Radio Frequency Identification Systems

Abstract

Promising to replace all optical barcodes and other types of automatic contactless identification techniques, the Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF RFID) systems stimulated a large-scale movement both in industry and academia in 2002. Automatic contactless identification systems are not new technologies; barcodes and various types of magnetic coupling RFIDs have been on the market for decades. The main advantage of UHF RFID systems over the former techniques is their longer read-range and faster reading procedure, extending their range of applications dramatically. As these UHF RFID systems developed, their limitations and disadvantages became known. In response, other techniques including Near-Field Communication RFIDs and chipless RFIDs have been proposed. First, we will review the basic history of automatic contactless identification techniques, then go through some of the important techniques in more detail. The main purpose of this chapter is to give a brief overview of the important automatic contactless identification techniques.