What Is Home Automation?Home automation is the automatic control of electronic devices in your home These devices
What industries can benefit from IoT?
What are IoT applications?
The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects—“things”—that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet. These devices range from ordinary household objects to sophisticated industrial tools. With more than 7 billion connected IoT devices today, experts are expecting this number to grow to 10 billion by 2020 and 22 billion by 2025. Oracle has a network of device partners. Over the past few years, IoT has become one of the most important technologies of the 21st century. Now that we can connect everyday objects—kitchen appliances, cars, thermostats, baby monitors—to the internet via embedded devices, seamless communication is possible between people, processes, and things. By means of low-cost computing, the cloud, big data, analytics, and mobile technologies, physical things can share and collect data with minimal human intervention. In this hyperconnected world, digital systems can record, monitor, and adjust each interaction between connected things. The physical world meets the digital world—and they cooperate. While the idea of IoT has been in existence for a long time, a collection of recent advances in a number of different technologies has made it practical. Industrial IoT (IIoT) refers to the application of IoT technology in industrial settings, especially with respect to instrumentation and control of sensors and devices that engage cloud technologies. Refer to thisTitan use case PDF for a good example of IIoT. Recently, industries have used machine-to-machine communication (M2M) to achieve wireless automation and control. But with the emergence of cloud and allied technologies (such as analytics and machine learning), industries can achieve a new automation layer and with it create new revenue and business models. IIoT is sometimes called the fourth wave of the industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0. The following are some common uses for IIoT:What is IoT?
iOT intelligent applicationsWhy is Internet of Things (IoT) so important?
What technologies have made IoT possible?
What is industrial IoT?
RFID is an acronym for “radio-frequency identification” and refers to a technology whereby digital data encoded in RFID tags or smart labels (defined below) are captured by a reader via radio waves. RFID is similar to barcoding in that data from a tag or label are captured by a device that stores the data in a database. RFID, however, has several advantages over systems that use barcode asset tracking software. The most notable is that RFID tag data can be read outside the line-of-sight, whereas barcodes must be aligned with an optical scanner. If you are considering implementing an RFID solution, take the next step and contact the RFID experts at AB&R® (American Barcode and RFID).
RFID belongs to a group of technologies referred to as Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). AIDC methods automatically identify objects, collect data about them, and enter those data directly into computer systems with little or no human intervention. RFID methods utilize radio waves to accomplish this. At a simple level, RFID systems consist of three components: an RFID tag or smart label, an RFID reader, and an antenna. RFID tags contain an integrated circuit and an antenna, which are used to transmit data to the RFID reader (also called an interrogator). The reader then converts the radio waves to a more usable form of data. Information collected from the tags is then transferred through a communications interface to a host computer system, where the data can be stored in a database and analyzed at a later time.
As stated above, an RFID tag consists of an integrated circuit and an antenna. The tag is also composed of a protective material that holds the pieces together and shields them from various environmental conditions. The protective material depends on the application. For example, employee ID badges containing RFID tags are typically made from durable plastic, and the tag is embedded between the layers of plastic. RFID tags come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are either passive or active. Passive tags are the most widely used, as they are smaller and less expensive to implement. Passive tags must be “powered up” by the RFID reader before they can transmit data. Unlike passive tags, active RFID tags have an onboard power supply (e.g., a battery), thereby enabling them to transmit data at all times. For a more detailed discussion, refer to this article: Passive RFID Tags vs. Active RFID Tags.
Smart labels differ from RFID tags in that they incorporate both RFID and barcode technologies. They’re made of an adhesive label embedded with an RFID tag inlay, and they may also feature a barcode and/or other printed information. Smart labels can be encoded and printed on-demand using desktop label printers, whereas programming RFID tags are more time consuming and requires more advanced equipment.
– Inventory management
– Asset tracking
– Personnel tracking
– Controlling access to restricted areas
– ID Badging
– Supply chain management
– Counterfeit prevention (e.g. in the pharmaceutical industry)
Although RFID technology has been in use since World War II, the demand for RFID equipment is increasing rapidly, in part due to mandates issued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Wal-Mart requiring their suppliers to enable products to be traceable by RFID.
Whether or not RFID compliance is required, applications that currently use barcode technology are good candidates for upgrading to a system that uses RFID or some combination of the two. RFID offers many advantages over the barcode, particularly the fact that an RFID tag can hold much more data about an item than a barcode can. In addition, RFID tags are not susceptible to the damages that may be incurred by barcode labels, like ripping and smearing.
From the read distance to the types of tags available, RFID has come a long way since World War II and there is a bright future ahead. Review the evolution of RFID.
For more information about how RFID works and how to integrate this technology into your business processes, read our RFID Basics.
When referring to operating frequency, we generally refer to it in hertz (usually kilohertz or megahertz). A hertz is the standard measurement of a wave cycle (radio waves in this case). Imagine an ocean wave with a peak and a trough. A hertz measures a wave cycle by beginning with the midpoint from where the wave started. The cycle continues to the peak, down through the trough, and back up to the midpoint.
Once the wave goes through the peak, trough, and hits its midpoint, it has completed a cycle. The frequency is the number of cycles a wave completes in a single second. A wave that completes one cycle in one second would have one hertz. So, a high-frequency tag with an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz (Megahertz) radiates a wave that cycles 13,560,000 times per second.
