RFID Technology Going Beyond the Barcode Friedrichsen Frierson Gragg Abstract Radio Frequency Identification RFID is a technology that involves incredibly small durable and mobile integrated circuits that communicate information through wireless transmissions This technology despite being fifty years old is only now tapping into its vast potential Indeed RFID is already being used in supply chain management access security anti counterfeiting anti theft and medical applications with many other potential uses in its foreseeable future However RFID technology also poses some important privacy and ethical concerns that must be addressed for it to realize its full potential Regardless RFID is a rapidly emerging technology that will surely have a dramatic global impact on how goods are exchanged and how authenticity and security are provided so much to the point that the technology will become integrated into peoples daily lives and help drive business for the next few decades 1 RFID Technology Going Beyond the Barcode Friedrichsen Frierson Gragg Introduction Technology allows for amazing things to occur all throughout the world Through employing science and engineering new devices and objects have been developed that have greatly affected the way the global community operates The utilization of electricity over the course of the last 250 years the emergence of the automobile and airplane over the last century as well as the modern computer over the last thirty years all represent excellent examples of the extent to which technological innovations can drastically impact the entire world Currently another such technology potent enough to drastically affect the entire planet and how it operates in a multitude of ways is being developed and implemented This technology is known as RFID and it is being implemented in everything from money to clothes to food packaging and in doing so raises important privacy and security concerns Although RFID is a promising and already rapidly emerging technology in our current society its use raises many societal concerns and questions as well as a number of technical issues that must be solved before it can succeed in becoming a truly pervasive and ubiquitous technology History of RFIDs RFIDs short for Radio Frequency Identification is not actually a new technology but rather has been refined over the years as it has been to suit various different purposes From simply looking at the types of applications that RFIDs were initially used for we can see how adaptable and versatile this technology truly can be Initial Development The roots of RFID technology can be traced back to the IFF Identify Friend or Foe technology used by the British Royal Air Force during World War II Proc Essentially this technology was implemented in the British radar systems and their aircraft so they would have a method to easily identify as the name states whether an aircraft was friendly or an enemy it was needed due to Britain s proximity to German occupied France IFF worked via a transponder in 2 RFID Technology Going Beyond the Barcode Friedrichsen Frierson Gragg the aircraft that picked up the radar signals hitting the aircraft and responded by sending its own signal back While technically this is not the precise way that RFID functions the IFF technology is responsible for the basic idea and fundamental design that lead to modern RFID technologies Initial Implementation Some of the first and still current uses of the RFID technology were the tagging of livestock and some of the United States nuclear assets In addition RFIDs have been and are now used to track the whereabouts of shipping containers such as during transport on trains Nuclear Assets In the 1970 s the Department of Energy asked LANL Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a system for tracking nuclear materials Similar to the systems we see in stores today there would be readers setup at the gates and tags in the trucks and cargo of the trucks In this system the tags sent back an ID as well as other information such as the ID of the truck driver Tracking Livestock The Energy Department was not the only ones who asked LANL to develop RFID technology for them the Agricultural Department also request that LANL research a system for tracking livestock One of the main problems they were having was keeping track of whether or not a cow had been given medicine or hormones Thus LANL came up with a 125 kHz passive RFID system in which a glass encapsulated RFID could be implanted under the cow s skin Developed Implementation As technological advancements always progress RFID technology capabilities increase while also becoming cheaper Because of this companies are able to implement this technology in new ways and on larger scales including tasks such as container tracking cashless tollbooth collection or more currently supply chain management Container Tracking 3 RFID Technology Going Beyond the Barcode Friedrichsen Frierson Gragg Companies in Europe first began using RFIDs to track shipping containers but US companies were not far behind In fact in 1991 the Association of American Railways set a standard for RFID container tagging Some of these rail systems have developed into RFID reader stations including digital imaging that can confirm a train s cargo as it passes by Figure 1 RFID Tags in Shipping Applications Google RFID Cashless Tollbooths Cashless Tollbooths were employed in Norway as early as 1987 Bonsor However one of the most effective collection systems is located in England The Tyne Tunnel was a heavily trafficked area which experienced heavy delays because of the toll collection needed Needless to say with an RFID system where cars do not even have to stop delays have been immensely reduced Essentially the Figure 2 How RFID Toll Booths Work Bonsor RFID tag in the car is linked to a credit card and charges go on a monthly statement instead of paying for them each time the car passes the toll station Cars can travel up to 35 miles per hour and still have their tag read drastically reducing congestion on busy toll roads and bridges How RFID Works RFID Tags There are 3 basic components that make RFIDs work in most environments Wikipedia The first is an RFID tag The tag is where the serial number of the item is held in one of several ways depending on the type of RFID passive or active Each tag broadcasts a unique identification number that can be identified by a receiver Tags are small and can be placed