Wednesday, May 30, 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 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.

Now, RFID tags have numerous security applications. In places where doors are automatically locked, like a hotel room, an RFID chipped card is pretty much the only way to open it. RFID tags can also be used in stores as items can be chipped to alert staff and security if someone tries to bring them out without paying for them.

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.

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.

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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