RFID: Radio Frequency Identification

1. RFID: Radio Frequency Identification Mike Tiland Jackie Humphrey Carrie Fox Nichole Griffin BA 378 Section 002

2. What is Radio Frequency Identification? • It is an automatic identification method. • Works by having a small RFID tag, which identifies an object or person, through a transponder. • http://en.wikipedia.org

3. What is Radio Frequency Identification? Information is stored in a transponder (tag). A radio transmitter has an antenna that emits radio waves. When a tag comes within the range of the transmitter, the tag is turned on and begins sending its stored data via the radio waves. The reader captures the data, decodes it and sends it back over a network to a host processor. • http://www.computerworld.com

4. Types of RFID: • Three types: Passive, Semi-Active, Active • Passive • Very small RFID Tags • No internal power supply • Do not require batteries, and have unlimited life span • Semi-Active • Similar to passive tags • Small battery • The addition of the small battery allows for faster response • Stronger readings from farther distances • http://en.wikipedia.org

5. Types of RFID: • Active • Posses their own internal power source • Longer range • Ability to store more information • http://en.wikipedia.org

6. Size of RFID Tags • Passive: • Smallest devices are invisible to the naked eye • Thinner than a sheet of paper • Semi-Active: • Many around the size of dime, yet thinner • Active: • The smallest ones are the size of a penny • http://en.wikipedia.org

7. Current Uses for RFID 1. Merchandise tracking, identification, and management • Wal-mart in the US • Improves supply chain management by lowering the amount of inventory on hand, only order the exact amount in demand. • Prada of Italy • Carry information about the garment’s style, size, color, and price. • http://www.computerworld.com and http://en.wikipedia.org

8. Current Uses 2. Tracking Assets • Identify animal property: Cattle or Sheep tags. • The smart tag, which is fastened to an animals ear, can hold information about the animal like their bloodlines, shot history, date of birth, and their herd origin. • Canadian Cattle Identification Agency: the tags can identify a bovine’s origin and is used for trace-back when a packing plant condemns a carcass. • Library books • Security gates beside the exits can detect whether or not a book has been properly checked out of the library. • http://www.computerworld.com and http://en.wikipedia.org

9. Current Uses • Tracking Assets, cont. • Airline baggage tracking • Pallet tracking for moving goods in a warehouse. • Tire-Tracking • In compliance with the the Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act, Michelin tires has begun offering RFID-enabled tires to car manufacturers. • http://en.wikipedia.org

10. Current Uses 3. Authorize Payments • Automatic toll collections • As a car drives through a toll booth, the tag information from the car is used to debit the toll from a prepaid account. This system helps to speed traffic through the booths while it records the date, time, and billing data for the vehicle’s RFID tag. RFID tag used for automatic toll collections • http://en.wikipedia.org

11. Current Uses • Authorized payments, cont. • Smart Cards • These cards are embedded with RFID chips and used as electronic cash. They can be used to pay fares in mass transit systems in Washington DC or • Exxon Mobil Corp.'s has a SpeedPass. A gas-pump-based reader examines the SpeedPass when the customer waves it in front of the pump, obtains its identifier, passes that on via a network to a system for credit approval and then turns on the pump—all in seconds. • http://www.computerworld.com and http://en.wikipedia.org

12. Current Uses 4. Other uses: • Smart Start • Toyota has begun offering a Smart Key/Smart Start option on various models (Prius, Lexus GS, and Avalon). The new car key uses an active RFID circuit allowing the car to acknowledge the key’s presence within a few feet of the sensor. You can open the doors and start the car with the key still in your pocket. • Tracking prisoners • Inmates wear wristbands with transmitters that can detect if prisoners have been trying to remove them and send an alert to the prison computer system. As well as, locate a particular inmate at any time and record the location in the system. • http://en.wikipedia.org and http://www.ncsconline.org

