The hottest RFID is ready for development

RFID (radio frequency identification) has become a hot topic in the scientific and technological community in the past two years. Especially after Wal Mart, a retail giant, announced the adoption of RFID, it has become an application hotspot that it manufacturers are competing to develop. In fact, strictly speaking, RFID is not the latest scientific and technological achievement. As early as the Second World War, the U.S. military has been using this technology for arms transportation services, but due to industrial environment and other reasons, the scope of application of RFID has been very limited since then. With the rapid development of information technology and Internet, RFID has finally come to the fore. Even in China, the topic of "plastic restriction order" on RFID standards and applications, which has been implemented since June 2008, has been frequently mentioned. Perhaps in the near future, it will bring many changes to our lives

invisible label

recently, there was an advertisement on TV: two truck drivers were driving a truck full of goods on the prairie in the western United States, but they were stopped on the way. The passer-by told them that the box on the truck sent a signal, and the crankshaft of the goods was locked as a patented technology. The driver had to check it. The dubious driver opened the door of the trunk library and was surprised that it was so. He was puzzled that the trunk could "speak". In fact, this is the role of RFID

rfid uses radio wave transmission to receive the signal sent by the supporting chip to identify people and objects. A standard RFID system consists of three parts: antenna, signal transceiver with decoder (RFID scanner) and programmable electronic carrier (RFID tag). The antenna can release radio signals to excite the RFID tag and read and write it. It acts as the "middleman" of RFID scanner and RFID tag at the same time, controlling the acquisition and communication of data. Usually, the antenna will be integrated with RFID scanner, which is called reader writer, and made into handheld devices and large fixed devices. The receiving and transmitting distance of the reader writer can be long or short, ranging from a few centimeters to tens of meters according to its own output power and use frequency

the non-contact two-way communication between the RF tag and the RF reader/writer uses induction, radio wave or microwave energy to realize data exchange, so as to achieve the purpose of identification. Among them, RF tag is the core of RFID system. Generally speaking, RF tags contain special tag chips, which are equivalent to a system on chip. The reader is designed for the reading and writing of specific RF tags

there are many kinds of RF tags and various product forms. In practical application, it is usually classified according to its working frequency, which is divided into high-frequency, intermediate frequency and low-frequency systems. Low frequency systems are mostly used in short-distance and low-cost applications, such as animal supervision and cargo tracking; If systems are mostly used for access control and applications that need to convey a large amount of data; High frequency system is mainly used in occasions that require long reading and writing distance and high-speed reading and writing, such as train monitoring, highway toll collection system, etc. After using RFID tags, people can easily monitor objects remotely, and the rich information contained in the tags can make the specific situation of each cargo clear at a glance. For example, for each apple with RFID tags, its growth environment, maturity date, picking time, etc. will be fully recorded

in 1988, Massachusetts Institute of technology proposed the concept of product electronic code (EPC). EPC Network Based on RFID technology has been supported by many large international companies. Once RF technology is combined with other high and new technologies, its system function will become more powerful. For example, if combined with GPS, it can be used for global object identification and tracking; Combine with biometric technology to form a reliable access control security system, etc. Under the tide of combining the application of computer technology, network technology and communication technology, RFID has entered a comprehensive network system across industries and departments, and its efficiency has been vigorously developed

broad application prospects

Deloitte, a famous consulting company, said in its 2005 Telecom Industry Outlook report: "RFID will eventually go out of the laboratory and enter the commercial field in 2005. By the end of this year, more than 10billion RFID tags will be sold and put into use." According to the latest research published by another research company, RFID will become the most popular wireless technology since its emergence. By 2009, the sales revenue of ring and rectangular block made of nickel molybdenum steel will increase from US $300million in 2004 to US $2.8 billion

at present, China has announced a number of national development plans based on RFID technology. For example, Chinese citizens will use RFID ID cards in the future, which means that more than 1 billion RFID enabled cards are needed. Coupled with other application opportunities, China seems to have become a huge consumer of RFID. Many IT giants, including IBM and HP, have begun to vigorously promote the application of RFID in China. At present, the main possible applications of RFID include: etc (Electronic Toll Collection), railway rolling stock identification and tracking, container identification, identification, certification and tracking of valuables, target management of commercial retail, medical care, logistics services, access control management, animal identification and tracking, and automatic vehicle locking (anti-theft), etc

in fact, RFID is very similar to barcode. It is also a technology that can be used to classify items, but it is more "proactive". Because RFID technology can embed microchips into products, microchips actively or passively send product related information to scanners, without the need for manual scanning like bar codes. So people think it will be the replacement of bar code technology. Now, when you shop in the supermarket, you often have to wait in line for payment. In the RFID era, even if consumers buy a large number of goods, when a whole vehicle of goods passes through an electronic device that can read the price data, you can immediately know how much you need to pay, and there is no need for the cashier to count it like that. In addition, when encountering snow, fog, ice and other harsh environments, other optical identification technologies will fail, and RFID can still work normally. RFID has greater advantages in remote data automatic collection and identification procedures

now, the U.S. Department of defense has asked suppliers to label their military products with RFID technology. However, in the retail field, the current RFID technology can not meet the identification requirements. A whole vehicle of goods needs to reach a reading rate of more than 99.9% through the reader before it can be widely used in retail stores. However, the current technology can only reach a reading rate of about 70%. Insiders say that it will take three to five years for it to reach a level of more than 99.9%. Well known consulting companies in the industry predict that the market with the most applications of RFID tags in the next few years will be the packaging and supply chain market. From 2005 to 2009, this market will account for most of the applications of RFID tags. At present, some countries in Japan and Europe have also noticed the development of RFID technology and are studying the introduction of relevant technologies into clothing, retail and other industries. At present, the application of RFID in China is generally based on low-frequency applications, including vehicle management, ticket management, access control management, etc. However, the large-scale application of RFID in commercial logistics is based on ultra-high spectrum, so China's RFID industry needs to continue to develop

although the current cost factors still limit the application of RFID, if the RFID gold mine heats up, the beneficiaries will include countless manufacturers, among which the hardware manufacturers will benefit the most, but software and consulting companies, including HP, Microsoft, IBM, sun and sap, will also compete for a share

information source: digital business era (Beijing)