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Read Zone

The read zone is defined as a physical space or coverage area where the RFID system works by communicating intelligence and energy to and from objects and readers using airborne radio waves. Tags outside the read zone are not detectable or readable by the reader. The read zone is easily the function of the radiating antenna connected to the reader and the tag architecture.

EPC C1 G2

EPCglobal (a joint venture between GS1 and GS1 US) is working on international standards for the use of mostly passive RFID and the EPC in the identification of many items in the supply chain for companies worldwide.

One of the missions of EPCglobal was to simplify the Babel of protocols prevalent in the RFID world in the 1990s. Two tag air interfaces (the protocol for exchanging information between a tag and a reader) were defined (but not ratified) by EPCglobal prior to 2003. These protocols, commonly known as Class 0 and Class 1, saw significant commercial implementation in 2002–2005.

In 2004 the Hardware Action Group created a new protocol, the Class 1 Generation 2 interface, which addressed a number of problems that had been experienced with Class 0 and Class 1 tags. The EPC Gen2 standard was approved in December 2004, and is likely to form the backbone of passive RFID tag standards moving forward. The EPC Gen2 standard was adopted with minor modifications as ISO 18000-6C in 2006.

What is RFID Print
What is RFID? Radio Frequency Identification is a technique to identify an object using air as a medium, using radio signals to interrogate and identify the tagged object.

All radio frequency identification systems consist of five main components:
  • A RFID tag which could be either an active or passive tag.
  • A RFID interrogator [also called a Reader].
  • An air interface for wireless connectivity.
  • A Processing architecture such as a computer system.
  • Applications which could use the RFID information for further processing eg. inventory management, road toll payments etc.
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How does it work?
RFID uses radio waves within a Read zone, also known as a "RF-Portal" to communicate information from the RFID tag to the reader and vice-versa. The reader is responsible for storing valuable information it receives from the tag to an application programming interface [API] or middleware which eventually sends information to the final application software.

Whats an RFID Tag?
A tag is a package that can be attached to a physical object. This package houses an antenna which receives radio signals from an interrogator and transmits information back to the interrogator. An embedded integrated circuit in the tag, also known as a microchip, provides the intelligence for the tag. Innovative solutions can be created by the different variables available in the tag design. The tag intelligence is determined by the memory available on the microchip which can hold a unique serial number, or possibly additional unique data to drive various database applications.

Tags are available in various sizes/designs/form factors. The form factor is determined by the antenna size, onboard memory, microchip type and powersource. Tags with built-in powersource aka batteries are known as active RFID tags. Tags which rely on capturing energy from the Radio frequency radiated by the interrogator are called passive tags, and are usually smaller than active tags.



What's a RFID Reader?

A Radio Transmitter and receiver, also known as a transceiver, which works on select frequency band is used as a RFID Interrogator.The Transmitted RF energy is radiated with the help of suitable antenna. The Tag Capture the energy and transmit back the data stored on itself to the reader. The antenna receives the transmitted data by the tag and feds it back to the RFID Reader. The Reader has algorithms to analyse the received signal and feed it to the database system.

Reader transmits and receives a signal using typically upto four antennas.| Air-Interface: Radio waves between reader and tag form the Air-interface.| Tag/Transponder: Tag captures energy from the Rf radiation, sends a radio signal back to the reader which is decoded by the reader

How is the information received from the tag useful?
The information received back from the tag can be fed to a database system such as a legacy software, an ERP or a SCM or a networked cluster of application servers. Edgeware, middleware and IT systems form networks of creating and completing the circle of the lifecycle of the trace and track of the objects. Additional solution specific information can be found here [to link to solutions pages]
 
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