https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Tracking, Monitoring & Control


Article

RFID’s surprising evolution

RFID’s surprising evolution

RFID started as a tool for retailers to track their inventories, but now the technology is being used for a whole lot more.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st August 2012

For years, RFID (radio frequency identification) systems have been synonymous with retail asset tracking. While that remains true today, RFID tags are being used in a broad range of applications — and not just in retail.

Walmart is probably the best known user of RFID technology for marking assets. In 2003, the mega-retailer ordered its top suppliers to mark their pallets and products with passive RFID tags, to help Walmart better manage its inventory. (Lacking power supplies of their own, passive RFID tags only respond when stimulated with radio waves. Active RFID tags have their own batteries, and can thus broadcast their identities unaided.)

Walmart’s decision was expected to make RFID tagging a central retail application. But although some retailers followed Walmart’s lead, the trend never really caught on.

“The problem was the price,” said Justin Patton, director of the University of Arkansas’ RFID Research Center, which has a 20,000-square-foot facility in Fayetteville, Ark., that includes labs configured as offices, department stores, factories and homes.

“With a typical passive RFID tag costing anywhere from 7 to 12 cents, it doesn’t always make economic sense for manufacturers and wholesalers across the board to use them–even under pressure from Walmart,” Patton added.

Despite this, RFID technology has found a place in retail operations that support the economics of the technology. For instance, RFID tags can help store managers track how many items are on the shelves, how many are in the stock room, and when some need to be moved from the latter to the former.

But that is only the beginning, as RFID also is being leveraged outside of the retail arena.

The fundamental concept of RFID tagging — that specific items can be given unique identities and then the remote-sensing technology will track their physical location as they move from place to place — is at the heart of myriad applications being used today in non-retail sectors.

In London, double-decker buses operated by Stagecoach London are being equipped with RFID-enabled tire-pressure sensors. Specifically, the X InCity tires made by Michelin have EPC Gen 2 passive UHF RFID tags embedded into their sidewalls. Each tag relays data from the tire’s embedded wireless pressure sensor. Every time the tire is queried for its air-pressure reading, the data is transmitted by the RFID tag, complete with a unique identifier for every tire checked.

Meanwhile, the new Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine facility in Baltimore, uses RFID tags to track the real-time location of hundreds of nurses and 400 unmanned food carts that are moved using a mechanical towline system, as well as big-ticket items such as pumps and wheelchairs. The RFID system makes it easier for managers to deploy staff, deliver food in a timely manner and reduce theft.

In addition, about 50 gas stations in Italy store fuel in RFID-equipped storage tanks. Made by Wolftank, the tanks are equipped with sensors that detect leaks, and the RFID tags are used to transmit news of the leak to gas-station staff.

RFID even has applications in the sanitation sector, Patton said.

“Over 50 cities and municipalities in the U.S. use RFID tags in residential recycling and trash containers, and reader systems on the trucks that pick them up,” he said. “They use this to track participation in trash and recycling programs, and–in some instances–actually issue coupons and credits back to homeowners who recycle, to encourage them to continue to do so in the future.”

Clearly, RFID has moved beyond its logistics roots. But the technology is gaining ground in this arena, as well, said Chad Collins, chief marketing officer with Accellos, a maker of supply-chain-execution solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.

“Five years ago, you saw RFID tags on shipping containers,” Collins said. “Today, these tags are more likely to be used on the trucks themselves, to help their owners/operators track their locations in real time.”

RFID tags also have found their way into public safety. For instance, Falken Secure Networks developed RFID tags to be worn by first responders at incident scenes.

“This technology helps commanders keep an eye on their people at all times,” said Jack Falkner, president and CEO of Falken Secure Networks. “And the signals get out. We have done field trials inside the subways and high-rise buildings of Toronto with the [city’s] fire service, and the RFID tags work.”

These examples use one-way RFID tags, but there also are two-way tags that use near-field communication (NFC) to exchange data back and forth.

The best known NFC apps are the key fobs used by motorists to pay for gas. They just tap their personal NFC-enabled fob on a reader, and the cost of the gas is charged to their credit account.

