RFID Lowdown

RFID Applications: Forestry Asset Management

[This post is part of a short series aimed at giving a quick overview of existing and future applications of RFID - radio frequency identification - technology.] Asset Management (AM) is one of the more common applications of RFID technology. Within this umbrella application are many specialized apps targeted at a particular use which typically requires customized techniques as well as equipment.

For example, in forestry applications of AM, such as that developed by TU Munich (Technical University of Munich), a method of applying RFID tags to logs has been devised. In this case, logs that have already fallen are tagged by the harvester. This allows a more refined process and the ability to track a log through several steps. It's much easier for everyone involved in the log harvesting process to determine what stage a log is currently at.

What's unique about the TU Munich application is that the passive tags are stapled into the side of a log by the harvester, compared to other similar apps that use nail-shaped tags that have to be manually hammered by a lumberjack. The harvester collects information about each log and stores it tied to a unique id. RFID Journal provides more detail.

RFID Lowdown - Sat Nov 25, 2006

New Airline Bagging Tagging Chip
Delta Airlines is testing a new RFID baggage tagging solution called BagChip from RFID Ltd. The system is expected to cut down on lost baggage which estimated at around 800,000 pieces yearly, costing US$100M annually. Each BagChip tag is about US$10. [Business Wire via Biz Yahoo]

Medline RFID For Surgical Sponges
Medline Industries is the latest company to offer an RFID system for tracking surgical sponges. Such sponges are used during operations and have a tendency to be left behind under the stress of some surgeries. Medline's system also works with surgical gauze and towels. [via RFID Journal]

South Korea Certifies ThingMagic
ThingMagic's Mercury4 RFID reader has been certified [RFID News] for use in South Korea, and is already being used for a number of applications including airline, high-security, and casinos. Mercury4 functions on EPC Gen 2 technology.

Dual-Frequency RFID Reader Tunnel

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

In spite of the advances made in item-level UHF tagging and the fact that various companies have started the production of tags for such applications, the majority of pharmaceutical companies tag their products using HF technology. The containers that hold the products usually come with UHF tags, which make reading a dual process. Not anymore, though.

The new Smart Conveyor Tunnel from Blue Vector Systems is touted to be capable of reading HF-tagged items inside UHF-tagged containers and pallets. With the Blue Vector Edge Manager, controlling the sensors and cases is made easy in real-time. Business rules allow cases to be removed, ECP-compliant details to be loaded into databases, items to be verified with the original manufacturer, and advance shipping notices to be sent to supply chain partners. Blue Vector has set up a web interface through which the tunnel can be configured and monitored. Business Wire reports:

The tunnel supports EPC Gen 1 and Gen 2 UHF tag standards. For HF, it supports the ISO 15693 and 18000-3 tag standards. Blue Vector’s Smart Conveyor Tunnel includes all components necessary for operation, including RFID readers from companies such as Symbol Technologies, a Blue Vector partner.

RFID Lowdown - Mon Nov 06, 2006

Smartcards And Banking Models
The Australian government plans to adopt a banking system model for the new citizen "access card", which provides access to government services. In other words, access requires entering a PIN code, just like for a debit/ ATM card. However, unlike debit cards, the citizen access cards will have a photo, signature, card number, and an RFID chip containing a digitized photo and signature. [via Australian IT News]

Jack In The Box Goes Contactless
The American chain of Jack in the Box restaurants will be adding contactless payment cards as a new payment option at all of their restaurants - something few other chains can claim. They'll be accepting the typical American Express, MasterCard PayPass, and Visa Contactless cards as well as Discover Network. They expect to have all restaurants rolled out with this payment option by the end of this year. [via Home BusinessWire]

Metal-Compatible RFID Tags
Metal has been the bane of RFID tags but QinetiQ and Crown Holdings have come up with a way to make metal containers with special antenna-less Gen 2 UHF tags. The tags would be able to handle the interference normally associated with metal by redirecting the RF signals. [via RFID Journal]

RFID In Shipping

EPCglobal is conducting a pilot study to promote their EPCIS (electronic product code information services) technical specification in Asia, as well as test RFID for automated customs clearance. EPCIS is a guideline for the standardizing RFID data so that it can be shared. The first of two phases involves tagging containers being shipped between Hong Kong and Japan (by sea).

Another RFID pilot being run by Schenker, a division of Deutsche Bahn, is also being applied to sea freight containers, in this case between the ports of Hong Kong and Hamburg, Germany. This pilot is also in two phases and will last about a year. It will use tags and readers from Intermec, with the tags being able to withstand salt water.

Other companies such as Savi Networks are also testing RFID with shipping containers.

Measuring Gen 2 RFID

Data is just one of those things that begs to be analyzed. For analysis geeks, un-analyzed data is just wasted data. So it wasn't long after the debut of the Gen2 RFID tag protocol that an electrical engineering professor at University of Arkansas, Kazem Sohraby, and a post-doctoral fellow, Chonggang Wang, came up with two performance metrics for RFID - a way to measure the capacity of an RFID reader. Said Professor Sohraby:

As far as we know, this is the first quantitative analysis of the performance of the Gen-2 protocol

referring to the recent Gen2 UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID specification being backed EPCglobal and supported by over 60 other companies in the industry. EPCGlobal's EPC (Electronic Product Code) is being pushed as a worldwide standard for radio frequency technology. Some reports say that upgrading to Gen2 will be expensive, though the cost of UHF readers should fall. So any sort of analysis that improves the usage of current Gen 2 equipment holds a great deal of value. The model devised uses an advanced mathematical concept known as Discrete-Time Markov Chains, which help describe the state of a system - in this case, the different states of an RFID reader.

[via University of Arkansas]

RFID Applications: CCM - Cold Chain Management

[This post is part of a short series aimed at giving a quick overview of existing and future applications of RFID - radio frequencyidentification - technology .] Cold Chain Management (CCM) has applications in any industry where strict temperature control must be maintained for products or assets. Example uses are for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, perishable food products, and chemicals. A new breed of temperature-sensitive RFID tags are helping to automate CCM processes, thus reducing spoilage or critical situations (in the case of medical equipment for surgery, etc.). These RFID CCM systems not only monitor temperatures - or sometimes even light or humidity - but typically also wirelessly transmit any data collected to a central system where a human being can filter the data and act upon a situation as necessary.

A loosely-related application (though not part of CCM) of temperature-sensitive RFID tags is for monitoring livestock, to more readily detect when an animal might be sick. This would be based on not only a change in body temperature - as measured by an ear tag-thermometer combo - but the persistence of change over an extended duration.

