Radio Frequency Identification also known as RFID has revolutionized
our technology and made our life much simpler
than earlier. If we
actually see then we are using this technology in each and every place
and almost everywhere. Though there are bar codes which fulfill
somewhat the similar objective still they lack the flexibility which is
present in Radio Frequency Identification or RFID. Basically RFID
belongs to the family of Automatic Identification and Data Capture
which is also abbreviated as AIDC. The basic purpose of RFID is to
identify anything or any material object to which it can be attached.
It''s just like a roll number which is assigned to a student in a
classroom. The card that you use to withdraw money from the ATM, or to
pay your bill at the petrol station or in any other shop for purchasing
things, uses RFID technology. The complete plastic money system is
based on the RFID system. It is the RFID which stores your personal
information and enables you to make a safe and pre-determined
transaction.
Now like a bar code reader, a RFID system also requires a RFID Reader
in order to read the information that is stored in the strip which is
attached to a particular thing which is mostly a plastic card. However,
it is to be noted that the communication which takes place between the
transponder and the RFID reader doesn''t require a wire connection.
Moreover the system also does not require a line of sight between the
devices in order to read the information.
RFID readers also work on particular principle and they too have some
devices along with them in order to read the information stored in the
RFID transponder. Transponder is basically the thing which stores the
information and sends it to the reader via radio waves which is then
captured by the reader. Precisely, RFID reader comprises of a module, a
control unit and a coupling element. The module comprises of the
transmitter and the receiver and the coupling unit means the antenna.
The reader in order to read the information has to perform three
functions namely energizing, demodulating and decoding. Though this
process the reader can read the information stored in the RFID. There
are certain types of enhancements also which further increases the
ability of these readers through which they can read a large number of
tagged objects simultaneously. However it also ensures at the same time
that each tag is read only once. This can be done through
Anti-Collision algorithms.