In recent years, the concept of the Internet of Things has begun to take root. This is another information industry revolution after computers, the Internet, and mobile communications. At the opportunity point of the IoT, the old RFID technology has radiated new technical value, and in the future RFID technology will play a pivotal role in the development of the IoT.
Security applications are still the mainstream
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), as a contactless automatic identification technology, automatically identifies target objects and acquires relevant data through radio frequency signals. Identification requires no manual intervention, can work in various harsh environments, can identify high-speed moving objects and multiple tags simultaneously, and is fast and convenient to operate.
At present, RFID technology is mainly used in scenarios such as passage management, data collection and identity verification, and positioning of vehicles and other objects. The security protection, intelligent transportation, and material management applications derived from these are already ubiquitous in real life. Currently, RFID applications in the security field are concentrated in several key areas: entrance/exit control, anti-theft alarms, electronic patrol, and other security management, among which entrance/exit control is the most widespread.
Passage management
Passage management covers people, vehicles, and objects. In practice, it identifies and verifies people or objects entering and leaving a passage, decides whether to allow passage and records it, and raises an alarm for people or objects not permitted to enter or leave, achieving stricter management. Common examples such as entrance/exit control, access control, library management, supermarket anti-theft RF cards, and free parking lot management systems all belong to passage management.
Person and object positioning and automated management
Readers are placed in designated spaces, moving vehicles, ships, or automated assembly lines, while RF cards are carried on moving people, objects, materials, semi-finished products, and finished products. Readers are generally connected to the main information management system wirelessly or by wire; the system analyzes and judges the information read from the RF cards to determine the location and other information of people or objects, realizing automated management. Common applications include electronic patrol, museum object positioning, prison inmate positioning, mine personnel positioning, production line automated management, and dock cargo management.
The future belongs to the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things builds on the computer Internet, using technologies such as radio frequency automatic identification and wireless data communication to construct an "Internet of Things" covering all things in the world. The core technology for realizing this interconnection is RFID. The development and application of RFID technology are also extending from security to broader fields.
To connect all things, the first step is to link the various non-intelligent objects in the physical world to the Internet - that is, an information channel must be established between the physical world and the Internet. In the IoT architecture, this part is the perception layer. The "things" of the IoT are all-encompassing, differing greatly in size, form, environment, contained substances, and motion state. Therefore, perception-layer technologies must meet relevant requirements: wireless, automatic, reliable, and able to operate by harvesting ambient energy; their hardware must be shape-changing, size-adjustable, simple to manufacture, low-cost, and able to withstand harsh environments. RFID is undoubtedly the best choice. In fact, when the U.S. Automatic Identification Center first proposed the IoT concept, RFID was regarded as the first choice for perception-layer technology.
As the perception-layer technology adopted in the first prototype IoT, RFID is inextricably linked with the IoT. By 2012, almost all IoT systems established in security, retail, logistics, apparel, and pharmaceutical fields followed the prototype IoT created by the U.S. Automatic Identification Center.
In recent years, RFID technology has also greatly enhanced the functions of the IoT and enriched its connotations, while IoT development has driven the development and application of RFID. For example, in response to special requirements that fresh goods, medicines, and other "things" place on the IoT, RFID tags can provide not only static product information but also dynamic information such as the product's location and surrounding temperature and humidity, greatly increasing the intelligence of RFID tags.
The economic and social benefits that the IoT can bring are increasingly recognized, and many countries, enterprises, and research institutions are actively developing and promoting this technology. It is estimated that in the next 10 years, while IoT systems in logistics, retail, and other fields continue to use low-cost simple RFID tags, the "tags" in IoT systems that collect and process large amounts of environmental, urban, geographic, and traffic information will gradually evolve into small intelligent devices containing CPUs, various sensors, GPS receivers, and other components - even dedicated microcomputers.
At present, IoT systems using the RFID perception layer have achieved "person-to-person" and "person-to-object" communication, but to realize "object-to-object" communication and interaction in the future IoT, the intelligence level of RFID tags attached to "things" must be improved. In addition, standardization, interoperability, protocols, regulations, and connectivity technologies still need improvement.