[additional sources: SMB Edge, Canadian Forces Logistics, RFID Journal, Medical Device Link]

Impinj + Reva Achieve Dense RFID Reading

In Europe, RFID readers must use a "listen-before-talk" technique, where a reader checks for other signals before transmitting its own broadcast. Reva Systems and Impinj performed a joint test using 36 readers and a single listen-before-talk sensor, as well as a Reva TAP (Tag Acquisition Processor) to achieve "dense reading" rates of 98-99% accuracy - previously unheard of for such signal density. Furthermore, the European spectrum for UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID is only 3 Mhz compared to 26 Mhz in the USA. So the net result is that the achievement might mean wider adoption of RFID in European, especially in the supply chain.

[BusinessWire via RFID Update]

Cubic Wins Award For Transit Smart Cards

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

Back when I lived in the big city, in my mid-twenties, I did a lot of consulting in neighboring cities and towns. While I lived in the heart of downtown, with access to a fairly good transit system with subway, buses and streetcars (no, not San Francisco), I often had to use up to three or four different systems to get to client offices. I could put up with the 1-1.5 hour trips in each direction, but trying to keep enough change, especially during the bitter cold of winter, was not enjoyable. It would have been nice to have a single transit card that I could use for all of them.

Well, Frost & Sullivan has awarded their Innovation & Advancement award to Cubic Transportation for just such a reason. Cubic links multiple transit operators and simultaneously offers a single payment system. This obviously makes things convenient for citizens in metropolitan areas where there are satellite towns and cities with their own transit systems. All they need is a single RFID-enabled contactless transit card.

The company also came up with a Tri-Reader that processes a number of ISO 14443-compliant (credit card form factor) contactless smart cards, including those used by occasional riders such as tourists. Cubic projects are ongoing in London (UK), South East Queensland (Australia) and a number of US cities including New York/ New Jersey, Washington, D.C./ Maryland, Atlanta, L.A., San Francisco and others. Another company working on innovative contactless transit ticketing is Innovision, with their Jewel chip. RFID is also being used to improve transit service.

[via Contactless News]

Metal-Compatible RFID Transponders

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

One of the problems with HF (High Frequency) RFID tags is that typically do not function well on, in, or near metal. There are, however, many industrial applications where RFID would be a boon. Trials show that UHF Gen2 RFID tags do much better in these situations. As such, Sontec Co. has devised an RFID transponder for RSC (Retail Supply Chain) use that functions well around the high metal content of consumer goods such as appliances and electronics.

The company's EPC Gen 2 tags' silicon chips are supplied by Texas Instruments and is actually mounted on metal - something no one would even bother to try with other RFID chips. This chip gets around a number of the interference problems.

[via RFID News]

RFID In Robots

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

Robots are used in a lot of manufacturing processes in numerous industries. But each robot is typically programmed to do a specific task, and would have to be retooled to perform a different type of task. Wittmann, a manufacturer of automation systems, is employing RFID technology to make their robots smarter [RFID Journal].

An RFID tag in a robot arm's hand define the type of robot and thus its role and the sequence of tasks it should perform. Each type of hand has a different role, as indicated by the tag. Apex Automation is also using RFID in its robotic automation sytems. As companies realize the various benefits of RFID in manufacturing, we're likely to see more usage of RF technology.

No Alien to Progress

-- By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer

The Alien Technology Corporation is continuously hitting the headlines for its pioneering efforts in the field of RFID technology. The organization, which is renowned as a worldwide supplier of Gen2 RFID tags, has come out with a new Gen2 UHF RFID Integrated Circuit. Codenamed Higgs, this IC which boasts a longer read range and faster write rate than current Gen2 chips, will be the base for Alien UHF RFID tags.

Close on the heels of this announcement comes the news that Alien has signed strategic, multi-year agreements with six leading RFID label suppliers to sell up to 840 million RFID tags, including tags built using the new IC. These tags will be used to create labels for use in various supply chain, asset tracking, and item-level identification applications.

Consolidating on its efforts to remain a leader in the RFID tag world, Alien recently inaugurated its mammoth manufacturing facility in Fargo, North Dakota. The unit, spread over 48,000 square feet, is tagged as the “world’s most advanced and sophisticated UHF tag manufacturing facility,” with the current capacity to manufacture 2 billion tags annually. Future plans include raising the annual manufacturing capacity to 10 billion tags.

Extreme-Case RFID Scenarios

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

What would you say is one of the harshest all-round applications for RFID tags to be in? That is, extremes of temperature (hot and cold), vibration, air pressure, and life duration. If you said jet plane use, you'd be right. Boeing has a project which uses around 2000 high-memory passive RFID tags in each 787 Boeing Dreamliner plane that is rolled out. (There are 4 million parts, but only 2000 are being tagged.)

Temperature conditions range from -40 F to +300 F (Fahrenheit) (with occasional bursts to 1200 F). The tags have to work in a range of 860-960 Mhz (Megahertz), so they're compatible with UHF (Ultra High Frequency) readers in any appropriate country. Memory requirements are 64,000 bits, compared to Wal-marts 96 bits. Oh, and the tags have to last 20 years.

So it's not surprising, then, that even though most item-level RFID tags are about US$0.40, these are $15-20 apiece. (For reference, consider that for widespread use of item-level tags, particularly in CPG - consumer packaged goods - the desired price is sub-ten cents, preferably five cents.) Read Evan Schuman's Storefront Backtalk article for explanation of why Boeing needed the tags they are using, and how it is making their parts documentation process more accurate.

Boeing has previously used RFID on their MD-10 Freighter planes, which are used by FedEx, the courier company. These are online some of the ways that the airline industry is using RFID, with baggage and ticketing being others.

[additional sources: Storefront Backtalk]

RFID Tags User Location

Protecting your business turf from unauthorized intruders being a very important security aspect these days, the WiFi active RFID tag developed by Hitachi Ltd. is a welcome addition to the RFID family. The AirLocation II Tag-w allows the detection and management of people entering and exiting buildings through wireless LANs. Priced at 21,000 yen (approximately $180), the tag also shows the precise position of individuals inside a building.

Another useful feature, especially during search and rescue operations in times of natural or manmade disasters, is the emergency message function. By sending a message, users can alert the control center to their exact location inside rubble. Having made its debut on October 3, the tag is currently on display at CEATEC Japan 2006. 

Printed RFID Circuits: A History

Bert Moore, Editor of RFID Insights at AIM Global, has a fascinating article detailing the history of the progress (or lack of?) towards printed RFID circuits. This type of RFID tag can not only be printed quickly, in mass volumes, but could make item-level tagging feasible due to reduced costs.

