RFID: Radio Frequency Identification

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RFID Radio Frequency Identification

• Mike Tiland
• Jackie Humphrey
• Carrie Fox
• Nichole Griffin
• BA 378 Section 002

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What is Radio Frequency Identification?

• It is an automatic identification method.
• Works by having a small RFID tag, which
  identifies an object or person, through a
  transponder.

http//en.wikipedia.org
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What is Radio Frequency Identification?

• Information is stored in a transponder (tag). A
  radio transmitter has an antenna that emits radio
  waves. When a tag comes within the range of the
  transmitter, the tag is turned on and begins
  sending its stored data via the radio waves. The
  reader captures the data, decodes it and sends it
  back over a network to a host processor.

http//www.computerworld.com
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Types of RFID

• Three types Passive, Semi-Active, Active
• Passive
• Very small RFID Tags
• No internal power supply
• Do not require batteries, and have unlimited life
  span
• Semi-Active
• Similar to passive tags
• Small battery
• The addition of the small battery allows for
  faster response
• Stronger readings from farther distances

http//en.wikipedia.org
5
Types of RFID

• Active
• Posses their own internal power source
• Longer range
• Ability to store more information

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Size of RFID Tags

• Passive
• Smallest devices are invisible to the naked eye
• Thinner than a sheet of paper
• Semi-Active
• Many around the size of dime, yet thinner
• Active
• The smallest ones are the size of a penny

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses for RFID

• 1. Merchandise tracking, identification, and
  management
• Wal-mart in the US
• Improves supply chain management by lowering the
  amount of inventory on hand, only order the exact
  amount in demand.
• Prada of Italy
• Carry information about the garments style,
  size, color, and price.

http//www.computerworld.com and
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses

• 2. Tracking Assets
• Identify animal property Cattle or Sheep tags.
• The smart tag, which is fastened to an animals
  ear, can hold information about the animal like
  their bloodlines, shot history, date of birth,
  and their herd origin.
• Canadian Cattle Identification Agency the tags
  can identify a bovines origin and is used for
  trace-back when a packing plant condemns a
  carcass.
• Library books
• Security gates beside the exits can detect
  whether or not a book has been properly checked
  out of the library.

http//www.computerworld.com and
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses

• Tracking Assets, cont.
• Airline baggage tracking
• Pallet tracking for moving goods in a warehouse.
• Tire-Tracking
• In compliance with the the Transportation,
  Recall, Enhancement, Accountability, and
  Documentation Act, Michelin tires has begun
  offering RFID-enabled tires to car manufacturers.

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses

• 3. Authorize Payments
• Automatic toll collections
• As a car drives through a toll booth, the tag
  information from the car is used to debit the
  toll from a prepaid account. This system helps
  to speed traffic through the booths while it
  records the date, time, and billing data for the
  vehicles RFID tag.

RFID tag used for automatic toll collections
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses

• Authorized payments, cont.
• Smart Cards
• These cards are embedded with RFID chips and used
  as electronic cash. They can be used to pay
  fares in mass transit systems in Washington DC or
  
• Exxon Mobil Corp.'s has a SpeedPass. A
  gas-pump-based reader examines the SpeedPass when
  the customer waves it in front of the pump,
  obtains its identifier, passes that on via a
  network to a system for credit approval and then
  turns on the pumpall in seconds.

http//www.computerworld.com and
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Current Uses

• 4. Other uses
• Smart Start
• Toyota has begun offering a Smart Key/Smart Start
  option on various models (Prius, Lexus GS, and
  Avalon). The new car key uses an active RFID
  circuit allowing the car to acknowledge the keys
  presence within a few feet of the sensor. You
  can open the doors and start the car with the key
  still in your pocket.
• Tracking prisoners
• Inmates wear wristbands with transmitters that
  can detect if prisoners have been trying to
  remove them and send an alert to the prison
  computer system. As well as, locate a particular
  inmate at any time and record the location in the
  system.

http//en.wikipedia.org and http//www.ncsconline.
org
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Potential Uses

