j'c'westlakestaffs'ac'uk

1
RFID Introduction

• What is RFID - history?
• Market evolution
• Implementation issues
• Future

2
RFID History - brief

• Established 1999 at MIT by UCC- EAN, P G and
  Gillette
• gt100 corporate sponsors
• Worlds largest retailers, consumer products
  companies
• US Postal Service, US Dept of Defense, UPS parcel
  firm
• Aim to develop electronic successor to bar code
• Result Electronic Product Code (EPC)
• Numbering system and supporting RFID technologies
• EPCglobal established to manage numbering system,
• define and enforce compliance specifications

3
A talking label

• Wireless, electronic - Carries barcode, serial ,
  other data
• Communicates via Radio Frequency (RF)
• Uses RF antennas rather than lasers/ optics
• RFID systems work on several different
  frequencies, depending on the range that is
  needed for successful "reading" of tags.
• Four parts needed
• A transponder Reader
• Tag
• Antenna The antenna sends the transponder signal
  "out" which is picked up by the tag, which in
  turn "replies" to the original signal by passing
  data back to the transponder via the antenna
• Host Computer which does something with the data

4
RFID Tag construction

• "active" tag has its own battery or power source,
  and actively transmits a strong response signal
  when it receives an interrogation from a
  transponder.
• "Passive" tags rely on the energy of the incoming
  signal to power their responses, and therefore
  the distances they can be read at are much
  shorter because the energy used is much less.

5
Market position 2004/2005

• In use now for
• Access control, mass transit, personal ID
• Libraries
• Reusable containers/ carriers (pallets, totes,
  kegs, etc.)
• Soon (lt 5 years)
• Pallets/ cartons of retail goods
• Pharmaceuticals
• Branded apparel and footwear
• Military applications
• Aircraft parts
• Automotive safety systems
• Medical/ legal files, documents
• Later All kinds of products, parts, documents,
  mail

6
Implementers (see news cuttings)

• Wal- Mart leads, seeking supply chain benefits
• Lower handling cost/ faster material moves
• Fewer out- of- stocks increased sales
• Will label all pallets, cartons with RFID
• Tesco

7
Suggested Benefits include

• Automated object identification and tracking
• Do not need line- of- sight from reader to tag
• Can operate under extreme conditions
• Fast moving objects
• Many objects to read at once
• Dirty environments
• Can carry lots information for full traceability
• Information can be updated (or locked)
• Hard to copy, duplicates easily detected
• Read distance up to several meters

8
Issues

• Business case attractiveness varies
• Industry capacity vs. demand
• Availability of low- cost infrastructure
• Technology standards/ changing specs
• Industry, users working issues under
• EPCglobal see week 2 tutorial sheet
• User product needs remain to be clarified

9
Issues

• Installations require new hardware, software, and
  (maybe) networking
• Real implementation experience, expertise not
  widely available
• RF isnt foolproof
• Signals can be blocked, absorbed
• Hostile users can prevent reads
• Systems/ processes must be set up thoughtfully
• Tag designs still developing match to specific
• products/ processes not always good

10
Issues

• Conventional tags can be detuned by carton
  contents and perform poorly on some products
• Orientation Sensitivity
• Metals and liquids can significantly reduce tag
  performance

11
Future

• Probably inevitable but issues at present
• Driven manufacturers, distributors
• Motivation? security of supply chain
• Business case very different from general retail,
  where benefits to manufacturers are elusive
• Primary uses/ benefits
• Inventory tracking/ management
• Product traceability, easier/ better
  recordkeeping
• Reduced handling, better customer service