July 17, 2006
Improving RFID Tag Read Rates
RFID technologies suffer from a number of problems, including consumer perception as well as technical issues. One such technical problem is the fact that RFID readers are not always able to read chips on a 100% basis. That, of course, is a serious issue in a retail setting, or in situations such as attempting to pay bus fare. Professor Hao Min has some ideas about how the RFID read-rate can be improved.
One of the primary reasons for RFID tags not getting 100% readings is poor positioning, sometimes in an area called a "null spot", which results in a lack of sufficient energy. Other reasons have to do with interference from metals, water, other RFID tags, or anything that generates electromagnetic energy.
Understanding the physics of RFID helps to smooth out problems, including doing a Full Faraday Cycle Analysis (FFCA) to detect interference sources. Apparently, air quality can also make a difference. (Since humidity means water, and water affects RFID read rates.)
RuBee chips are an alternate for RFID which do not suffer from most of these problems because they work on a long wavelength. However, they may have their own undiscovered issues.
It's interesting that no one has suggested a Faraday Cage. Typically, a Faraday Cage is used to block out other electromagnetic interference from an RFID chip. This may be flawed reasoning, but I'm hypothesizing that, if constructed properly, a modified Faraday Cage could shield an RFID chip and reader from electromagnetic interference and other RFID readers, but still manage to let the authorized reader read the chip. If so, then the read rates would likely improve.
Improved read rates are going to become a critical issue soon in the pharmaceutical industry. Starting Dec 1st, 2006, the FDA is requiring drug manufacturers to start using RFID to track the drug supply chain, but only for certain high-priced and/or popular drugs.
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