High frequency is only one of the three frequency levels, along with low frequency and ultra-high frequency. So, now that we know what frequency means let’s jump into the definitions of each type and how they are typically applied.
Low frequency (LF) tags generally operate at 125–134 kilohertz, meaning they usually have slower data transfer rates than their high-frequency or ultra-high frequency counterparts.
In addition, the frequency platform requires that the object is close to the reader (generally a few centimeters to inches) and not quickly moving to transmit the data stored on the tag. The desire for faster data transfer and convenient scanning has led to a decline in the use of low-frequency RFID.
However, this type of tag has one significant benefit. RFID opaque materials such as water or metals do not deter low-frequency tags. Due to the ability to transmit through otherwise RFID opaque materials, this product category can be a good fit when the tagged object has a high water content or requires close interaction with metal. The ability to penetrate liquids makes LF tags a great fit to identify animals or fruit. Applications under this umbrella may also include Access Control systems.
High Frequency (HF) tags operate at 13.56 megahertz. They are essentially the ‘Swiss army knife of the RFID world. They have data transfer rates acceptable for many uses, a wide range of storing capacities and read distances ranging from millimeters to meters.
Tags in this category can still operate on objects exposed to water and are often a good fit for tagging bottles or vials containing liquids. There is almost an infinite amount of tag size and memory combinations available to fit the needs of virtually any application. A protocol within HF called near-field communication (NFC) allows you to communicate with the tags using a smartphone.
Various real-world applications can leverage these benefits. From reagent tracking to mobile payment, the possibilities seem endless. This type of tag’s ability to interact with smartphones makes its category increasingly popular, with marketers attempting to tie digital interactions with the physical world.
The majority of UHF systems operate between 860 and 960 megahertz. The distances for UHF tags are usually measured in feet and meters. While the tags are an excellent fit for objects that require fast identification from a distance, the tags are significantly impacted by liquids.
Because of the distance, lower cost, and quick transfer rates that come with the UHF platform, this technology has become popular for industrial applications and organizations looking for logistical improvements.
However, warehouses and labs aren’t the only places you’ll find UHF. UHF has found its way into the world of sporting events, often used for race timing and keeping track of tickets for expensive sporting events.
As you can see, many options are out there, scratching the surface of the implications within the primary tag frequency groups. This is why working with a solutions provider can help ensure the right fit for your application needs.
UHF, the English acronym for Ultra High Frequency, is an automatic wireless communication technology that allows you to read data from a great distance.
RFID is an automatic identification technology based on devices called RFID tags.
The RFID tags are divided into two large categories:
Passive tags operate mainly on three frequencies: Low Frequency (LF), High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency (UHF).
UHF tags are successfully used in the world of logistics and retail thanks to the possibility of reading data from great distances, ranging from 8 -10 meters.
The application of RFID tags with UHF technology for logistics and inventory in the industrial sector is carried out by taking advantage of portable handheld readers that carry out readings over a great distance.
The UHF technological system is essentially composed of 3 elements: a tag (also called transponder), an antenna, and a reading system called RFID Reader. The tag consists of a chip that contains all the information and a RF antenna that takes care of transmitting data to the reader, which then reads that data and updates it.
The operation underlying the technology and which allows this transmission even with devices unequipped with their own power supply is based on electromagnetic waves.
The reader, through the antenna, emits an electromagnetic field that generates a voltage in the spiral of the tag that feeds the chip and activates it. The active chip, taking advantage of the same spiral, communicates the information to the reader that will then be able to read and process it.
Is there a limit to the number of tags that can be interrogated simultaneously?
The answer depends on the type of radio frequency identification system, and on what you mean by "at one time."
Let me take the second part of the question first. Technically, all RFID readers can interrogate only one tag at a time. If two tags are sending signals to a reader simultaneously, there is no way for the device to distinguish one from another. However, there are special anti-collision algorithms that enable interrogators to "singulate" on specific tags—that is, a reader can talk to one tag at a time, but in very rapid succession. This happens so quickly that it appears the reader is interrogating many tags at once.
There are, of course, many different types of RFID systems—passive low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF) and ultrahigh-frequency (UHF), as well as active tags that operate at 433 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.45 MHz and 5.6 GHz. Lower-frequency means less data can be transmitted during a given period of time. So with passive LF tags, which operate at 125 KHz or 134 KHz, it would take slightly longer for 100 tags to communicate with a reader than with an HF system that operates at 13.45 MHz, or a UHF system that operates at 860 to 960 MHz.
The amount of time that tags spend in the read field is critical. You will not be able to read 1,000 tags moving through a dock door, but if you put the same 1,000 tags in a tunnel reader, in which there are antennas on all four sides, you might be able to read all 1,000 tags with no problem for a few seconds.
To summarize, RFID tags can be read one after another very quickly, but for a very dense tag population, the tags would need to be in the read field for a few seconds. For more information on how to set up a UHF system to read dense tag populations, see the answer to a recent Ask the Experts question, How Can I Read 1,000 Tagged Apparel Items Within a Small Area?
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
Follow WhatsApp
Service Hotline
+8613728752243
Chat on WhatsApp
