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BASIC IDEA:
RFID (radiofrequency identification) technology offers the ability to provide many new services and conveniences in the retail environment. Shoppers can be guided electronically to find desired products that are tagged with RFID chips and whose locations are tracked by RFID readers in the store (e.g., smart shelves or other reader systems). Smart shopping carts with electronic displays, in communication with a retail computer system, can display a map associated with a shopping list downloaded by a shopper to identify a route to obtain the desired items. The smart cart, also equipped with RFID tags, can also verify the purchase of the items as they are placed in the cart and, if desired, communicate with a billing system to automatically bill the shopper for the purchases.
INTRODUCTION TO RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. The technology requires some extent of cooperation of an RFID reader and an RFID tag.
An RFID tag is an object that can be applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.
An RFID tag is an object that can be applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.
What is RFID?
A basic RFID system consists of three components:
a) An antenna or coil
b) A transceiver (with decoder)
c) A transponder (RF tag)
Electronically programmed with unique information. There are many different types of RFID systems out in the market. They are categorized according to there frequency ranges. Some of the most commonly used RFID kits are as follows:
1) Low-frequency (30 KHz to 500 KHz)
2) Mid-Frequency (900KHz to 1500MHz)
3) High Frequency (2.4GHz to 2.5GHz)
These frequency ranges mostly tell the RF ranges of the tags from low frequency tag ranging from 3m to 5m, mid-frequency ranging from 5m to 17m and high frequency ranging from 5ft to 90ft. The cost of the system is based according to there ranges with low-frequency system ranging from a few hundred dollars to a high-frequency system ranging somewhere near 5000 dollars.
How RFID Is Changing the Business Environment today
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been in use for several decades to track and identify goods, assets and even living things. Recently, however, RFID has generated widespread corporate interest as a means to improve supply chain performance. Market activity has been exploding since Wal-Mart's June 2003 announcement that its top 100 suppliers must be RFID-compliant by January 2005. Mandates from Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense (DoD) are making many companies scramble to evaluate, select and implement solutions that will make them compliant with their customers' RFID requirements and additional retailers and other large supply chain channel masters are likely to follow suit.