• RFID has been proposed to replace the cashier
  when checking out at a store. It can use an
  automatic system that doesnt need to scan
  barcodes.
• Patient identification Tiny RFID tags may be
  implanted under a persons skin that will contain
  and individuals health records for easy access
  by a doctor in an emergency.
• The U.S. government is developing electronic
  passports equipped with RFID.

http//en.wikipedia.org and http//www.ncsconline.
org
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RFID Controversy

• Passports
• Pros
• Can hold more information than a simple
  machine-readable character font.
• Information is quickly and easily read.
• The government says it will make us safer.
• Cons
• RFID tags can be read by any reader, not just the
  ones at passport control.
• Americans can be picked out of a crowd.
• Identity thieves can get the information with a
  reader that costs only 500.

http//www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/10/rfid
_passports.html
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RFID Controversy

• Library Books
• Pros
• It speeds up the check out process.
• It makes inventory tracking much easier.
• State of the art technology.
• Long tag life. They last longer than barcodes.
• Cons
• Breach of privacy can be read by other readers
  once you have them at home or at work.
• Very expensive (Approx. 650,000 to install a
  system).
• Puts people out of jobs.
• Exposed tags can be easily removed.

http//www.mindfully.org/Technology/2005/RFID-Berk
eley-Library4mar05.htm
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RFID Controversy

• Humans
• Pros
• Quick to install, approximately 5 minutes.
• Small in size, similar to a grain of rice, and
  they cant be felt.
• No risk of allergic reaction, encased in a
  non-reactive, medical-grade glass coating.
• Quick identification access to medical records.
• Cons
• Chips can be cloned.
• Security issues they can be removed still
  work.
• Breach of privacy and right to confidentiality.
• Mark of the beast.

Keep RFID Simple, Frank Hayes, COMPUTERWORLD
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RFID Controversy

• Texas Replace Identification stickers with RFID
  tags.
• Pros
• Drive-by enforcement of insurance requirements.
• Cars can be scanned on the fly cant do that
  with a license plate.
• The data could be encrypted, so the scanner would
  have to be attached to a computer.
• Cons
• Expose car owners personal information.
• Because chips hold a lot of data, people will
  feel the need to fill them up.
• Hackers are pretty good at matching customized
  gear.

http//www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1871833,
00.asp
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Mandates

• Walmart and US Dept. of Defense - published
  requirements that vendors need to start placing
  RFID tags on all shipments to improve supply
  chain management
• Since January 2005, Walmart has required its top
  100 suppliers to apply RFID tags to all shipments

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Regulations and Standards

• No global RFID standard has been set yet
• No global public body governs RFID frequencies
• Every country sets its own rules

http//www.tutorial-reports.com
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Regulations

• USA FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
• Canada DOC (Department of Communication)
• Japan MPHPT (Ministry of Public Management, Home
  Affairs, Post and Telecommunication)

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Regulations

• Europe ERO, CEPT, ETSI, and national
  administrations
• The national administrations must ratify the
  usage of a specific frequency before it can be
  used in Europe
• China Ministry of Information Industry
• Australia Australian Communication Authority.
• New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development

http//en.wikipedia.org
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Characteristics of RFID Tags
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Ultra-High Frequency
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Ultra-High Frequency, cont.
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Standards

• Some standards that have been made
• regarding RFID technology
• ISO 11784 11785 regulate RFID of animals
• ISO 14223/1 describes the air interface between
  transciever and transponder
• EPCglobal proposed standardized framework, most
  likely undergo Internationally Standardization

http//en.wikipedia.org
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How does This Affects Accounting?

• Helps with managing supply chain.
• Lessens throughput time.
• More of an automated inventory system
• Tracks Items

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• Questions?

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Sources

• http//en.wikipedia.org
• http//www.ncsconline.org
• http//www.computerworld.com
• http//www.tutorial-reports.com
• http//www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/10/rfid
  _passports.html
• http//www.mindfully.org/Technology/2005/RFID-Berk
  eley-Library4mar05.htm
• http//www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1871833,
  00.asp
• Keep RFID Simple, Frank Hayes, COMPUTERWORLD