Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
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RADAR Evolution of Earth Observation
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) M ICHAEL G OSHEY Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA Synonyms RFID; RF identification; Electronic identification; Radio tagging; Electromagnetic tagging Definition Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) exists as a distinct subset of the larger family of automated identification technologies that includes things like bar codes, visual scanning devices and biometric readers. RFID is a means of automated identification that features electronic tags used both to store data and to act as transponders for sending the stored data as the payload in electromagnetic waves (radio waves) sent to detached listening devices (RFID readers) [1,2]. The tags can be affixed to animate or inanimate objects by a variety of methods and the readers that receive emissions from the tags translate the wave-embedded data into meaningful information (Fig. 1). They are a significant improvement over bar codes, for example, in that they do not require any human intervention. Currently deployed RFID systems provide real-time identity tracking and monitoring and make possible a wide variety of access control and inventory management solutions [3,4,5]. Beyond this primary value of real-time identification monitoring, the back-end of a typical RFID solution offers a distinct secondary value through storing the rich set of identity data captured by the system, enabling sophisticated data mining techniques to be applied to a number of interesting scenarios [6]. Additionally, while RFID systems primarily deal with automating
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Figure 1 gram of grocery store point of sale RFID
Simple system dia-
identity management, they are frequently deployed in combination with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to yield even more powerful solutions that track both identity and spatial location [7,8]. Historical Background While the practical application of Radio Frequency Identification has grown tremendously in recent years, the technology has a long and interesting history. 1920’s–1940’s The seminal paper in the field is considered by many to be Communication by Means of Reflected Power by Harry Stockman in 1948 [9]. This paper proposed the key RFID notion: that power generated at the base (often fixed) end of a point-to-point electronic communication pair is reflected and reused in order to power the return transmission from the remote (often mobile) end of that pair. Stockman’s paper echoed work that was already being done in radar to track the location of an object through the use of reflected radio waves which began in the early 1920’s [1]. The 1930’s and 1940’s saw steady development in both the radio and radar fields, paving the way for Stockman’s work, which was also reflected in the progress of another
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
prominent technology of the era- Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems [10]. IFF systems employed transponders in attempts to avoi
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