It's been a long road to the printed RFIF tag. While a few companies have managed to produce industry-standard 13.56 Mhz printed tags, they have miniscule memory capacity: 8 bits. This is probably enough for some applications, but there are still issues to be worked out: larger memory and high-volume printing. As well, if these printed tags are to be used for item-level tagging, prices will have to be lower than current item-level tags. If that happens, retail giants like Wal-Mart are going to be very happy, since their suppliers won't have as much of an excuse to stall on RFID implementation.

Will tagged sponges prevent human error

Why are RFID tagged sponges making a lot of noise? Statistics indicate that each year an estimated 1500 objects are left inside patients.

“Two-thirds of all objects left in the body cavity are sponges,” according to Alex Macario, MD, of the Stanford University Medical Center. The other reason for concern is that could RFID sponges pave the way for doing away with good nursing practices?

There is also evidence to indicate that items are most likely to be left behind when a patient goes in for an emergency operation, which requires quicker reaction timing and therefore increases the room for error.

Macario's study indicates that it is possible to tag sponges with RFID tags and thereby keep track of them and avoid infection, obstruction or even death. The idea is to improve accountability of each sponge used in the operation theatre.

The tagged sponges are made by Clear Count Medical Systems (Pittsburgh), and also include an RFID reader wand. All that a doctor would have to do is wave his RFID wand over the body and the reader will quickly tell you exactly which type of sponge is not accounted, its batch number and other important details.

Traditionally accounting is done by manually counting the number of sponges. But in an emergency operation theatre, all that counting go very well go out of the window when other issues take priority. To be doubly sure in all high-risk surgeries the patient is usually put through a mandatory x-ray to ensure the patient is clear, regardless of the count outcome.

“Hospitals don’t have a dedicated x-ray machine for counting foreign bodies, and only a radiologist can interpret the image,” says Gautam Gandhi, cofounder of Clear Count. The RFID method is meant to be in lieu of an x-ray and with immediate results.

However, incorporating this into the normal workflow is the problem. “We need a system that is really fail-safe, where, regardless of how people use counting-system technology, the patient doesn’t leave the operating room with a retained foreign body”, says Macario.

The OT personnel need to remember to wave the wand and look for the sponges. That calls for more training and better methods of tracking tagged items in the OT. Now isn't that what the old system of counting lacked? What do you think?

Implanting Babies With RFID?

Truth is stranger than fiction? Yikes. Let this be a warning to parents who let their babies chew on dangerous objects like keys, especially car keys - many of which have RFID chips. Spychips has an excerpt taken from a London, UK newspaper from 2002, about a baby who swallowed part of his mother's car key. It appears he swallowed the part with an RFID chip. But with the rest of the key in the ignition, supposedly his mother pressed him up against the steering wheel and the car started. Many cars in Canada and the US, and obviously the UK, have RFID in car keys and steering column to prevent theft. This should make Scott Silverman, the CEO of VeriChip's parent company very happy.

RFID Hybrid Tech: Tetragate Biometric Facial Recognition

American Barcode & RFID  has jointly produced a new technology called TETRAGATE which performs facial recognition. The press release makes it seem like something out of a Philip K. Dick-based movie, such as Minority Report or Paycheck, maybe even Blade Runner. Biometric identification has been a growing security niche for quite some time, but only in the past couple of years have biometrics and RFID been combined into security solutions.

Tetragate's solution stores employee biometrics on their smart ID card (using an UHF RFID tag) and compares that with a facial scan on the spot. Apparently, the technology can not only recognize people from a distance of 60 feet - i.e., without people knowing - it can scan 60,000 faces in one second.

I'm speechless. Or at least I was for about 2 minutes after reading this. I've never heard of a solution this fast before. It's the result of several well-known companies, including Symbol Technologies (who Motorola plans to buy out), Fulcrum Biometrics, Zebra Technologies, American Barcode & RFID, and more.

But despite demonstrations of such technology in such TV shows as Las Vegas, I don't have a lot of faith in facial recognition as a reliable biometrics scheme. Faces can change; only eyes don't. I've recognized people I hadn't seen in 10 years or more by their eyes and/or voice, not necessarily their face. And if you've ever seen pictures of any single woman with different hair colours and styles, a partially-obscured face couldn't possibly be recognized with any accuracy.

On the other hand, this solution works on the principle that the person carrying a smart id card is who they say they are, with the facial scan to prove it. If the scan and the biometric info do not match, a "security situation" is triggered. From that point of view, my doubt is irrelevant. This system is then sufficient for its purposes. And if it is using a neural net - as I suspect it must be - then it will "learn" over time, improving on its efficiency. Hence, there may be a lot of security exceptions initially, as the system gets to "know" an employee.

Whether Tetragate is sufficient for airports or borders remains to be seen, though given its apparent speed and power, it might just work, combined with the PASS smart ID card, for the Canada-US border crossing on the bridges.

Catching Up With Contactless Payment!

There is truth to the statement that the advent of new technology and ideas is not welcomed with open arms. Right from the days Galileo was branded a liar and cheat for stating that the earth was round, man has not been too keen on adapting to change from fixed notions and ways of doing things.

While proponents of any new technology wax eloquent on its advantages, there are always the skeptics who predict a quick downfall for the same. The same can be said of the “contactless payment” option that has been rendered a reality by advances in RFID technology.

Wallets, cashiers, and bus and train passes are now passé! Credit cards that don’t have to be swiped, mobile phones that just have to be waved in front of readers to make payments, and public transport turnstiles that allow commuters to flash a card at a sensor – these are just a few innovations that make contactless payment possible. And it’s all done by harnessing RFID technology!

While there’s no doubt that this is a giant leap for technology, there’s a vital issue that needs to be  addressed before the widespread adoption of this technique – the infrastructure that is needed to make all this a possibility.

Picture this! You’re all set for a shopping spree armed with your RFID-enabled mobile phone. No cash, no ordinary, run-of-the-mill credit cards. You rack up your purchases only to find out at the check-out counter that the store is not equipped to offer you the option of contactless payment.

Unless the infrastructural system of readers and scanners find global adoption and usage, there will be very few takers for this technology. With change going against the natural instincts of the average human being, only time will tell how fast this form of payment will come into vogue.

