Database Reference
In-Depth Information
ticular choice of the tag depends upon the application domain, and an
acceptable price-point for the tag in that application domain.
Thus, the broad flexibility in the functionality of RFID tags, makes
them widely applicable to different problem domains. Examples of such
domains are as follows:
Retail Applications:
In retail applications, RFID tags are as-
sociated with the products, and fixed sensor readers at particular
locations are used in order to track the movement of products.
The technique can be used for real-time inventory tracking. Alter-
natively, active shelves can be used in order to determine product
availability.
The Internet of Things:
Ubiquitous computing, which is also
referred to as the
internet of things
, has been identified as a key
trend in recent years, in which information about objects is contin-
uously tracked with the use of sensor technology. Along with a host
of other advances in embedded sensor technology, RFID has been
identified to be one of the key enabling technologies towards this
trend [74]. The application of RFID technology for enabling such
ubiquitous computing requires the coupling of basic RFID tech-
nology with the relevant web and internet services for allowing
ubiquitous tracking. In particular, the ability to simultaneously
identify a large number of objects uniquely in a cost-effective way
with RFID tags has been a driving force in this direction.
Medical Applications:
RFID has increasingly found acceptance
in a variety of pervasive healthcare applications [67]. For example,
the tags may be associated with the patient medical history. This
canbeusefulforautomatedtrackingofpatientmedicalhistory.
For RFID-enabled healthcare asset management, major healthcare
equipments, such as wheelchairs or other medical equipments are
RFID-tagged, so that health-care experts can locate any asset in
real-time. This can also help increase emergency room safety in
addition to time saving [68].
Payment Systems:
RFID tags are used as credit-card like pay-
ment tokens that contain a serial number. When the tag is scanned
for a payment, the reader transmits the number over a network to
a remote computer, which is authorized to debit the money from
the consumer's back account. An example of such a payment sys-
tem is Texas Instruments's
Speedpass
, pay-at-pump system, which
was introduced in Mobil stations in the mid-nineties.
