RFID How Does it Work?

RFID  How Does it Work? 

have been talking to my friends about RFID a lot lately and a number of them have told me exactly this:

"Yeah, RFID! I know what it is. The thing which works wirelessly." Once they said this I noticed the little confusion in their face and that said it all! How does RFID actually work? Well, I am here to explain what components form the RFID infrastructure and how it really works.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification (as you would have realized). The components involved:

1. RFID Tag

2. RFID Reader

3. Software to track and analyze data

The RFID tag is attached/embedded into the asset you want to track. The RFID tag consists of a microchip containing pre-loaded data. The tags can take any shape and do not require a power source. Well, then how does it work? The answer is the scanning antenna contained in the RFID reader. The RFID readers can be attached to specific areas to scan any tag passing through that area or even take the form of a handheld device. The scanning antenna gives signal bursts regularly and the tags are activated when they come in contact with those radio signals thus "waking" up the chip in the RFID tag and the data is transmitted to the reader which decodes the data. Isn't it amazing how such a sophisticated sounding technology can seem so simple to understand and implement? Can you think of any other technology which has the potential to have as big an impact as RFID?