Common Uses of RFID

RFID systems can be used just about anywhere, from clothing tags to missiles to pet tags to food - anywhere that a unique identification system is needed. The tag can carry information as simple as a pet owners name and address or the cleaning instruction on a sweater to as complex as instructions on how to assemble a car.

Here are a few examples of how RFID technology being used in everyday places:

RFID systems are being used in some hospitals to track a patient's location, and to provide real-time tracking of the location of doctors and nurses in the hospital. In addition, the system can be used to track the whereabouts of expensive and critical equipment, and even to control access to drugs, pediatrics, and other areas of the hospital that are considered "restricted access" areas.

RFID chips for animals are extremely small devices injected via syringe under skin. Under a government initiative to control rabies, all Portuguese dogs must be RFID tagged by 2007. When scanned the tag can provide information relevant to the dog's history and its owner's information.

RFID in retail stores offer real-time inventory tracking that allows companies to monitor and control inventory supply at all times.

The Orlando/Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) is using an RFID based traffic-monitoring system, which uses roadside RFID readers to collect signals from transponders that are installed in about 1 million E-Pass and SunPass customer vehicles.

HALO® Infant Protection Systems

The HALO Infant Protection System helps protect infants, patients, staff, and even vital medical equipment to ensure operating efficiencies, cost savings, and overall peace of mind. The HALO system uses unique skin-sensing RFID tags that provide ample notification once removed from an infant, even if the infant loses weight. Features and components of the HALO Infant Protection System include:

• Mother/Baby Matching – Infant Tags and Mother Tags can be associated to prevent accidental baby switching. Mother Tag can be used for auto-enrollment to ensure infants are protected immediately after birth.
• User-Friendly Software – Facility floor plan embedded in software provides visual indication of the location of a patient, staff member or asset. HALO smoothly integrates into your facility’s day-to-day operations, and the system can be configured to send alarm notifications to one, multiple, or all networked workstations.
• State-of-the-Art Technology – Patented technology provides immunity from noise interference, reducing nuisance alarms. The RDIF tags are the smallest and have the longest battery life available. Infrastructure components are monitored to ensure continuous system operation. Best warranties on tags and hardware provide lower ongoing operating costs.
• One-Touch Staff Distress Alerts – Location of staff in distress is displayed on the floor plan. Staff tag also provides hands-free access through protected exits
• Real-Time Location of Infants and Patients – Patient location is easily queried even when no alarm is present.
• Medical Equipment Protection and Location – Asset Tag protects medical equipment, and equipment location is easily queried and displayed on floor plan.

HALO Infant Protection System

EXI Wireless Systems Inc.

HALO is the ultimate infant protection

Details

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HALO is the ultimate infant protection. HALO "P-Tag" transponders will create system alarms if removed from the patient. Any attempt to exit the HALO system perimeter will invoke countermeasures and alarms alerting staff. The HALO central station is a computer with full color video display. HALO alarms and detection points are clearly identified in the graphical representation of your facility layout.

FEATURES
• EXI's exclusive patient tag senses if it has been removed from the patient.
• HALO supports up to 10 central stations, providing color displays of your facility's controlled exits and alarm conditions.
• Simple user interface minimizes staff training.
• Automatic patient identification for tag removal or egress alarms.
• Door bypass features allow staff to escort patients without alarms.
• Automatic door control prevents unattended patient egress.
• Industry leading lift elevator interface locks down elevators while minimizing staff interruptions.

Infant Protection
HALO transponders are specially designed for infants. Cut band technologies require constant supervision from staff to ensure the protective device remains on the infant during weight loss periods. EXI patient transponders' flexible band does not require repeated tightening. If the band does slip off or is intentionally removed, HALO will immediately notify staff at the central station by identifying the infant and the area where tag removal has occurred in your facility. The HALO central site will maintain a log of activity in the system including alarms, staff bypasses and tag removals. The central site is also used to re-assign patient tags when admitting new patients into the facility.

Flexibility
HALO can operate stand-alone or integrate into a larger system, providing your facility with the desired level of protection. HALO systems may operate in conjunction with:
• fire alarm overrides;
• lift elevator control;
• video equipment;
• various card reader systems;
• door mag-lock systems;
• paging systems.