RFID: Reducing The Costs With Printed Circuits

One of the more common beefs about RFID implementation that seems to come from end users is the high cost of technology and implementation, although there have been some reductions in cost. For some RFID tech manufacturers, it's being able to keep up with the demand. What if RFID tags could be produced for less and at high volume? That's the question that one company, PolyIC, must have asked themselves because they are testing out a polymer-based printed RFID tag [Engineer Live] that can be produced at high-speed. (Read the Engineer Live article for a detailed explanation of how printed polymer electronics works.)

PolyIC has already succeeded in producing a functioning polyer-based 8-bit RFID tag which operates at 13.56 Mhz, an industry standard. If they succeed at producing this tag at high-speeed and low-cost tag, it has numerous applications for item-level tagging of both luxury and common goods. And a reduced cost might just motivate more companies and retailers to explore the benefits of RFID in logistics, supply chain management, inventory control and other applications. Other companies working on printed electronics for RFID include ORFID Corporation.

NEC Unveils Gate Systems

And now, a new gate system that allows simultaneous, highly-accurate scanning of more than one UHF RFID tag. Developed by the NEC Corporation, the system is expected to be extremely useful in inspection systems in manufacturing lines and inventory control systems in supply chain management.

Set for a global debut at the end of 2006, the gate uses technology that improves upon currently available UHF RFID gates that have a 10 to 20 percent scanning error rate.

Multiple packages can be scanned very accurately by using radio wave reflection, where radio waves are shot indirectly from antennas to RFID tags through reflector plates. Scanning errors are considerably reduced by reflector plates that are placed on both sides of the internal part of the gate.

Montalbano Temperature-Sensitive RFID Tags

With so many applications of RFID involving perishable goods, including drugs, Montalbano Technology's temperature-sensing RFID tags are likely to be a very welcome addition for several industry. The tags are semi-passive and can be read by a standard RFID reader/ interrogator. Not only do they sense temperature but also light and humidity, as well as the duration and intensity of such environmental elements.

The tags have already been used with vegetable and fish products, and also have immediate applications for drugs that are compromised due to heat or light, the food and restaurant industries, and several other applications. Other temperature-sensitive RFID tags are used in Cold Chain Management, by food processors, and even for livestock.

Sources: [RFID Journal]

TI Introduces UHF Gen 2 Silicon

Following the success of Impinj in manufacturing and demonstrating the efficiency of UHF Gen 2 tags at the item-level, Texas Instruments (TI) has chosen to go the same way. The world’s largest integrated manufacturer of RFID transponders and reader systems has built its Gen 2 silicon on an advanced analog process node at 130 nanometers.

The silicon chips, which come with built-in Schottky diodes that allow efficient conversion of RF signal energy, are available in wafer and strap form factors. The chips can be written to under typical harsh conditions like low RF power and high background electromagnetic interference (EMI) that are prevalent in supply chain factories and warehouses. Users have the option of developing tags and labels that optimize TI’s Gen 2 silicon. Texas Instruments reports:

Offering greater design flexibility to customers, TI is providing its Gen 2 silicon to inlay, label and packaging manufacturers in three convenient forms:  bare wafers to support various assembly processes; processed wafers (bumped, sawn with back grind) that are suitable for immediate use with commercially available inlay equipment; and silicon chip on straps for label and packaging manufacturers who are printing their own antennas.

Are RFID Passports really safe from "skimming"?

My post on tagged passports has caught the ire of one reader who has pointed out the security features of the new passport. So, are RFID passports safe?

Anti-RFID devices are coming: Vrije University, Amsterdam, is developing the “RFID Guardian”, a device which beeps warnings to a person when a RFID scanner is near and trying to read a chip embedded in a piece of clothing the person might be wearing, for example.

“The RFID Guardian runs on a 550-Mhz XScale 32-bit processor with 64 MB of Ram that functions as the central nervous systems. XScales are often found in PDA and cellular phones”, said Tanenbaum, the university’s anti RFID advocate. The protocol stack was written in C to run on top of eCos, an open-source operating system.

Getting into the anti-RFID act is RSA Security Inc. with an RFID blocker similar to the RFID Guardian. According to Jeff Woods, the research Vice President of Gartner Inc., "The RSA blocker is a system that 'confuses' an RFID reader and prevents it from reading personal or private tags. The challenge for RSA was to define which tags were private and who had access to them."

Back to my reader’s suggestions - Passports if encased in a Faraday cage is safe from being “skimmed”. A Faraday cage or (in the case of passports) wallet is a metal or foil-lined container that is impenetrable to radio-frequency waves. An RFID tag in a Faraday cage/wallet is effectively unreadable.

A blocker may be the first line of defense, the next will be proper encryption and if Passports use 2048-bit ECC. About Elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) my informed reader says, “Not even the best hackers in the world can break 2048-bit ECC.”

Today ECC provides the most security per bit of any public-key algorithm and require less storage, less power, less memory, and less bandwidth than other systems. This allows you to implement cryptography in platforms that are constrained, such as wireless devices, handheld computers, smart cards, and thin-clients. Perfect for passports. 

Finally, I admit - it’s not as bad as I thought it would be - IF PASSPORTS HAVE THESE FEATURES. However, I still believe that if some hacker does get past the Faraday wallet, he may be able to save the encrypted reading – and still device some way to hack the information.

Sturdy RFID Tags

An innovative RFID tag that has been specially designed for use under severe industrial and outdoor conditions is now available from the Switzerland-based supplier of RFID transponders, Sokymat. The IN Tag as it has been dubbed, is available in both low and high frequencies and is extremely useful for items that are subject to thermal and mechanical stress.

It is very reliable for industrial and logistics purposes and complies with the new European Union (EU) directive 02/72/EC, which means that it can be used in direct contact with edible items. It is also chemically and thermally stable, and can withstand exposure to most chemicals and temperatures of up to 140°C. Sokymat reports:

Comprising 20mm, 30mm, and 50mm diameter discs, the IN Tag family is available with 125 kHz or 134.2 kHz, ISO 11784/85 or ISO 18000-2 low frequency read-only transponders, 256 bit or 2 kbit read/write transponders, or 13.56 MHz high frequency ISO 15693 / 18000-3 transponders.

RFID at FIFA – A Post Mortem

Now that the football fever has died down, it’s time to turn your attention to other matters surrounding FIFA’s mega event. Like the level of success the implementation of RFID technology reached during the games.

The hype and excitement surrounding the tags embedded in the tickets have given way to post mortems about the implementation, if they served the purpose of security or not.

The RFID tags certainly did not prevent the omnipotent black market from prevailing though. And not all the tickets included personal information about the holder; VIP tickets had RFID chips that included only information on the game, the seating location, and the sponsor of the ticket.

