by Adi Tedjasaputra

Last week, the article the Art and Science of RFID Tagging introduced several factors that can influence the performance of air interface UHF RFID passive tags and the RFID tagging positions, i.e. R-Spot, L-Spot and D-Spot.

This week, we will continue the theme of RFID tagging and introduce three different kinds of RFID tags based on their attachment with identified objects, i.e. attachable, implantable and insertion tags. Depending on their nature of use, these tags are either reusable or disposable. Understanding the basic design of different RFID tag attachments can help the evaluation of different RFID tags available in the market for specific purposes or applications.

More than eighty five percent of the RFID tags available in the market are attachable tags. Attachable tags are popular due the broad and diverse RFID applications that require flexible and different types of attachments. The tags are designed to be attached on the surface of identified objects with permanent, semi-permanent or temporary attachment means. The most popular form of attachable tags is pressure-sensitive label, commonly known as smart label.

Implantable tags or embedded tags are usually aimed for permanent or long-term implantation, such as animal traceability and machine readable travel documents (MRTD). The ultimate benefit of implantable tags is the unity between the tags and their identified objects. Beside some ethical issues on human RFID tagging, the usage problems on human or animal implants may be tissue irritation and tissue migration problems.

Insertion tags, on the other hand, are designed to have little contact or no contact with identified objects. The main purpose of the tags is to enable identification for certain objects without specific attachment process and without tampering the identified objects, thus preserving the original state of the objects. Most of the insertion tags take form of non-adhesive labels that can be inserted into printed materials, their covers or other product packages easily. Since these tags can also be easily removed from identified objects, these tags only provide limited protection to identified object tampering or theft.


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Labels: label, rfid, tag, technology

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Smart Labels, identification labels with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags embedded, have become an emerging commodity that grows in demand along with the existing barcode labels. Different applications of smart labels in several vertical industries, such as retail and manufacturing, have started to complement the limitations of barcode labels that require a line of sight in an automatic identification process.

Ranging from textile and apparel labelling for garment tracking to case-level tracking throughout supply chain, smart labels being used in different applications can also vary. In the current market, there are passive, semi passive and active labels; passive labels rely on power from radio wave transmission of an RFID reader, semi-passive labels use battery only for running micro (or nano) electronic circuitry while still relying on the power from radio wave transmission of an RFID reader for communication and active labels operate entirely on battery.

A new type of smart label that potentially emerges in the near future is intelligent label that could include some additional data beside identification data and integrate micro and nanosensors, sensors in the scale of micrometer and nanometer, in its packaging. The current state of nanotechnology, nanopackaging and existing integrated circuit (IC) technologies has made the commercial availability of these labels closer to reality than science fiction.

Imagine cooking microwavable foods with a single no-brainy start button. Forget about the trouble of setting timer and some other microwave settings. Simply put a microwavable food tagged with an intelligent label that contains several sensors for detecting temperature, humidity and moisture level into a microwave oven equipped with an RFID reader. With a single press of start button, the oven could then read the cooking instructions embedded in the intelligent label and start cooking. During the cooking process, the oven could dynamically adjust the room temperature, humidity and moisture level based on the reading from the sensors for the best cooking result.

Even though, a demonstration of this kind of intelligent label and microwave oven during the exhibition of the Labelexpo Asia 2005 is unlikely, it is worth-noted that the third day of the seminar in the event will present several basic issues in smart labels and RFID.

Labels: circuit, label, reader, rfid, scm, tag, technology, tracking

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The newly developed technology enables Hitachi's µ-Chip to send data wirelessly from less than 30cm to about 70cm. The appealing benefit of the new technology is the possibility to attach the chip to a special thin-film antenna-embedded label without having to redesign it for longer operating distance than the conventional RFID chips.

Recently, Silicon Craft Technology in Thailand claimed its readiness to work on the world's smallest microchip with a competitive price of 2 Thailand Bath each, which is comparable to Hitachi's µ-Chip.

Labels: antenna, hitachi, label, rfid, technology

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The National Registration Department is introducing an "autolock" system to prevent MyKad from being tampered with, its Director General Datuk Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad said Tuesday.

He was speaking to reporters after opening the CardEx Asia 2005 conference and exhibition at Putra World Trade Centre here.

The two-day conference, featuring smart card technology, is being held with Smart Labels 2005, a showcase of cutting-edge technology that combines radio frequency identification (RFID) with on-demand label printing of text, graphics and barcodes.

Labels: card, label, MyKad, rfid, security, technology

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