Identifying objects using radio waves of a specific frequency would not be noteworthy in large-scale logistics applications if it were not linked to efforts for global implementation. Any individual attempts to use this technology in internal applications are, of course, worth noting, as they provide a basis for its wider dissemination. Nevertheless, only when a specific unified “radio language” becomes common in the global exchange of data placed directly on products will we be able to speak of a radio identification system operating in open supply networks. A similar situation exists in the “barcode language”. Out of the hundreds of barcode symbologies that have been generated so far for various applications, only five have been reserved for global use (the EAN.UCC system).
The new identification technology, sometimes called a “radio barcode,” on one hand directs the line of reasoning toward changing the medium from a barcode to radio waves, but on the other hand, one can easily notice new, unprecedented possibilities for describing a product on a label placed directly on each package. In reality, in this new technology, it is not so much the radio that is important, but the way data is stored in the microprocessor memory, popularly called a chip. A radio wave of a specific UHF frequency excites the chip antenna, which implies radio transmission of data from the chip’s memory to the reader and further to the computer. Thus, the term RFID is slightly misleading, as it is not the radio wave that is the information medium – the radio wave is only its carrier, and the information medium is the non-volatile memory placed in a chip that is small not so much in terms of size as in information capacity. For example, a chip with a capacity of 0.5 kB provides 512 bits for any use. And here we touch the essence of the matter. Any use of bit potential does not mean much if it is not covered by certain standards. The new identification technology, sometimes called a “radio barcode,” on one hand directs the line of reasoning toward changing the medium from a barcode to radio waves, but on the other hand, one can easily notice new, unprecedented possibilities.
The article comes from the magazine “e-Fakty” 3/2005.