While the tags themselves were not costly, the cost of the entire related paraphernalia including scanners at the stadium turnstiles, the network that connects the scanners to the database servers, and the web-based front end server that was used to personalize the tickets, was high.

For those of you who attended the games and are now worried about your personal details being stored on some server, rest your fears. The Central Information Center for Sporting Events (ZIS) of the German police says that come September, the database will be erased of all information, except details concerning “events that concern the police.”

VeriChip RFID implants for the chronically ill - Test begins

Are you a chronic heart patient or perhaps a diabetic? You now have the opportunity to decide on whether you want a radio frequency ID implanted into your arm. The implant will help the hospital read your EHR even though you are unconcious and alone in an emergency!

Well, it is possible nowadays and a hospital is looking for volunteers from their patients. The implant is free of cost and the chip itself will not contain the records, but the 16-digit number obtained by reading the chip with an RFID reader can be linked to the existing health records at the hospital.

Making a foray into this unchartered territory is the Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ and it's voulunteering patients. The patients being considered suffer from chronic conditions like heart disease, epilepsy, diabetes or are recent recipients of organs. They will have the RFID chips, the size of a grain of rice, implanted above their right elbow.

The RFID chips being used are from VeriChip. Hackensack University Medical Center and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey are asking patients to volunteer for a two-year program that will test "personal health record modules" inserted just beneath their skin. The passive chips will contain a 16-digit number that, when scanned at the medical center, will link them to their electronic patient record.

The electronic health record (EHR) that is linked to the 16-digit number in the tag will contain:

1. Family contact information 2. Recent lab test results 3. Pharmacy prescription information and 4. Medical information from the records of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (HBCBSNJ), the health insurer that is carrying out the trial.

Dr Richard Popiel, vice president and chief medical officer, HBCBSNJ, said: "This two-year collaboration with Hackensack University Medical Center, its physicians and VeriChip will provide cutting-edge technologies that will hopefully save lives and provide measure of comfort to our members with chronic conditions and to their families."

Great boost for RFID technology but there are sceptics and the general publc are not really warming up to the idea of implants except for a few RFID champions who put tags in their bodies. But, for the chronically ill, the implants could be a life saver!

Tagged passports in Aug - Ready to be a sitting duck?

How do you feel having RFID tags in your passport? This question will be answered soon when RFID enabled US passports will be out from August. The tag will have all possible details about you and will add to your “being watched” feeling.

The new RFID tagged passport will store all of your personal data, including name, address, nationality, a picture, a digitized fingerprint and anything else important enough to be stored. Identity thieves are probably already zeroing-in on this new fad of the government. I’d say keep those passports at home always and pray like hell it is as safe as the government says it is.

Why would the US want to adopt what was proved unsafe by the Dutch? The Dutch proved that the prototype of their version of tagged passport was cracked within two hours by a security firm on TV. The cracking experts got complete access to all the sensitive information on the card including the fingerprint and photo.

The answer to the “why” question is that the government wants to:

1. Minimize human error while processing passports
2. Speed up the processing
3. Track fake passports

The worry here is that crooks can remotely access/read your sensitive data.
The fact that scanners are easy to come by with even mobile phones capable of scanning available in the market, this could only lead to trouble.

Couple of questions: What can be done to prevent “skimming” of data on your passports? You can slip your passport into an RFID-scan-resistant bag –  What if you accidentally pick up a terrorist’s passport? If the police have a scanner hopefully they will see the photo on the tag and let you go - Though you could be watched for having been caught with the wrong passport.

The bigger problem would be having a terrorist read your details and use it to fool the police by fiddling with the police scanner! It is a minefield of security threats that awaits this new government decision. So, traveling with an RFID tagged passport - same as having a homing device on a sitting duck, methinks!

RFID Vendor Ties Up With Fujitsu

Following the spurt of interest in item-level RFID tags, Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. has tied up with AbsoluteSKY, Inc., which designs, develops, and implements RFID technology for item-level tracking. Under the terms of the agreement, Fujitsu will resell AbsoluteSKY’s intelliTRACKER product suite to retailers for real-time tracking at the item level. The reverse will also hold good, with AbsoluteSKY reselling Fujitsu products to its customers.

The solution promises to bring down losses, prevent missed sales opportunities, and improve inventory turns. The tie-up aims to exploit the marriage between the best of AbsoluteSKY’s RFID solutions and Fujitsu’s line of products. TMC Net reports:

IntelliTRACKER technology (patent-pending) integrates with retailers' enterprise and store-level systems, providing an unprecedented level of inventory visibility and operational enhancements -- automating such functions as store receiving, stock replenishment, warehouse receiving and shipping, as well as tracking and control of markdown counts, style-aging and store-to-store transfers.

Football Fever Drives RFID Research

The curtain has finally fallen on the FIFA mega-event that comes to pass once every four years and succeeds in whipping up a frenzy of patriotism, passion and fervor for the way 22 men chase a ball around a field. While the world will always be divided into those who love and worship football and those who absolutely hate it, there is no denying that this particular world cup has been instrumental in bringing the benefits of RFID technology to the fore.

Even a layman will now be able to associate RFID as “that gizmo they used on the FIFA World Cup tickets.” The researchers are not content with this progression though. If recent reports are to be believed, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Germany is already elbow-deep in plans for the next world cup, four years away.

Rumors abound that tags will grace not only the tickets but also the balls and the shin guards of the players. Readers will also assist the much-hassled referees by monitoring the field and easing the process of assigning penalties and deciding offside goals. Is all this strategy going to be just a dream or become reality? Only time will tell.

Temperature Sensor for RFID Tags

A temperature-sensor circuit that integrates with both Gen 2 UHF and 13.56 Mhz RFID chips, consumes very little power, and can also be used to make inexpensive passive RFID sensors, battery-assisted passive (BAP) sensors, and active sensor tags – does it sound too good to be true? It’s not; Washington-based IP development company Gentag Inc. has come up with such an ultra-linear sensor that can be merged with the RFID chip itself.

The sensor offers numerous advantages:

• Fabrication on the RFID chip using general digital CMOS technology is simple and cost-effective. This makes it invaluable in fields where temperature sensing is vital such as transportation of perishable products, pharmaceuticals, biological samples such as blood, tissue and plasma, and fresh produce.
• It is analog, always in thermal equilibrium with the tag, and minimizes the use of power when on and reading temperatures. It consumes no power when switched off.
• The read accuracy is dependent on the calibration temperature. At 40 degrees (Centigrade), its accuracy is ±1 degree for the industrial temperature range -20 to +100 degrees and ±0.1 degrees over the medical temperature range of 34 and 42 degrees.
• Gentag can combine its patent for using mobile phones as readers for RFID sensors with this sensor to enable wireless sensing and monitoring of temperature.

