What is RFID?

RFID consists of very small computer chips which are mounted on an antenna. The chip and the antenna together make up an RFID tag or an RFID chip. RFID tags are used to identify objects separately. The chip contains information which can be scanned and read by an RFID reader within a few milliseconds. In most cases, there is just a serial number on the RFID tag, which the RFID reader records . This happens without any physical contact between the reader and the object, and in many cases the RFID tag is not even visible.

RFID definition

RFID is an abbreviation of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is the collective name for all technologies which radio waves to identify humans and objects. As the name indicates, the primary strength of the RFID technology is its ability to identify objects.Some call RFID the electronic barcode, or the barcode of the future, as the technology has some of the same features as the traditional barcode. However, this does not mean that RFID technology is better than barcodes. These two technologies are different and can be applied differently, even though at times they may overlap.

The biggest difference between the two technologies is that barcode is a line-of-sight technology whereas RFID is a wireless technology. Barcodes need to be positioned so that they are visual to the scanner, while RFID tags can be read without any visual contact, as long as they are within reading distance. Reading distance varies depending on the type of RFID tag. Some tags can be read at a distance of up to 100 metres, where others have a reading distance of only one cm.