13. Potential Uses • RFID has been proposed to replace the cashier when checking out at a store. It can use an automatic system that doesn’t need to scan barcodes. • Patient identification: Tiny RFID tags may be implanted under a person’s skin that will contain and individual’s health records for easy access by a doctor in an emergency. • The U.S. government is developing electronic passports equipped with RFID. • http://en.wikipedia.org and http://www.ncsconline.org

14. RFID Controversy • Passports • Pros • Can hold more information than a simple machine-readable character font. • Information is quickly and easily read. • The government says “it will make us safer.” • Cons • RFID tags can be read by any reader, not just the ones at passport control. • American’s can be picked out of a crowd. • Identity thieves can get the information with a reader that costs only $500. • http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/10/rfid_passports.html

15. RFID Controversy • Library Books • Pros • It speeds up the check out process. • It makes inventory tracking much easier. • State of the art technology. • Long tag life. They last longer than barcodes. • Cons • Breach of privacy – can be read by other readers once you have them at home or at work. • Very expensive (Approx. $650,000 to install a system). • Puts people out of jobs. • Exposed tags can be easily removed. • http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2005/RFID-Berkeley-Library4mar05.htm

16. RFID Controversy • Humans • Pros • Quick to install, approximately 5 minutes. • Small in size, similar to a grain of rice, and they can’t be felt. • No risk of allergic reaction, encased in a non-reactive, medical-grade glass coating. • Quick identification & access to medical records. • Cons • Chips can be cloned. • Security issues – they can be removed & still work. • Breach of privacy and right to confidentiality. • Mark of the beast. • Keep RFID Simple, Frank Hayes, COMPUTERWORLD

17. RFID Controversy • Texas – Replace Identification stickers with RFID tags. • Pros • Drive-by enforcement of insurance requirements. • Cars can be scanned on the fly – can’t do that with a license plate. • The data could be encrypted, so the scanner would have to be attached to a computer. • Cons • Expose car owners’ personal information. • Because chips hold a lot of data, people will feel the need to fill them up. • Hackers are pretty good at matching customized gear. • http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1871833,00.asp

18. Mandates • Walmart and US Dept. of Defense - published requirements that vendors need to start placing RFID tags on all shipments to improve supply chain management • Since January 2005, Walmart has required its top 100 suppliers to apply RFID tags to all shipments • http://en.wikipedia.org

19. Regulations and Standards • No global RFID standard has been set yet • No global public body governs RFID frequencies • Every country sets its own rules • http://www.tutorial-reports.com

20. Regulations • USA: FCC (Federal Communications Commission) • Canada: DOC (Department of Communication) • Japan: MPHPT (Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunication) • http://en.wikipedia.org

21. Regulations • Europe: ERO, CEPT, ETSI, and national administrations • The national administrations must ratify the usage of a specific frequency before it can be used in Europe • China: Ministry of Information Industry • Australia: Australian Communication Authority. • New Zealand: Ministry of Economic Development • http://en.wikipedia.org

22. Characteristics of RFID Tags • http://en.wikipedia.org

23. Ultra-High Frequency • http://en.wikipedia.org

24. Ultra-High Frequency, cont. • http://en.wikipedia.org

25. Standards Some standards that have been made regarding RFID technology: • ISO 11784 & 11785: regulate RFID of animals • ISO 14223/1: describes the air interface between transciever and transponder • EPCglobal: proposed standardized framework, most likely undergo Internationally Standardization • http://en.wikipedia.org

26. How does This Affects Accounting? • Helps with managing supply chain. • Lessens throughput time. • More of an automated inventory system • Tracks Items

27. Questions?

28. Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org • http://www.ncsconline.org • http://www.computerworld.com • http://www.tutorial-reports.com • http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/10/rfid_passports.html • http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/2005/RFID-Berkeley-Library4mar05.htm • http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1871833,00.asp • Keep RFID Simple, Frank Hayes, COMPUTERWORLD