Organic Electronics in RFID Tags

Organic electronics firm ORFID Corporation and BASF Future Business (BFB) will join hands and resources in developing and marketing printable organic electronic devices that can be used in RFID tags, display backplanes, and other electronic products. The organic materials, financial resources, and materials expertise will be supplied by BFB, while ORFID will be involved in the building and development processes for printing and testing the organic devices. ORFID hopes to take advantage of this collaboration to procure organic materials that will improve the performance and ease of manufacture of its brainchild, VOFET (Vertical Organic Field Effect Transistor), which is like a wafer-based silicon transistor, but costs significantly less to manufacture. IP Communications reports:

ORFID's goal, and that of electronics manufacturers around the world, is to enable the production of a new generation of ultra-thin, light-weight and flexible electronic products, such as displays and "smart packaging" that incorporates printed RFID tags.

RFID to Foil Shoplifting

Surely at some stage in our lives we have all seen the electronic article surveillance (EAS) alarm getting triggered at some mall when some one tried to walk past with goods he had lifted.

Starting from June 2006, RFID will be integrated with existing EAS measures to form a more effective surveillance system to curb and check shoplifting. This new system from Vue Technology and Tag Co. will provide up to item-level visibility of high-end items in the store, and possibly catch a theft in action, before the product leaves the store. It will also give the store keeper trace where products are moved within the store which will not only help stop fraud but also improve in locating it location and in logistic upkeep.

This means that if a new employee at the shop decided to shift a large quantity of a certain item from its original shelf to elsewhere, this change would be picked up and be seen as the sameas shop lifting and would lead to setting off alarms. Alarms need not always be audible to let the person know his act has been noticed. According to Tim von Kaenel, Vue's senior vice president of product management and business development, the alarm could be a message appearing on the store's computer screens to convey shift of certain items has taken place giving full details of the exact location too.

Since these RFID tags cannot be read at distance more than 12 inches they will be ineffective at the doorways. Therefore it is felt that the combination of the two methods EAS (with a 9 foot range) and RFID will give the fool proof solution to check fraud both at the shelf level and at the door way.

Finally the new system with its advantages has one BIG plus point in its favor - there is no need to chuck away your existing EAS readers but merely need to upgrade it to a better solution provider. This along with the new tracking software called IntelliManager will be provided and integrated by Vue Technology at a reasonable price.

Tug-of-War Between Tags

The battle between the tags rages on. High Frequency (HF) or Ultra High Frequency (UHF) tags - which is the better option?

While UHF tags have their perceptible advantage of being readable over longer ranges, the argument that they could not be used at the item level in certain sectors because of their decrease in performance when in proximity to metals and liquids made them unsuitable for the pharmaceutical industry. Not so, says tag manufacturer Impinj. The company demonstrated its near-field UHF item-level solution effectively at the RFID World Conference held earlier this year. Readers could easily pick up signals from near-field UHF chips that were set afloat in a bottle of water. 

Impinj has reached the conclusions that near-field UHF Gen 2 tags:

• Will work in and around liquids and metals
• Are as secure as HF tags
• Can be read at speeds 500 percent greater than HF tags
• Are more cost-effective to produce than HF tags
• Can adapt to the strict read range requisites of item-level applications

Based on the above factors, the company argues that UHF tags are most suited for use in the pharmaceutical industry.

3-G Wi-Fi Tags For RTLS

A new 3G Wi-Fi tag is now available from Ekahau Inc., provider of Wi-Fi-based RTLS solutions. T301-A, the third-generation Wi-Fi tag that can track assets and people through Ekahau RTLS, has a new design with a tamper switch, a motion sensor, two call buttons for setting off other applications, and battery life of up to five years. The tag is smaller than its predecessors, and is built using new technology that has the double advantage of improving functionality while reducing the deployment costs for real-time location systems (RLTS). The tag lowers total cost of ownership because of its inherent unique two-way communications capabilities that allow remote device management. IP Communications reports:

Ekahau is the first company to go to market with a tag that utilizes the "System-on-a-Chip" (SoC) from G2 Microsystems Inc. The SoC is an ultra low-power solution that is designed for active RFID and RTLS applications. As a result of a very high integration level, the G2 Microsystems' chip significantly increases the battery life and reduces the cost of a Wi-Fi based RTLS tag.

Multi-use RFID tags for reusable containers being studied

Ever wondered what Wal-Mart did with the used RFID tags? One thing is for certain nobody really wants electronic waste so what’s the answer? Reusable RFID tags and studies are being conducted to do just that in the near future. This will be just great if you think of the costs of the tags in the retail sector and not every company is a Wal-Mart who can use RFID tags and still manage to go on with business as normal.

The Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition (RPCC) is all set to begin testing RFID technology for the reusable containers its members make or manage. They also say they have Wal-Mart as one of nine companies on their user advisory council.

Next month, the RPCC will begin lab tests at a university to examine the durability of EPC Gen 2 RFID tags when used in conjunction with reusable containers made of wood, steel, plastic or other materials.

The association will begin research to establish the business case for using multiple-use tags on reusable shipping containers. "Unlike commonly used cardboard packaging that is disposed of once goods reach a retailer, reusable containers travel through the supply chain many times," says Jeanie Johnson, executive director of the RPCC, a Washington, D.C., trade association of companies that manufacture reusable pallets and containers and manage pooling services for users and distributors of these products.

A third party RFID solutions provider is said to do the lab test and the results of the lab tests will be out in a month’s time. RPCC will write a report and develop an economic model for integrating RFID tags with reusable transport packaging. The goal of the model and report will be quantify the return on investment of using RFID technology for reusable containers versus using it for expendable containers. Read more: here

Finally a field test and if everything goes well we could have multi-use tags for reusable containers. It could happen sooner than you think, right?

FDA opens the door for RFID in pharma sector

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally taken a stance and has told pharmaceutical companies to be required to have electronic tags to track product from factory to pharmacy. This is after waiting for pharmaceutical companies to improve counterfeit drug screening.

What this means for the RFID industry is that this was the much needed impetus for the sector to grow. Sure enough more and more RFID technology firms are getting the much needed support form software giants and chip makers.

The problem with widespread use of RFID tags have always been the cost concerns it would bring about to make it not very feasible or cost effective a technology till date. This FDA ruling will be the door for this technology to get into every day life in quicker way.

