Introduction
You may be wondering How a FastTag works. When we reach the toll gate there are readers that detect your vehicle's FastTag through electro-magnetic waves and cut the required amount from your recharged FastTag and open the gate. What technology is used there? It's RFID.
RFID Technology is also used in Animal-farm management like when the RFID reader reads a RFID tag of a cow would tell about cow's health condition, how litres of milk it etc.
What is RFID?
RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification
RFID is an automatic Identification process used for transmitting data between an RFID tag and RFID reader with the radio-frequency electro-magnetic field.
RFID automatically identifies a RFID tag, which is attached to an object, collects data from it, and enters that data directly into computer systems with little or no human intervention. It utilizes radio waves to accomplish this.
Purpose of RFID technology::
Tracking of objects:: RFID tags can be used to track the location of products, assets, or people, allowing for improved inventory management.
Identification of objects:: RFID tags can be used to identify objects, such as luggage or vehicles,
Contactless Payments:: Today we use Contactless payments through credit cards. The technology behind it is NFC (Near Field Communication). The technology behind NFC is RFID.
Toll management:: FastTags works on the technology of RFID and makes toll collection easy and automated.
Parcel delivery Tracking:: Today many logistics use RFID technology to track the parcels.
Features of RFID technology::
Contactless - RFID tags can be read by the reader through electro-magnetic waves. So it is contactless.
No line of sight - Before invention of RFID objects are identified through barcodes. Barcodes should be faced straight to the reader inorder to identify it. But, an RFID reader can identify the RFID tag even if the tag is not visible to the reader.
Durability - RFID tag can withstand harsh environments such as extreme temperature or exposure to rain.
Security - RFID tags can be programmed with encryption and authentication protocols to prevent unauthorized access.
An RFID system consists of three main components ::
RFID tags
RFID Reader
RFID Software
RFID tag ::
A RFID Tag contains a microchip and an antenna.
A microchip holds data and an identification number.
Antenna is used to transmit data to the reader.
RFID Reader::
It has an antenna that constantly transmits electro-magnetic waves. When it senses a tag, it wakes up, interrogates it and decodes the data. Then it transmits the data to the host system.
Types of RFID tags::
RFID tags can be either passive or active.
Passive Tags :: Passive tags do not have their own power source and are activated by the radio waves emitted by the RFID reader. These tags are less expensive than Active tags, but they have shorter read range.
Active tags :: Active tags have their own power source and can transmit signals over longer distances.
RFID Software::
RFID Software/Application processes the data from the tag that is transmitted by the RFID reader. It also helps to store data received from RFID tags and utilize the data according to our needs.
Working Principle of RFID Technology
RFID Application (Host) manages the reader and issues commands to the reader.
Some commands used are ::
Read - to read data from RFID tag
Write - This command is used to write data in RFID tag
Lock - This command locks the data so that unauthorized persons can't modify data in the tag.
Kill - Used to permanently disable an RFID tag
Query - used to request the tag to respond with its identification information
Reader and tag communicate via electro-magnetic field.
At first Reader continuously generates carrier signal (Carrier signal is a high frequency electromagnetic waves that operates at a frequency range of 13.56 MHz or 900 MHz )
As Carrier signal is a high frequency electro-magnetic field, it produces an alternating current in the antenna of Tag when it enters the Carrier signal field (Reader field).
The process of energy transfer from the carrier signal to RFID tag is known as RFID coupling. There are two types of RFID coupling
Inductive coupling
Backscatter coupling
The data transmission from the tag to the reader can occur in two ways:
In inductive coupling, the tag uses its own antenna to send a modulated signal back to the reader.In backscatter coupling, RFID tags reflect a portion of the incoming signal back to the reader, in order to transmit data.
The reader detects the changes in the magnetic field caused by the modulation and decodes the data transmitted by the tag.
The reader then sends this information to the application (host) for further processing.
The application can perform various operations on the data obtained from the RFID tag, such as updating a database, triggering an action, or generating a report.
Inductive coupling
Backscattering coupling
RFID Applications
Livestock monitoring:
RFID tags are attached to animals to monitor their location and movements, to track their health and to manage breeding programs.
Toll Collection:
RFID tags can be used for toll collection on highways. The tags can be attached to vehicles to automatically deduct toll charges as they pass through toll booths.
Access Control: RFID tags can be used for access control in buildings, vehicles, and other secure areas. The tags can be embedded in ID cards or in their wristbands to grant access to authorized persons.
Doubt:
Do different RFID Readers used separately for passive Tags and Active tags?
Yes. Why because passive and active tags have different power requirements and communication protocols.
Passive RFID tags rely on the energy from the RFID reader to activate and communicate. Therefore, passive RFID readers must be designed to provide enough power to activate the passive tag, and to receive the weak signal that is returned by the tag. These readers typically operate at a frequency of 125 kHz or 13.56 MHz.
Active RFID tags have their own power source and can transmit signals over longer distances. Active RFID readers must be designed to receive the stronger signals transmitted by active tags, and to operate at higher frequencies such as 433 MHz, 915 MHz, or 2.4 GHz.
0 Comments