Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology touches millions of lives every day. From letting individuals into their hotel rooms to allowing parking owners to track vehicles in their facility – RFID technology fulfills countless roles. Let’s take a look at how RFID works.
It works on a simple yet elegant principle – RFID establishes a form of wireless communication between objects using low-potency radio waves. The RFID reader identifies objects, animals, or people using these electromagnetic waves.
Let’s take a look at how RFID works:
How does RFID work?
Every RFID system has three components that work in tandem – an antenna for scanning, a transceiver, and a transponder. The antenna and transceiver function as RFID readers.
The RFID reader can be fixed or portable and is usually connected to a local network. The reader continuously emits low-frequency radio waves to detect RFID tags, which are the transponders that are attached to the item that’s meant to be identified. When an RFID tag comes in proximity to an RFID reader, it will send back a wave to complete the identification.
A common example of RFID identification is the fast tag we use at toll booths, where vehicles with tags on their windshield are identified immediately by RFID readers and provided halt-free access.
RFID systems work the same way barcodes do, except the latter uses lasers instead of radio waves to identify items. Also, the product must be in the line of sight of a barcode scanner for this system to work, which is not the case with RFID.
How is RFID used in Smart Parking?
One of the most common applications of RFID can be seen in parking. Many smart parking facilities hand out RFID cards or tags to identify and authorize the vehicles of their parkers.
How does this work? The parking operator provides an RFID card (with its circuitry switched on) to the parker. Each time the parker tries to access the car park, the RFID reader identifies the card and sends a number to a microcontroller.
If the microcontroller is able to match this unique number with a pre-saved number in its database, it sends instructions to open the parking barrier. If not, the driver is denied entry. All of this happens in seconds, which is why RFID is a popular choice among operators who would like to set up fast and contactless access to parking lots.
Types of RFID tags
While RFID readers charge using a fixed electricity source, the same is not the case for RFID tags. These sticker-like tags require a nominal charge provided by either a reader’s antenna or an inbuilt battery.
Broadly, there are two types of RFID tags in use today.
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Active RFID tags
These tags contain their own power source in the form of a tiny battery, which is included in the tag’s circuitry. The typical frequency on active tags ranges from 433 MHz to 2.45 GHz. Since these tags provide a very long read range, up to 100+ meters, they are most useful in vehicle and asset tracking.
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Passive RFID tags
Passive RFID tags receive their power from the RFID reading antenna, which sends a current while transmitting data through electromagnetic radio waves. The frequency of passive tags ranges from 860 to 960 MHz. These tags provide a relatively lower read range of 25 meters as compared to active RFID tags. They are mostly used for supply chain tracking, electronic tolling, and race timing. Also Read: How Chania Made its Roads Inclusive with E-Parking
RFID has changed live tracking forever.
RFID technology is one of the quickest and most accurate ways to identify and track an object without any active human intervention. It is used widely in industries worldwide – to identify vehicles in the parking industry, track animals in the livestock trade, monitor patients in hospitals, and manage inventories in cargo and supply chain logistics. The most recent innovation using RFID comes in the form of tap-and-go credit card payments, which have also integrated themselves into the mobility industry to streamline parking further.
Tune into PitStop to learn more about interesting innovations that hide behind the scenes in the parking industry.