Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that utilizes electromagnetic fields to automatically identify objects and collect data. Today, RFID technology is being widely used in a broad range of industries and in numerous applications.

The most common approach is to store identification data, such as an material ID, along with other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the information to an RFID reader, and the reader then converts the signal into digital information which can be further processed and analyzed by computer systems.

A typical RFID system consists of three key elements, RFID tags, RFID readers, and a System for data processing. RFID tags are placed on the objects which requires identification or processing, while RFID readers are the bridges between the digital and the physical world by transferring tag data to the intended system.

There are several ways of categorizing the tags. If by radio frequencies, tags can be commonly classified as LF tag, HF tag, and UHF tag. If by power source, tags can be classified as active tag, passive tag, and hybrid tag. And lastly, tags can also be classified by their intended application, such as laundry tag, metal tag, railway tag, etc.

Similar to the tags, if the readers are classified by the radio frequencies, they can be identified as LF reader, HF reader, and UHF reader. But most commonly, readers are categorized as fixed readers and mobile readers.

The EPC, or Electronic Product Code, is the next generation of automatic product identification. EPC Global, an organization leading the development of industry standards for EPC, refers to the EPC as a “simple, compact ‘license plate’ that uniquely identifies objects (items, cases, pallets, locations and so on) in the supply chain.”

Comparing to the traditional barcode system, RFID has the following advantages. A. RFID does not require line of sight during data acquisition. B. RFID allows much greater data storage capacity. C. RFID has read/write capabilities. D. RFID provides higher data security. D. RFID identifies each item with an unique identification code.

RFID can be used for anything from tracking assets, monitoring logistics, organizing productions, to providing customer insights. With the emerging technology such as environment sensing, peripheral device connectivity, as well as combination of different machine identification technologies, the applications for RFID technology are constantly growing, and limited only by your imagination.

Contrast to common hypes about reading rang and speed, the biggest challenge that customers encounter is often times the problem of getting stray reads, in which cases, the reader is picking up tag signals from around even back of the device. ATID’s products provides capabilities of power gain adjustment, which will effectively prevent stray readings.

In short, it depends. The physics of radio frequency simply can’t be changes, and many factors must be taken into account to estimate the maximum reading range. First of all, there is a simple linear correlation between the size and range, the bigger the size of the tag and antenna, the further the reading range. Then the external interferences must be considered. Is there a lot of metal? Are the materials absorptive of radio waves? Is there any other radio transmitters operating at close proximity? The stronger the interference is, the shorter the reading range becomes. ATID’s readers have been finetuned to achieve the best reading distance in the simulated working environment.

Yes, it is possible to apply the data structure other than that defined by EPC Global. It will make cross-reading impossible, however, for certain industries, such as airline industry, special data structure standard has been applied. ATID provides customization support for our customers, and modifies our system firmware or applications to achieve compatibility with different data structures.

ATID’s primary customers are system integrators, who designs and implements turn-key solutions for the end customers. In order to support the development efforts, ATID provides the complete suite of SDK, API, and Demo application along with source code. Upon request, ATID’s engineering team is also able to provide additional application development services if it is required by our customers.