The marketability of RFID

SMART tagging, or better known as radio frequency identification (RFID), is expected to provide a promising market in Malaysia and other Asian countries. The RFID technology has been implemented in many custom-made solutions for various customers, including local libraries, the Singapore National Library, Personnel Tracking System in Malaysia and Singapore prisons and patients tagging for hospitals. It has also implemented solutions for areas such as rifle tagging, drugs label authentication and document management. It can also be deployed in Government document authentications, asset management, supply chain management, logistic, truck tracking, military tracking, security/authentication solutions.

RFID applications around the world

• Low-frequency RFID tags are commonly used for animal identification. Pets can be implanted with small chips so that they may be returned to their owners if lost. Two RFID frequencies are used in the United States: 125 KHz (the original standard) and 134.2 KHz (the international standard).
• High-frequency RFID tags are used in library book or bookstore tracking, pallet tracking, building access control, airline baggage tracking, and apparel item tracking. High-frequency tags are widely used in identification badges, replacing earlier magnetic stripe cards. These badges need only be held within a certain distance of the reader to authenticate the holder. The American Express Blue credit card now includes a high-frequency RFID tag, a feature American Express calls ExpressPay.
• UHF RFID tags are commonly used commercially in pallet and container tracking, and truck and trailer tracking in shipping yards.
• Microwave RFID tags are used in long range access control for vehicles.
• RFID tags are used for electronic toll collection at toll booths with California's FasTrak, Illinois' I-Pass, the expanding eastern state's E-ZPass system, and the Philippines South Luzon Expressway E-Pass. The tags are read remotely as vehicles pass through the booths, and tag information is used to debit the toll from a prepaid account. The system helps to speed traffic through toll plazas.
• Sensors such as seismic sensors may be read using RFID transceivers, greatly simplifying remote data collection.
• In January 2003, Michelin began testing RFID transponders embedded into tires. After a testing period that is expected to last 18 months, the manufacturer will offer RFID enabled tires to car makers. Their primary purpose is tire-tracking in compliance with the United States Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD Act).
• Some smart cards embedded with RFID chips are used as electronic cash, e.g. Octopus Card in Hong Kong and the Netherlands and United Kingdom (In the form of the London Underground Oyster Card) to pay fares in mass transit systems and/or retails.
• Starting with the 2004 model year, a Smart Key option is available to the Toyota Prius and some Lexus models. The key fob uses an active RFID circuit which allows the car to acknowledge the key's presence within 3 feet of the sensor. The driver can open the doors and start the car while the key remains in a purse or pocket.
• In August 2004, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRH) approved a $415,000 contract to evaluate the personnel tracking technology of Alanco Technologies. Inmates will wear wristwatch-sized transmitters that can detect if prisoners have been trying to remove them and send an alert to prison computers. This project is not the first such rollout of tracking chips in US prisons. Facilities in Michigan, California and Illinois already employ the technology.

Tips for Choosing RFID Tags

Frequency Range - RFID products currently on the market operate at a variety of frequencies, with each frequency perform in different performance. Frequency ranges available in DOMINANT are HF, UHF and Microwave.

Range performance - A tag's read range performance is usually considered the primary gauge of its suitability for a particular application. However, not all applications require maximum range.

RIFD Chip - There are a lot of RFID chips provider in the market likes Philips, ST Micro, TI, EM, Intermec etc. Chips may differ in memory size, standard compliance, reading range and others characteristic.

Form Factor - tags can be in any size but not necessary all standard size may suit the application. Others sizes, shapes and form factors can be custom designed based on the customer requirement.

Standards Compliance - As with barcode technology, standards play an important role in the selection of RFID technology. DOMINANT maintains an active presence within the worldwide RFID standards community and will continue to develop products that meet existing and emerging standards.