Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): Definitions

1. Tags that use EEPROM, or non-volatile memory, can be programmed after it is shipped from the factory. That is, users can write data to the tag when it is placed on a product.
2. The programming of information into a tag after it has been shipped from the manufacturer, usually meaning that information specific to the application can be added by the using organization. The tag is "read only".

A manufacturing process, patented by Alien Technology.

It involves flowing tiny microchips in a special fluid over a base with holes shaped to catch the chips. The process is designed to mass assemble billions of RFID tags at very low cost.

The number of repetitions of a complete wave within one second.

One Hz equals one complete waveform in one second. One KHz equals 1,000 waves in a second.

RFID tags use low, high, ultra-high, and microwave frequencies. Each frequency has advantages and disadvantages that make them more suitable for some applications than for others.

A technique used to prevent readers from interfering with one another.

In the United States, UHF RFID readers actually operate between 902 and 928 MHz, even though it is said that they operate at 915 MHz.

The readers may jump randomly or in a programmed sequence to any frequency between 902 MHz and 928 MHz.

If the band is wide enough, the chances of two readers operating at exactly the same frequency is small.

The UHF bands in Europe and Japan are much smaller so this technique is not effective for preventing reader interference.

A standardization initiative of the Uniform Code Council (UCC) and the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) for asset tracking and logistics based on radio frequency identification (RFID).

The GTAG initiative was supported by Philips Semiconductors, Intermec, and Gemplus, three major RFID tag makers; but it was superseded by the Electronic Product Code.

A term sometimes used to describe the way passive tags gather energy from an RFID reader antenna.

1. From three MHz to 30 MHz. HF RFID tags typically operate at 13.56 MHz. 2. Tags that operate between three and 30 MHz.

Software that compares a newly read ID with that in a database.

A method of transmitting data between tags and readers in which the antenna from the reader picks up changes in the tag’s antenna.

A group of unlicensed frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum.

An RFID microchip attached to an antenna and mounted on a substrate.

Inlays are essentially unfinished RFID labels. They are usually sold to label converters who turn them into smart labels.

Ports on a reader.

Users can connect devices; such as, an electronic eye to the input port so that when an object breaks the beam of the electronic eye the reader begins reading.

Devices can also be connected to an output part, so that when a tag is read, a conveyor is turned on or a dock door opened.

A microelectronic semiconductor device comprising many interconnected transistors and other components. Most RFID tags have ICs.

An electronic interconnection of devices; whether hardware or software.

An RFID reader. See Reader for more info.