EXI provides a full compliment of peripheral hardware such asannunciators and bypass devices to tailor your system needs.

EXI Wireless Systems Inc., Suite 100 - 13551 Commerce Parkway, Richmond, BC V6V 2L1. Tel: (800) 667-9689; Fax: (604) 207-7765.

VeriChip's "Hugs" Infant Protection System

by Donald Melanson

Information Week reports that VeriChip's RFID-based "Hugs" Infant Protection System sounded an alarm last week when the parents of an infant tried to take their baby out of the hostipal without authorization—security officials were then able to stop the parents before they were able to leave the hostipal with the baby. It's not clear if this is the first time the system was succesfully used or not, but it's currently deployed in some 900 hostipals in the U.S. In addition to preventing abductions, it's also designed to prevent accidental mismatchings. Man, they're totally wrecking on the premises for future Disney kids films, dude—the switched at birth plot device is like, classic.

RFIDs: GREAT NEW LOGISTICS BUSINESS OR BRAVE NEW WORLD?

(Presentation by Dr Patrick Dixon at national UK conference on RFID use - January 2004 - see also RFID slides)

Get ready for the biggest manufacturing, distribution and retail revolution since the net. The next ten years will see a new techno-revolution which will allow total automation from manufacturing to point of purchase, using wireless technology to create "radio barcodes".

A world, where everything that moves can talk to everyone, everywhere all the time. That means cartons of milk, bottles of wine, clothes, wallets, tyres, cars, pets and people.

Radio bar-codes embedded into billions of different things and organisms which have value, including animals and possibly some human beings - sending out radio signals about what they are, where they are, and possibly what they are doing or how their bodies are working. Like mobile phones, they cannot communicate to each other direct, but can exchange information via send / receive base stations.

These devices are tiny micro-computer systems which already cost as little as 25 cents, expected to fall to less than 5 cents by 2005. They are going to change all our lives, containing hardware, software, and permanent memory stores. They transmit and receive data and have their own built-in power generators which could in theory last up to 100 years. Activated by a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic radiation from a distance of less than two metres, the devices respond with short bursts of data.

So-called Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) are already being introduced rapidly by chains such as Wal-Mart for larger consignments. RFIDs have been around a long time. Since 1997 you'll have found the same technology in Ski passes in Switzerland , in Swatch watches, some of which can store credit, as well as more recently in London Underground electronic tickets.

Within the current decade, more of these RFIDs will be made each year than there are people alive on earth. Once prices fall to less than 2 cents per tag, retail usage will explode with anything from 20 - 40 billion tagged products sold a year.

"RFID - logistics and supply chain"

Computer chips get under skin of US enthusiasts

Forgetting computer passwords is an everyday source of frustration, but a solution may literally be at hand - in the form of computer chip implants.

With a wave of his hand, Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada, opens his front door. With another, he logs onto his computer.

Tiny radio frequency identification (RFID) computer chips inserted into Mr Graafstra's hands make it all possible.

"I just don't want to be without access to the things that I need to get access to. In the worst case scenario, if I'm in the alley naked, I want to still be able to get in (my house)," Mr Graafstra said in an interview in New York, where he is promoting the technology.

The computer chips, which cost about $US2 ($2.70), interact with a device installed in computers and other electronics. The chips are activated when they come within 3 inches of a so-called reader, which scans the data on the chips.

The "reader" devices are available for as little as $US50.

Graafstra said at least 20 of his tech-savvy pals have RFID implants.

"I can't feel it at all. It doesn't impede me. It doesn't hurt at all. I almost can't tell it's there," agreed Jennifer Tomblin, a 23-year-old marketing student and Mr Graafstra's girlfriend.

'Abracadabra'

Mikey Sklar, a 28-year-old Brooklyn resident, said, "It does give you some sort of power of 'Abracadabra,' of making doors open and passwords enter just by a wave of your hand."

The RFID chip in Mr Sklar's hand, which is smaller than a grain of rice and can last up to 100 years, was injected by a surgeon in Los Angeles.

Tattoo artists and veterinarians also could insert the chips into people, he said.

For years, veterinarians have been injecting similar chips into pets so the animals can be returned to their owners if they are lost.

Mr Graafstra was drawn to RFID tagging to make life easier in this technological age, but Mr Sklar said he was more intrigued by the technology's potential in a broader sense.