But such tags offer many more possibilities.

“It’s not just payment–NFC RFIDs can be used to convey all kinds of information between people and vendors,” Patton said. “Put it this way: Every time you see one of those square QR (quick-response) codes that have to be read using a smartphone camera? If this code was based on an NFC-enabled RFID, you would just tap your smartphone on it and get the info sent to you instantly.”

Clearly, RFID tags are coming into their own, as more industries see the advantages of one-way tracking and two-way information exchange. But there are still some limits to the technology that are affecting its evolution.

As Patton noted earlier, the first limit is price. For RFID tagging to be applied, it has to make economic sense. This is why tagging chocolate bars with RFID tags won’t happen; at least not at the current price point. The money saved through theft reduction and loss won’t be offset by the cost of buying, applying and monitoring the RFID tags.

The second limit is environmental.

“RF waves don’t like metal, and they don’t like water,” Patton said.

As a result, items handled within such RF-suppressive situations are generally not worth fitting with RFID tags, even if their value otherwise would make it worthwhile.

The third constraint affecting RFID tags is scale. For this reason, even if it were economically practical to tag every chocolate bar with an RFID tag, the sheer volume of bars would overwhelm most RFID systems. However, it does make economic sense to tag a truck full of candy with an RFID tag, or even each pallet of chocolate bars.

As the person in charge of the University of Arkansas RFID Research Center, Patton understands the full potential of RFID tagging technology. But even he doesn’t prescribe it as a panacea. Instead, Patton sees the value of mixing RFID tags with bar and QR codes, optical scanners, near-field communication and any other technology that can help in tracking assets.

“The goal is not to find a ‘one size fits all’ solution,” Patton said. “The goal is to use the right technologies in each circumstance, at the right price, to achieve the right goals.”

But there is no doubt that RFID tagging has come into its own during the past few years — even if it has moved beyond its original retail store roots, Patton said.

“And don’t think RFID isn’t succeeding in retail, because it is,” he said. “We know for a fact that Macy’s and other similarly large retailers are making big investments in RFID, just as Walmart did almost 10 years ago.”

Tags: Near-Field Communication RFID Tracking, Monitoring & Control Article

Most Recent


  • RFID’s surprising evolution
    Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny Blinken postpones trip to Beijing after Chinese spy balloon spotted over U.S., officials say To protect satellites, secure your networks, chief of space ops says Ransomware offlines Arizona’s largest school district Mending the fabric: FCC says to file broadband-location challenges […]
  • The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless
    Verizon had high hopes for private wireless networking. The company had predicted that by now it would be well on its way to making billions of dollars from the sale of custom 4G and 5G networks dedicated exclusively to its enterprise customers. Indeed, during 2021 Verizon execs pegged the total addressable market for private wireless at around […]
  • Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them 'verified' Cloud Partner status
    Late last year, a group of threat actors managed to obtain “verified publisher” status through the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP). This allowed them to surpass levels of brand impersonation ordinarily seen in phishing campaigns, as they distributed malicious applications bolstered by a verified blue badge only ever given to trusted vendors and service providers in […]
  • Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid
    A new shape-shifting robot can reversibly morph between liquid and solid shapes. The novel design was created by a team of engineers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Carnegie Mellon University. Inspired by sea cucumbers’ ability to go both soft or rigid depending on its environment, the miniature robot was built using magnetic […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Open-source tools for the IoT ecosystem
  • New Orleans-area 911 center inks multiyear APEX deal with Carbyne to replace call-handling system
  • RFID’s surprising evolution
    Newscan: Feds recover millions from pipeline ransom hackers, hint at U.S. Internet tactic
  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them ‘verified’ Cloud Partner status dlvr.it/Shqngn

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid dlvr.it/Shqk9K

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Automakers against stampede to BEV dominance dlvr.it/ShpX08

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn headed for third Senate hearing dlvr.it/ShpDcZ

1st February 2023
UrgentComm

Sign up to learn how to successfully manage your Motorola ASTRO® 25 System: spr.ly/60143j8fp https://t.co/XcxiUwzN27

1st February 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.