Trailblazers in this technology: Only retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Brands Inc. have had the necessary sales volume to make RFID tagging profitable. Worldwide RFID spending totaled US$504 million in 2005, and is scheduled to grow to $751 million in 2006 and reach $3 billion by 2010, according to the analyst firm Gartner Inc

Counterfeiting having permeated everything at such an astonishing rate is taking the pharmaceutical sector into huge problems and there really seems to be no answer other than RFID tags. Tags attached to the medicines when read will give all the details of when it got into the market and so on and thereby a fake can be isolated at source.

Now that FDA has given the boost for RFID tags there are going to be more manufacturers with safer tags and eventually cheaper tags that will help the technology to get into all areas in a more cost effective manner.

Microsoft plans to launch its BizTalk Server 2006 R2 supply chain management product in the first half of 2007, enabling companies to integrate their enterprise software with RFID databases. Microsoft also said it would partner with RFID hardware makers like Alien Technology Corp., Intermec Inc. and Paxar Corp. All great news for RFID right?

Counterfeiters make RFID the only option for pharmaceutical, brands, luxury goods...

Counterfeiters are estimated to sell up to £10 billion worth of fake goods a year in Britain, from sportswear and cigarettes to perfume and medicines, DVDs to compact discs. The problem extends to a wide range of brands from cigarettes to foodstuffs, from Nike to Rolex watches almost any brand or product is cleverly counterfeited these days.

Its big business and luxury good are big targets with EU figures showing that China as the main origin of many fake goods — 54% of all fakes seized in 2004 while Taiwan comes in second. Read: "Trying to snub out the fakes", for more details on the counterfeiting world.

This is where RFID comes in especially for the Pharmaceutical industry - Pfizer Inc., in a move to thwart counterfeit Viagra declared that it has included special radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on all packages of its anti-impotence pill to verify the authenticity.

How does this work for Pfizer in India? The tiny tags are small computer chips that have been affixed to the underside of labels on each bottle of Viagra, as well as on cases and pallets of the drug. The tags send out a signal that pharmacists in the United States will be able to pick up on specially designed electronic scanners. The product code detected by the scanner is sent over the Internet to a secure Pfizer Web site to confirm its authenticity. Tracking and tracing is another story, as it would be required to have compatible technology at all the distribution centers in every country.

A new law will come to force in Florida from July 1 requiring pharmaceutical distributors to document who takes possession of prescription drugs as they travel from manufacturers to retail shelves should help to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain. Read more: here

This means in places like US it would be easy to find out where the counterfeit drug got into the market and that's going to be great to secure genuine drugs. Don't you agree?

TAGSYS Develops RFID Readers

TAGSYS has developed two new item-level RFID readers that would improve pharmaceutical inventory management. The new tags are Smart Shelf and Smart Dispenser. These tags have been developed by TAGSYS to provide users with an accurate reading of RFID-tagged items. They enable real-time insight into product inventory and security. The Smart Shelf simulates the 3D tunnel reader approach and is designed to read any tag on an item that is placed on the surface of a shelf. In-Pharma Technologist has published an article on the Same Topic.

Previous designs of RFID shelves have required tags to be perpendicular to the antenna, however the advantage of the new Smart Shelf is that it can provide accurate readings regardless of the orientation of the tag, said the firm.

RFID Wireless Tags

There have been privacy concerns and high costs that may delay the widespread adoption of RFID technology. In Australia, RFID is being used in tracking pallets and Lorries. The tracking is done via displays that give rates of trailer utilization and warn when food in transit is likely to perish. RFID has aided the stock control of up-market items and of clothes with complex sizing. According to reports, a library in Germany uses RFID to read five tagged books at a time. Significantly, it has saved 85 percent of the labor used.

According to forecast made by Gartner, the global spending on RFID will be $3 billion in 2010. RFID tags are now being used in most applications. Interestingly, tracking the office chair with a powered active tag will add an extra $10 to its price. RFID tags are still costly for many people who hesitate to use them because of price concerns. Cost is not the only problem facing by RFID. Security and privacy issues also play spoilsport in the advancement of RFID tags. Most people want to know what information RFID will gather, how long it will be kept and who will have access to it. They also question about the safety of the RFID tags from theft, negligence and abuse. WhatPC has published an article on the Same Topic.

There will be a nod to what EU information society commissioner Viviane Reding rightly called “a new wave of productivity gains across a wide range of sectors”. But as Reding also made clear, it’s felt that other “decisions of principle” on security and privacy must be made urgently, “before things go too far”.

DaimlerChrysler to put RFID Tags in Kanban Cards

DaimlerChrysler, the leading automaker has decided to deploy RFID technology in kanban cards used in the production management of the Autotronic transmissions (continuously variable automatic transmissions) for the Mercedes Benz A and B class cars. The company believes that their is a lot of potential for RFID and it wants to take advantage of the next-generation technology. It is looking to use RFID in order to improve the flow of parts from its own onsite storage supermarket to workstations on its production line. RFID Journal has an article on the Same Topic.

The cards are then collected and transferred to the parts supermarket, where they constitute a parts order. Workers fill the order in the parts supermarket and deliver it to the required workstations on the production line.

Tracking ACT prisoners through RFID

After animals, it is the turn of human beings to wear the RFID tags. As per the new initiative launched by the Australian government, inmates at Australian Capital Territory (ACT) prison will wear RFID bracelets or anklets so that their location and movement are tracked. ACT Corrective Services recently called for a subcontractor to implement an AU$800,000 RFID tracking capability for guards and inmates. Construction of the prison in Canberra will begin in August 2006 and is expected to be completed by 2007 - 08.

The prison will accommodate 374 prisoners and all of them will wear RFID tags. Analysts believe that RFID will be a significant step in managing prisons. The government wants to keep a tab on the activities of the prisoners while providing them a high degree of freedom of movement. RFID will ease the extra burden of the staff that monitor and lead prisoners around the site. The anklets and bracelets have a number of tamper alarms for security. If they are cut, expanded or contracted in shape, alarms will sound and it will alert the prison authorities. ZDNet provides more information on the Same Topic.

ACT Corrective Services IT manager Andreas Wullen said on entering the building, prisoners would pass through an induction point where they would be fitted with an RFID bracelet or anklet. This would only take about two minutes.

Accusort Receives Acclaim for RFID Line

Accu-Sort Systems Inc. ,  known for its auto ID systems has bagged the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Market Award . The award was given to recognize Accu-Sort's efforts to develop specialized radio frequency identification (RFID) product line on existing market requirements and business process evaluation.

