RFID. Science Fiction or the Future?

Imagine that you're at the supermarket to do a little shopping. Your cart is full and its time to check out. You push your cart past the checkout counter and the objects in your cart are automatically scanned and calculated within seconds. Your debit/credit card is also scanned and processed, allowing you pay without ever reaching for your wallet.

You walk to the nearby subway station to take the train home. You enter the station without ever having to display your pass. You drop off your groceries and head to the library. You choose the books that you wish to borrow, and as you pass the information desk, your books are automatically scanned without you ever having to lift a finger.

You then head off to work at a nearby retail store. You have been assigned to do product inventory. You grab a hand-held device and wave it up and down the isles of the store. Within minutes the inventory for the entire store has been read and calculated.

Does this sound like something out of science fiction?

If you have not heard of it yet, you will soon. RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification is an identification method, which allows users to store and retrieve information automatically using radio waves. Although it has been around for quite some time, over the past several years, RFID has become more and more popular.

It is thought that eventually, RFID will replace the barcode. Although others think that the use of RFID will become widespread, its replacement of the barcode is unlikely due to various reasons.

Massive amounts of information can be stored on a tiny RFID chip or tag. The tag is then attached to the desired object, and the information can then be read from a reader or antenna, that can be a few inches, or several feet away from the tag.

There are three types of RFID tags: active, passive, and semi-passive.