more range and will have a power source such as a battery.

UHF stands for ultra high frequency. It is the frequency at which many systems essential to the modern world operate. The systems include mobile phone coverage, global positioning systems or GPS, and perhaps most importantly, Wi-Fi systems.

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.

RFID tags can also be used to track animals. Many pet owners will tag their fur babies, so that if they get lose, finding them becomes easier. Zoos will also tag their animals to make sure that they remain where they are supposed to be.

Like a lot of technology, the speculations regarding the future are endless. It is hypothesized that using an RFID reader and a tag can make shopping much easier. It works by having readers at the door. Each item in the store is tagged. When a person exits with their items, the reader then takes note of all the tags as well the credit card and then the credit card is automatically charged for the cost of all the items, eliminating the need for checkout lines and cashiers. A lower scale version of this is already present in some countries, with people using their phones to pay for items instead of cards of cash. There are also some medical application, as it is speculated that the chips can be turned into dust and then injected into the human bloodstream in order to monitor the health of a person. Then there are those who fear that the same technology used to keep track of animals can 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.

Like anything else, price should be considered. RFID readers can cost hundreds of dollars for even the cheapest variant. The investment is good, but it is still a considerable one. Some RFID readers will have to stay outdoors. As such finding a durable one is key. A weak one will break easily and necessitate another purchase.

Technology is great. Humans are great for advancing it so much. As tech advances, human society will change and advance with it.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment