Achieving Perfect Readability
By developing new chip and antenna technologies, we can improve the read rate of item-level tags.
By Hao Min
June 1, 2006—Companies that are using RFID in the real world have found they can't read every tag every time. If you're tracking goods on pallets and cases, that's not an insurmountable problem because a missed tag can be read later in the supply chain. But in many item-level applications, missing a tag can be a huge issue. For instance, if you can't read the tag on an item at checkout, a retailer could lose a sale. In a library application, missed tags may cause the loss of books.
At the Auto-ID Lab at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, we have been conducting systematic research to learn why interrogators fail to read some tags in many situations. We found that the reasons are very complicated, but most missed reads are caused by the following: Tags are located in a null spot, or "hole," where there is not enough energy to operate the microchip; tags are detuned by water or metal or other tags nearby; or the radio waves to or from the tag are interfered with or blocked by radio waves from other electronic appliances or electromagnetic energy given off by machines.
We've developed several innovative technologies to improve read rates:
June 1, 2006—Companies that are using RFID in the real world have found they can't read every tag every time. If you're tracking goods on pallets and cases, that's not an insurmountable problem because a missed tag can be read later in the supply chain. But in many item-level applications, missing a tag can be a huge issue. For instance, if you can't read the tag on an item at checkout, a retailer could lose a sale. In a library application, missed tags may cause the loss of books.
At the Auto-ID Lab at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, we have been conducting systematic research to learn why interrogators fail to read some tags in many situations. We found that the reasons are very complicated, but most missed reads are caused by the following: Tags are located in a null spot, or "hole," where there is not enough energy to operate the microchip; tags are detuned by water or metal or other tags nearby; or the radio waves to or from the tag are interfered with or blocked by radio waves from other electronic appliances or electromagnetic energy given off by machines.
We've developed several innovative technologies to improve read rates:
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