3.8: Benefits and Limitations of RFID:
Though RFID is not likely to entirely replace commonly used barcodes in the near future, the following advantages suggest to additionally apply RFID for added value of identification:
• Tag detection not requiring human intervention reduces employment costs and eliminates human errors from data collection,
• As no line-of-sight is required, tag placement is less constrained,
• RFID tags have a longer read range than, e. g., barcodes,
• Tags can have read/write memory capability, while barcodes do not,
• An RFID tag can store large amounts of data additionally to a unique identifier,
• Unique item identification is easier to implement with RFID than with barcodes,
• Its ability to identify items individually rather than generically. • Tags are less sensitive to adverse conditions (dust, chemicals, physical damage etc.), • Many tags can be read simultaneously, • RFID tags can be combined with sensors, • Automatic reading at several places reduces time lags and inaccuracies in an inventory, • Tags can locally store additional information; such distributed data storage may increase fault tolerance of the entire system, • Reduces inventory control and provisioning costs, • Reduces warranty claim processing costs. Limitations of RFID: • Standardization: Though the characteristics of the application and the environment of use determine the appropriate tag, the sparse standards still leave much freedom in the choice of communication protocols and the format and amount of information stored in the tag. Companies transcending a closed-loop solution and wishing to share their application with others may encounter conflicts as cooperating partners need to agree in standards concerning communication protocols, signal modulation types, data transmission rates, data encoding and frames, and collision handling algorithms. • Cost: The cost of tags depends on their type. In the 2003 report ‘RFID Systems in the Manufacturing Supply Chain’, ARC This predicted decrease is still deemed insufficient, as economic use of tags—taking the associated 5–35% decrease of labor costs and zero tag information generation costs into account as well—would require a maximum of 25 cents per tag for high-end products, and 5 cents for common item-level tagging. Prices of active or semi-passive tags (at least $1 per tag) are even more of a hindrance, allowing their economic application only for scanning high-value goods over long ranges. • Collision: Attempting to read several tags at a time may result in signal collision and ultimately to data loss. To prevent this, anti-collision algorithms (most of them are patented or patent pending) can be applied at an extra cost. The development of these methods, aimed at reducing overall read time and maximizing the number of tags simultaneously read, still goes on. • Faulty manufacture of tags and deficient detection of tags: Manufacturing of tags is not yet 100% failure-free today; about 20–30% of tags used in early RFID pilots have been defective. Tags may be damaged during usage. A wide range of application challenges can be answered by the multitude of suitable tags, yet none of them is completely invulnerable and the causes of damage …show more content…
User can instantly determine the general location of tagged assets anywhere within the facility with the help of active RFID technology. Control point detection zones at strategic locations throughout the facility allow the user to define logical zones and monitor high traffic areas. Tagged assets moving through these control points provide instant location data.Asset tracking applications will see an almost vertical growth curve in the coming years and the growth rate in this area will be much higher than the growth rate of general RFID …show more content…
Hospitals and jails are most general tracking required places. Hospital uses RFID tags for tracking their special patients. In emergency patient and other essential equipment can easily track. It will be mainly very useful in mental care hospitals where doctors can track each and every activity of the patient. Hospitals also use these RFID tags for locating and tracking all the activities of the newly born babies. The best use of the people tracking system will be in jails. It becomes an easy tracking system to track their inmates. Many jails of different US states like Michigan, California, and Arizona are already using RFID-tracking systems to keep a close eye on jail
Though RFID is not likely to entirely replace commonly used barcodes in the near future, the following advantages suggest to additionally apply RFID for added value of identification:
• Tag detection not requiring human intervention reduces employment costs and eliminates human errors from data collection,
• As no line-of-sight is required, tag placement is less constrained,
• RFID tags have a longer read range than, e. g., barcodes,
• Tags can have read/write memory capability, while barcodes do not,
• An RFID tag can store large amounts of data additionally to a unique identifier,
• Unique item identification is easier to implement with RFID than with barcodes,
• Its ability to identify items individually rather than generically. • Tags are less sensitive to adverse conditions (dust, chemicals, physical damage etc.), • Many tags can be read simultaneously, • RFID tags can be combined with sensors, • Automatic reading at several places reduces time lags and inaccuracies in an inventory, • Tags can locally store additional information; such distributed data storage may increase fault tolerance of the entire system, • Reduces inventory control and provisioning costs, • Reduces warranty claim processing costs. Limitations of RFID: • Standardization: Though the characteristics of the application and the environment of use determine the appropriate tag, the sparse standards still leave much freedom in the choice of communication protocols and the format and amount of information stored in the tag. Companies transcending a closed-loop solution and wishing to share their application with others may encounter conflicts as cooperating partners need to agree in standards concerning communication protocols, signal modulation types, data transmission rates, data encoding and frames, and collision handling algorithms. • Cost: The cost of tags depends on their type. In the 2003 report ‘RFID Systems in the Manufacturing Supply Chain’, ARC This predicted decrease is still deemed insufficient, as economic use of tags—taking the associated 5–35% decrease of labor costs and zero tag information generation costs into account as well—would require a maximum of 25 cents per tag for high-end products, and 5 cents for common item-level tagging. Prices of active or semi-passive tags (at least $1 per tag) are even more of a hindrance, allowing their economic application only for scanning high-value goods over long ranges. • Collision: Attempting to read several tags at a time may result in signal collision and ultimately to data loss. To prevent this, anti-collision algorithms (most of them are patented or patent pending) can be applied at an extra cost. The development of these methods, aimed at reducing overall read time and maximizing the number of tags simultaneously read, still goes on. • Faulty manufacture of tags and deficient detection of tags: Manufacturing of tags is not yet 100% failure-free today; about 20–30% of tags used in early RFID pilots have been defective. Tags may be damaged during usage. A wide range of application challenges can be answered by the multitude of suitable tags, yet none of them is completely invulnerable and the causes of damage …show more content…
User can instantly determine the general location of tagged assets anywhere within the facility with the help of active RFID technology. Control point detection zones at strategic locations throughout the facility allow the user to define logical zones and monitor high traffic areas. Tagged assets moving through these control points provide instant location data.Asset tracking applications will see an almost vertical growth curve in the coming years and the growth rate in this area will be much higher than the growth rate of general RFID …show more content…
Hospitals and jails are most general tracking required places. Hospital uses RFID tags for tracking their special patients. In emergency patient and other essential equipment can easily track. It will be mainly very useful in mental care hospitals where doctors can track each and every activity of the patient. Hospitals also use these RFID tags for locating and tracking all the activities of the newly born babies. The best use of the people tracking system will be in jails. It becomes an easy tracking system to track their inmates. Many jails of different US states like Michigan, California, and Arizona are already using RFID-tracking systems to keep a close eye on jail