While RFID is used popular in shipping and warehousing application to allow pallet and package be tracked, it is also becoming widely with the financial service industry. RFID -enabled smart credit cards can be read without derictly contact, when you wave them by a reader, tap them to a reader or otherwise avoid going through the process of a swipe. Althought this communications technology can be convenient, it also has drawbacks.
The design of chip and antenna controls the range from which it can be read. Short range compact chip is twist tied to the shoe or velcro strapped ankle. These need to be about 400mm from the mat and then give a very good temporal resolution. Alternatively a chip add a fairy large antenna can be incorporated in the bib number worn on the athlete’s chest at about 1.25m height level.
RFID tag is often a complement, but not a substitute, for UPC or EAN barcode. They may never completely replace barcode, due partly to their higher cost and the advantage of multiple data sources on the same objects. Also, unlike RFID label, barcode can be generated and distributed electronically, as via e-mail or mobile phone, for print or display by the recipient. An example is airline boarding passes the new EPC , along with several other schemes, is widely available at reasonable cost.
There are also several specific industries that have set guideline. These industries including the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) which has set a standard for tracking IT Assets with RFID tech, the Computer Technology Industry Association which has set a standard for certifying RFID engineers, and the International Airlines Transport Association IATA which has set tagging guideline for luggage in airports.
One of the missions of EPC global was to simplify the Babel of protocol prevalent in the RFID world in the 1990s. Two tag air interface (the protocol for exchanging information between a tag and a reader) were defined by EPCglobal prior to 2003. These protocols, commonly known as Class 0 and Class 1, saw significant clarification needed commercial implementation in 2002-2005.
