Concept in Definition ABC

Have you ever wondered how the huge logistics warehouses that exist today can be managed to function? It is obvious that by means of labels with the printed data to be read, or with bar codes to be scanned one by one, things are complicated for large quantities of articles. That is why RFID was invented, which allows you to read data wirelessly to distance.

The acronym RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification, and they call a wireless communication system with a passive actor (the one who offers the information) and an active one (the one who goes to look for it and reads it). The information transferred corresponds to object identification data.

In the passive part, that of the object that transmits the information, we find a tag or label, which is the one that physically contains the information to be read. These elements do not broadcast actively, but are limited to responding to requests from RFID readers, although they do have small antennas to respond to requests.

Over the use of barcodes, RFID provides some advantages:

• You don't need a interaction direct vision physics. While the reading barcode requires the reader to face the code, "see" it, RFID allows reading at a certain distance, regardless of viewing angles.


• As a consequence of the above, we can place the RFID tag anywhere, even inside the product, since direct manipulation of the label is not necessary to read it, which is carried out at distance.


• The amount of data to to stock and being able to transmit is superior, as these are stored in a small microchip that we find in the RFID tag inserted in the object.


• The data on the label is upgradeable, by reprogramming the chip. In the case of wanting to do it by means of bar codes, a totally new code needs to be reprinted.

Historically, the direct precedent for RFID technology is passive listening microphones used in espionage tasks during the Cold War.

From here, the technology would have evolved; Today, what is used is an electromagnetic field generated by the reader, to which another field generated by the tag responds, which contains the required information.

The possibilities of RFID technology go far beyond logistics; thanks to a tag RFID can be implanted in objects of all kinds, clothing, and even under the skin of an animal or a person, we can add easily readable information to all these objects.

An example that occurs to me is to insert all the medical information regarding allergies, medication contraindications, treatments that are currently being followed, medical history doctor, on a label under the skin, so that if an attack of some kind is suffered in a place other than our city or our country, doctors know what to expect just by reading the this tag.

Naturally, this and other possibilities are welcomed by one part of society, which sees them as progress, while another sees them as progress. danger by being able to allow the theft of very personal information in an easy way (just passing an RFID reader).

It should be said, however, that measures to protect this information can be adopted although, like any other measure of safety, it is possible to violate them.

RFID can also be used in applications that trigger an "event" on the reader device.

An example of this case would be that of a app tourist who read the tags disaggregated in various parts of a city, so that when you "find" one, the corresponding explanation will be triggered on the screen of the reader.

Installing the labels on the monuments of the city, with a code each, and said code linked to a multimedia explanation, we can have a complete interactive guide of the city to be used by them tourists.

Photos: Fotolia - Benjamin Haas - Weerapat1003