RFID
What is RFID?
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is the use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object. A tag can be read from up to several feet away and does not need to be within direct line-of-sight of the reader to be tracked.
How does a RFID system work?
A RFID system is made up of two parts: a tag or label and a reader. RFID tags or labels are embedded with a transmitter and a receiver. The RFID component on the tags have two parts: a microchip that stores and processes information, and an antenna to receive and transmit a signal. The tag contains the specific serial number for one specific object.
To read the information encoded on a tag, a two-way radio transmitter-receiver called an interrogator or reader emits a signal to the tag using an antenna. The tag responds with the information written in its memory bank. The interrogator will then transmit the read results to an RFID computer program.
There are two types of RFID tags: passive and battery powered. A passive RFID tag will use the interrogator’s radio wave energy to relay its stored information back to the interrogator. A batter powered RFID tag is embedded with a small battery that powers the relay of information.
In a retail setting, RFID tags may be attached to articles of clothing. When an inventory associate uses a handheld RFID reader to scan a shelf of jeans, the associate is able to differentiate between two pairs of identical jeans based upon the information stored on the RFID tag. Each pair will have its own serial number.
With one pass of the handheld RFID reader, the associate can not only find a specific pair, but they can tell how many of each pair are on the shelf and which pairs need to be replenished. The associate can learn all of this information without having to scan each individual item.
RFID Software Support in BarTender:
BarTender’s RFID tools are designed with the same flexibility and ease of use for which its label design features are renowned. You simply create RFID objects in your design the same way you would create barcodes and other label objects.
BarTender also lets you put the same data into your RFID tags, text and barcodes, giving you the choice of using RFID or barcode scanning hardware to retrieve the data and providing data redundancy in case of a problem with the RFID tag.
BarTender provides full RFID software support in all editions.offering support for the Latest RFID Tag Types
EPC Gen 2 (ISO 18000-6C), ISO 15693, ISO 18000-6B, EPC Class 1, Tag-It, I-CODE, TagSys, My-d and Picotag.
Data Formats for Wal-Mart, DoD, EPC:
Most RFID tags allow data to be encoded in a variety of formats. BarTender currently supports the DoD, GDTI, GIAI, GID, GRAI, GSRN, SGLN, SGTIN and SSCC, and SGLN formats, and also lets you specify your own custom RFID data formats.
“Gen2” Compliant
BarTender is fully compliant with the EPCglobal consortium’s UHF Generation 2 standard, so you can use it with RFID-capable printers from a variety of manufacturers. BarTender also supports many “Generation 1” printers and RFID tags.
Unicode Compliance
When encoding text into an RFID tag, you can select from 20 different codepages from around the world, including Unicode (which supports most characters from most of the world’s languages).
On-Screen RFID Tag Display
BarTender shows you the outline of the RFID antenna, chip and substrate while you are designing your label, so you can see if you are placing a label object in an undesirable location. BarTender’s predefined label stocks come with graphic files that show the appropriate outline image, but you can also supply your own custom images
Future readiness:
RFID software is a relatively new technology, with rapidly evolving capabilities and applications. Fortunately, key BarTender functionality can often be upgraded for free through downloadable upgrades to printer drivers and component modules. This makes it less likely that you will need to upgrade the full program due to minor changes to RFID tags and standards.