Today understanding trends of existing market in any field is vital for success of business. To address so Accu-Sort's Flexible Automation Solution Tools (FAST) will reflect on providing end-to-end segments (bar code labeling systems, RFID components and data management systems) around RFID market drivers in retail and government segments.

Software of the FAST Tag line controls and integrates various devices and manages the communication to business enterprise solutions such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management systems (WMS). Looking at the potential in the supply chain applications for RFID market this award would certainly provide Accu-Sort an edge, where the award recognized its efforts in product development aimed at creating customer value. Strategically positioning to address present and future market trends, Accu-Sort's RFID product line included solutions facilitating application directed at consumer goods, manufacturing facility and reading systems at retailer warehouses.

Frost & Sullivan believes that RFID technology is at an evolutionary stage indicating that the search for updated technology would remain on and this will be a challenge for Accu-Sort to carry forward henceforth.

The Demand for RFID Tags in China

According to the market studies, RFID market in China is on the rise and is all set to boom further. The structure and trends of the RFID industry in China indicate that more and more companies are offering RFID technology. RFID chip manufacturers, RFID antennas, tags and readers manufacturers, RFID system integrators and RFID product agencies are high in demand. Chinese RFID technology was applied and fully developed in 2005. Today's competitive market has opened the way for various applications and trial practices with RFID technology.

RFID applications have already dominated the non-logistic fields. In logistics, RFID is still being adopted instead of being applied. So far, there are no definite frequency allocation and technical standards for RFID. There are some issues with the frequency band in the Chinese telecom industry. However, companies are working to settle the issues at the earliest. Although the technology and application of RFID in China are still in their early stages, there is no doubt that they will soon reach the ultimate level.

RFID Tags at McCarran International Airport

The New York-based Symbol Technologies has been contracted to supply 100 million RFID tags to McCarran International Airport. The initial contract was finalized for five years at $25 million. According to a recent report of Business Press, McCarran International Airport is the country's fifth busiest airport, which is in the process of converting its baggage system from barcode to RFID. Experts believe that airlines could reduce lost baggage with the new technology.

More Information: Read Here

According to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics released earlier this month, Southwest mishandled 109,368 bags nationwide during the first quarter of the year, a 35 percent increase on only an 11 percent increase in passenger traffic.

Hi-tech Animal Tags

There has been a talk about hi-tech animal tags for some time now. It was expected that the hi-tech tagging system for cattle and deer would be completed in New Zealand soon. However, according to the recent reports, the introduction of the high-tech animal tags will be delayed until 2008. According to the Animal Identification and Traceability Governance Group, the system will allow farmers to attach RFID tags to all cattle and deer so that they can be identified using wireless scanners.

Each animal will be assigned a unique code that will be stored in a database with the details including the age, sex and breed of the animal. The name of the owner and the identification number of the property will also be stored in the database. Experts believe that the new tags will be very helpful in pushing the RFID technology forward.

More Information: Read Here

The traceability system is designed to ensure authorities can better respond to bio-security incidents such as any outbreak of foot and mouth, but is also needed to ensure exporters can meet requirements for the traceability of food items that are being imposed by the EU.

RFID Chips on Euro Bank notes

The European Central Bank is working with its technology partners on a new project related to RFID technology. In the project, RFID tags will be embedded into the fibers of Euro bank notes by 2005. The main objective of the project is to tackle the counterfeit problems. As Europe is all set for a massive changeover to the Euro, the project will be beneficial for ensuring protection to the consumers.

According to the banking community and chip suppliers, the integration of an RFID antenna and chip on a bank note is technically possible. However, banks do not employ such type of technologies. It is still not clear whether the technology can be implemented at a reasonable cost. Although Euro bank notes already include security features such as holograms, foil stripes, micro printing and watermarks, it is believed that further enhancements in security features would make it more popular.

More Information: Read Here

Unsecured RFID - a threat to businesses

There is so much written about RFID and the lack of security measures especially is something that is not that worrying to Americans. Strange right? Europe is now having heated debates on the topic and why is this not happening in the US? Are we so thrilled about the immense potential of the technology that we are ready to overlook the security threat in them?

However the article “The RFID Hacking Underground” has brought to light a hitherto unforeseen threat - the threat to businesses if RFID chips were hacked.

The article talks of five scenarios were a business’s security could be breeched by a hacker with a laptop. All situations were of course conducted as tests and were achieved with the help of a coil, which is the antenna for the wallet-sized device called a cloner. It can elicit, record, and mimic signals from smartcard RFID chips. By connecting the cloner to a USB cable, connects it to a laptop the data can be downloaded.

How is this possible? Most commercial RFID chips are passive emitters, which means they have no onboard battery. They send a signal only when a reader powers them with a squirt of electrons. Once juiced, these chips broadcast their signal indiscriminately within a certain range, usually a few inches to a few feet. Active emitter chips with internal power can send signals hundreds of feet.

What about security? You can secure an RFID chip with encryption technology and this will be implemented for passports and other important documents. So even if they are read the information will not be jeopardized. Now you may ask. So why aren’t all tags beefed with encryption technology?

Economics of course is the reason. Encryption technology for these tags, which are just a quarter or so, will be $5 with the security feature. So not really cost-effective and till people are up in arm or businesses refuse to incorporate the unsecured tags will there be a change in this situation.

RFID getting under your skin?

Inventory management was probably the first big use for RFID technology and from Wal-Mart to aircraft spares, from pets to comatose patients, from toll gates to credit card the newer uses for this technology is cropping up everywhere and almost everyday some new industry is incorporating RFID.

It is a buzzing technology, no doubts about that and the advantages are numerous like for example sorting the fake drugs from the real etc are all admirable and well thought of uses. Owners of pets know the agony of losing one and are often the first ones to use a tag for their pooches. If you were to think up some new uses for this technology you are sure to find a new area to introduce RFID and that’s how much of an "in thing" this is.

I am all for RFID inventory tagging and even tagging pets and to a certain extent healthcare tagging but I am skeptical and even uncomfortable with credit card tags - wave-and-buy credit cards. The more you think of it, does it not get a little crazy with so much of credit card fraud and identity thefts happening? Okay, so no tag has been hacked yet and till date this is true, but don’t you think some clever hacker is right now finding ways to do just that? Hang on to those PIN numbers for now any day a hacker may find a way to read your card.

I also strongly come up with an allergic reaction when I think of RFID tags under my skin and here I am not referring to medical complications that may occur in some of us humans w