In the future, technological advances will allow people to store, transmit and access encrypted personal information in an increasing number of wireless ways, Mr Sklar said.

Wary of privacy issues, Mr Sklar said he is developing a fabric "shield" to protect such chips from being read by strangers seeking to steal personal information or identities.

One advantage of the RFID chip, Mr Graafstra said, is that it cannot get lost or stolen. And the chip can always be removed from a person's body.

"It's kind of a gadget thing, and it's not so impressive to have it on your key chain as it is to have it in you," Mr Sklar said. "But it's not for everyone."

Mr Sklar's girlfriend, Wendy Tremayne, has yet to be convinced. She said she probably would not inject the computer chip into her body unless she thought it was a "necessity".

"If it becomes more convenient, I may," said the 38-year-old artist and yoga teacher. "(But) I'd rather have an organic life."

-Reuters

How is RFID used inside a living body

RFID devices that are intended to be implanted inside a living body (like an animal or human being) have special requirements. They need to be encased in a special kind of casing that will not irritate or react with the living tissues that they are inserted into. The casing must also be transparent to the scanning radio-frequency beam that activates the chip. Some RFID vendors have created biocompatible glass for use in these applications.

One potential problem with being placed within a living organism is that the tiny RFID device may move around under the skin. This can be avoided by using special materials that actually let the surrounding tissue grow up to the casing and bond with it.

Because the radio-frequency waves that activate the microchip containing the identification number are only useful within a few feet (or less), the RFID chip is typically inserted very close to the surface of the skin.

The placement of the device is usually done with a hyperdermic-type needle. This method of insertion also dictates the shape and size of the device; implantable RFID devices are typically the size and diameter of a grain of rice. For dogs, the device is usually implanted between the shoulder blades.

RFID tags have been placed inside cows; some discussion of having all cows implanted with RFID devices has resulted from the recent scare with mad cow disease. Dog owners have used RFID tags to identify their pets rather than tattoos (the more traditional method).

RFID tags, like the VeriChip tag, can also be implanted inside human beings

The world's smallest and thinnest RFID tags

The world's smallest and thinnest RFID tags were introduced yesterday by Hitachi. Tiny miracles of miniaturization, these RFID chips (Radio Frequency IDentification chips) measure just 0.05 x 0.05 millimeters.
The previous record-holder, the Hitachi mu-chip, is just 0.4 x 0.4 millimeters. Take a look at the size of the mu-chip RFID tag on a human fingertip.
(Hitachi mu-chip tiny RFID tag)
Now, compare that with the new RFID tags. The "powder type" tags are some sixty times smaller.
(Powder RFID chips next to a human hair)
The new RFID chips have a 128-bit ROM for storing a unique 38 digit number, like their predecessor. Hitachi used semiconductor miniaturization technology and electron beams to write data on the chip substrates to achieve the new, smaller size.
Hitachi's mu-chips are already in production; they were used to prevent ticket forgery at last year's Aichi international technology exposition. RFID 'powder,' on the other hand, is so much smaller that it can easily be incorporated into thin paper, like that used in paper currency and gift certificates.
Science fiction fans will have a field day with this new technology. In his 1998 novel Distraction, Bruce Sterling referred to bugged money:
They always played poker with European cash. There was American cash around, flimsy plastic stuff, but most people wouldn't take American cash anymore. It was hard to take American cash seriously when it was no longer convertible outside U.S. borders. Besides, all the bigger bills were bugged. (Read more about bugged money)
These tiny RFID tags could be worked into any product; combined with RFID readers built into doorways, theft of consumer goods would be practically impossible. It's not clear from the references provided, but even if this chip needs an external antenna, the attached antenna would be a tiny ribbon of wire more narrow than a human hair and only a fraction of an inch long.
How far away could you be, and still read the information from this "powder RFID?" The source article is very thin; however, the mu-chip mentioned earlier is readable from a distance of 25 centimeters (about ten inches) with an external antenna like the one mentioned in the preceding paragraph. This doesn't sound like much, but it's certainly enough to read people going through doorways, for example.
These devices could also be used to identify and track people. For example, suppose you participated in some sort of protest or other organized activity. If police agencies sprinkled these tags around, every individual could be tracked and later identified at leisure, with powerful enough tag scanners.
To put it in the context of popular culture, see the picture below, which was taken from the 1996 movie Mission Impossible. One of the IMF operatives places a tracking tag on the shoulder of a computer programmer. Pretty clunky-looking tag...
(Tracking and ID tag from Mission Impossible movie)
Take a look at these earlier stories related to RFID, and consider how much easier it will be with tinier chips: RFID Sensor Tag Shower For Disasters (gentle rain of RFID), RFID-Maki: Easy Payment Sushi (just tag the sushi directly, then scan customer's stomach [no joke, see digestible tags]) and VeriChip Chairman Proposes RFID Chips For Immigrants (just dust the border).

