Common RFID terms to get you up to speed

RFID –It stands for radio frequency identification, a technology that uses radio waves to automatically identify unique items with little human intervention. Unlike bar codes, which use lasers, no line of sight is necessary to use RFID.

Reader –A reader is really a radio wave transmitter/receiver. It transmits a radio signal that powers passive RFID tags. The reader receives information back from passive and from active tags, which broadcast on their own. The reader then converts those radio waves into data than can be used by a computer system.

Tag – An RFID tag consists of a microchip, which holds information, and an antenna that sends and receives radio signals. For supply chain applications, many companies will use "smart labels," which combine an RFID tag with a traditional bar code label.

Passive/Active –An active tag has a battery that transmits signals on its own. Passive tags have no battery and are dormant until they receive a signal from a reader. Active tags have read ranges of up to 100 feet, while passive tags have read ranges of less than 10 feet.

Read-Only/Read-Write – Read-only tags have permanent information stored on them during the manufacturing process. Read-Write tags, like a computer disk, have information that can be amended, erased, or over-written as it moves through the supply chain.

Class 1 and Class 0 – These are the tags that Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense have said they will accept, pending a new specification known as UHF Gen 2. A Class 1 tag is a read-write tag that can be written to in the field. Class 0 tags are read-only and are commissioned in the factory.

UHF Gen 2 –The next generation Class 0 tag under development, the UHF Gen 2 tag is expected to be a write once, read many times tag with 256 bits of memory. That includes 128 bits of "lock memory" and 128 bits of user-defined memory. The new tag will meet global standards, not just those in North America.

Middleware – A layer of software that sorts through the tag reads and delivers the information to a computer system. For instance, a conveyor with several readers may get thousands of reads back from cartons and pallets moving at 600 feet per minute. The middleware sorts out and makes sense of that information.

EPCglobal – A member-driven organization focused on the development of industry-driven standards for the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network to support the use of RFID, especially in supply chain applications .

EPC network –A initiative from EPCglobal that assigns unique identification information to pallets, cartons, and products that will allow manufacturers, distributors, and their customers to track and trace those items automatically as they move through the supply chain using RFID technology.