Friday, May 25, 2018

RFID And Pulling 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.

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.

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.

Picking an RFID reader is as easy as simply going out and buying one. Like any other piece of tech, the market is flooded with all kinds. A customer is practically spoiled for choice.

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 has changed the world, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But, mostly for the better. There are those whose lives will be negatively impacted as technology continues to progress, but there are many more who will benefit greatly.




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