RFID stands for “radio-frequency identification,” and it refers to a technique in which a reader captures digital data contained in RFID tags or smart labels (described below) using radio waves. In the same way that data from a tag or label is taken by a device and stored in a database, RFID is analogous to barcoding. RFID, on the other hand, provides significant advantages over barcode asset tracking software. The most significant difference is that RFID tag data may be read without needing to be aligned with an optical scanner, whereas barcode data must be aligned with an optical scanner.
HOW DOES RFID WORK?
RFID is a member of the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) set of technologies. With little or no human interaction, AIDC techniques recognize things, gather data about them, and enter that data straight into computer systems. To do this, RFID technologies use radio waves. An RFID tag or smart label, an RFID reader, and an antenna are the three main components of an RFID system. RFID tags have an integrated circuit and an antenna for transmitting data to RFID readers. The radio waves are then converted into a more useable type of data by the reader. The data acquired from the tags is subsequently sent to a host computer system through a communications interface, where it can be saved. The radio waves are then converted to a more useable kind of data by the reader. The data acquired from the tags is subsequently sent to a host computer system through a communications interface, where it may be saved in a database and evaluated later.