RFID 101

RFID 101

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) refers to technologies that utilize radio waves to automatically identify individual items. When RFID first emerged, it was used in tracking and access applications. Since then, it has developed as a robust technology with ever increasing processing speeds, wider reading ranges, and larger memory capacities.

How RFID Works RFID technology allows information to be collected quickly and automatically and does not require contact or line-of-sight. The reader generates an electromagnetic field through its antenna. Once the tag enters the detection area, it becomes active when receiving a signal through its own antenna. This signal is used to turn on the tag's transmitter and allows the tag to communicate and exchange information with the reader. The reader then transmits the data to a computer or server for processing and management. A basic system consists of two components including a tag and a reader with an antenna. Tag RFID tags vary in shape and size and are either active or passive. Active RFID tags are powered by an internal battery and are commonly read/write, which allows the tag's data to be modified or rewritten. The memory size of an active tag varies depending on the application requirements. Passive RFID tags like our Health Link implantable microchip, on the other hand, are not powered by a battery, but instead rely on power generated by the reader. The read range for active tags ranges from a few inches to over a hundred feet. The read range for passive tags ranges from one to ten feet. Reader The reader is a handheld or fixed-mount device that emits electromagnetic (radio) waves. These waves can range from one inch to 100 feet and are dependent on power output and the radio frequency used. Frequency RFID systems can run on frequencies anywhere between 30 KHz to 500 KHz (low frequency), 850 MHz to 950 MHz and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz (both considered high frequency). Systems that run on low frequency are less costly and have shorter reading ranges. Our patient identification microchip and systems like asset tracking typically use low frequency. High frequency systems are more costly, have faster reading speed, and have longer reading ranges. RFID systems used in automated toll collection are of this system type.

RFID Car Systems: Radio Protection

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Radio-frequency identification tags use similar technology to RFIDs used in cars.

Cars with RFID security do have lower theft rates, and it makes sense. This type of system makes getting in and driving off a lot more complicated.

Keyless entry and immobilizer systems work in pretty much the same way. Let's say you have a keyless-entry fob. It's a standard radio-transponder setup: Inside is a circuit board, a radio transmitter, a battery and an antenna. When you get near your car, perhaps 5 feet to 10 feet (a few meters) away, you press the button to unlock your doors. The RFID chip in the fob sends out a code of 40 impulses broadcast on different frequencies. The corresponding RFID chip in the car receives this code and accesses the car's software to find out if the code is the right one. If it is, the doors unlock.

This is called an active RFID system, since pushing the button actively sends out the code, instead of receiving it. The immobilizer chips in ignition keys are also active. Keyless ignition, on the other hand, is a passive RFID system. Instead of the ignition chip sending out the code, the car sends out the code and the ignition chip receives it. Ignition systems have no battery (or a different kind), and they have a lower-power antenna, so they won't broadcast as far. It's an additional security measure.

On its face, the system seems impenetrable: There are billions of possible sequences, and brute force will no longer get the car moving. Add in rolling codes, which are becoming more common -- a system in which the expected sequence changes slightly every time you push the button -- and the options get closer to a trillion. But as with any security system, it's only impenetrable until thieves figure out a way around it. Look at safes and burglar alarms; you've got to update those frequently in order to stay ahead of the robbers. Car RFID systems are no different.

RFID hacking is the most high-tech approach to car theft yet. Using hardware that grabs radio frequency signals out of the air, and software that decrypts it, thieves with time on their hands can steal an RFID-equipped car. In 2005, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland demonstrated how.