Friday, 1 June 2018

RFID And Pulling 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 stands for radio frequency identification. This is accomplished through tags. Passive tags have no internal or external power source and must use the energy given out by the radio waves being given out by a reader. An active tag is powered by a battery and often has a greater range than a passive tag.

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.

An RFID chip can also be used to track living creatures. A pet can be embedded with one, making it easier to find in case it wanders off. They have applicability to zoos, for the same reason, to keep track of animals.

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.

A reader should not cost too much, but it should not be cheap. Then again, cheap is not really an option for most tech, as even a low cost reader can cost hundreds of dollars. Remember the adage of you buy cheap, you buy twice. A reader should be durable. Especially if it is placed outside. The outside includes dangers like the weather and rowdy people.

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




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