Radio frequency identification or RFID is the generic expression for technologies that make use of radio waves to identify objects and collect data. The use of RFID dates back to World War II when the radio waves were first used by the allied forces against the German bombers. Since then, RFID technology has found application in various fields ranging from animal identification, anti-theft application, asset management, library management, to cargo handling, manufacturing, museum, hospital/blood banks, real-time tracking in transport, ticketing, retail stores, mining etc. A basic RFID system contains (i) an RFID device/circuit (such as a transponder, tag, smart label, card, etc.) that contains data about the tagged item, (ii) an Antenna that transmits the radio frequency (RF) signals between the reader and the RFID device and, (iii) a Reader that receives the RF transmissions from an RFID device and transmits to a host system for processing.
RFID tags are found in two forms active and passive, which are both technically and functionally different from each other. Active tags use an integrated battery to energize the tag, sending an (RF) signal to a reader. Active tags are able to transmit signals over greater distances, up to 300 feet indoors and 1,000 feet outdoors. Because these tags include a battery and more complex circuitry, they are much larger in size and are more expensive than passive tags. The life of these tags is limited to the life of the battery. However, by optimizing the circuitry and battery, some tags may last ten years or longer. Passive tags are the most common type of RF tags. Passive tags operate without an internal battery source since they obtain power to operate from the electromagnetic field generated by an RF reader. An RFID reader transmits an energy field that activates the tag and provides power to the chip, allowing the tag to transmit or store data. Transmission range for passive tags is limited compared to active tags, but with no battery the tags can be much smaller and less expensive. Since passive tags do not have a battery, they have an unlimited lifespan.
RFID is better than the existing barcode technology and hope to replace it in future. While a Barcode system uses an optical signal reader or scanner to interpret data contained in a barcode, an RFID system uses an RF reader to receive radio frequency signals from RFID devices containing stored data. It means that RFID doesn't require a line of sight since the tags can be read as long as they are in the field of surveillance of a reader. Compared to barcodes, RFID technology is fast, carries lot more information, is easier to handle, mass identification is possible, finds more application, and promises to generate more ROI.
RFID in India
The RFID market in India is currently in its infant stage. The RFID Association of India was founded in April 2005 to promote awareness about the technology and adoption of RFID standards and applications across industry, government and among academia in the country. The Radio frequency band allocated for RFID in India is 865 - 867 MHz. The power has been set to 4W. In India the governing bodies monitoring the implementation of RFID are Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and Department of Telecommunications. In India the expectations with RFID is regarding its application in automated management of logistics, cost reduction, reduction lead times and efficient management of data.
As implementation of RFID is growing across the globe, Indian software firms have started targeting the global market in retail, logistics and manufacturing. Major IT firms like Wipro, Infosys and Patni Computers have already started R&D related pilot projects to develop solutions for vehicle tracking, animal tracking, retail automation etc. Also, the Indian retail market is encouraged by the entrance of Wal-Mart in India, a world leader in RFID retail Market. Beside retail segment other promising areas identified for RFID application are pharmaceutical, logistics and security.
Some of the Indian companies involved in pilot projects are Pantaloon which has employed 1,000 RFID tags in its Tarapur warehouse. Pilot projects of Madura Garments and Ashok Leyland are almost in the final stage. Mahindra & Mahindra, one of the leading automobile companies in the country, was also among the first to adopt RFID technology into its operations and now it has stepped up in full gear for employing the technology in areas ranging from warehousing to vendor tracking. Infosys Technologies has already filed a patent of an RFID solution, which, the company says, will help the retail enterprises to manage the huge information from RFID deployment. Recently, Infosys Technologies has successfully implemented SAP® solutions for RFID in global track and trace system for CHEP, the global leader in pallet and container pooling services. At Infosys, efforts are on to employ RFID technology in supply chain applications involving container level tagging, warehouse automation, item level tracking etc.
Wipro's Manufacturing Solutions has set up a Center of Excellence with a dedicated team of consultants who provide RFID solutions to customers in the areas of design, analysis and implementation. Wipro's RFID solutions include a Wireless Yard Management System for large automobile manufacturers and Real-Time WIP Tracking System for electronic component product manufacturers. Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro, has launched an RFID-enabled concept store at its campus. The store demonstrates automation of retail transactions through the implementation of RFID technologies. Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited has started to towards implementing an RFID tracking system to meet Wal-Mart's RFID mandate for its Class-II pharmaceutical suppliers.
India being agricultural economy Indian farmers are now hopeful of keeping a track of their cattle using RFID. The Kopordem farm at Valpoi in Sattari Taluk in North Goa has become the first farm in India to use RFID for animal tagging. They have used RFID microchips that can be injected into the animal's body and can be remotely monitored. IT major TCS has entered negotiations with the government for employing RFID technology for tracking and well being of about seven million cattle in the state of Gujarat.
Even the government of India is looking forward to utilize RFID technology in the field of cold chain management. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, has initiated an RFID-based vehicle tracking pilot project on the Delhi-Jaipur highway of India. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) of Indian Railways has plans to deploy RFID technology to improve the wagon management system of the Railways. Other current applications of RFID by the government include authentication of passports for countries like USA, Pakistan, and New Zealand.
A project has been initiated at CDAC Noida and IIT Kanpur for joint development of one pilot application using RFID technology. As a part of this project, preliminary work on setting up of a state of the art RFID lab in the country will be progressed with an objective to make this lab as the 8th Auto ID Lab in the world. As a part of future collaborations a common area has been identified for collaborative Research with the European Union. RFID is one such mentioned area where India and Japan have constituted an ICT Forum comprising of top companies, academia and government officials from both India and Japan which would encourage research into the technology, help to create awareness among people and industry.
The growing retail sector in the country is also trying to implement RFID technology. Realizing the growing potential of RFID in India, Gemini Traze (a Chennai based company) has gone ahead and set up the first plant in the country manufacturing RFID tags and readers. In 2006, NXP Semiconductors, Smartag and Gemini Traze collaborated to implement RFID enables ticketing solution for ICC Champions Trophy Cricket held in India.
Challenges in RFID adoption in India
According to ZDNet's 2008 report, there are three primary roadblocks to RFID adoption in India (1) the relatively small size of Indian companies, (2) the cost of the technology, and (3) the lack of mandate among the corporate world or the government.
Companies in India are much smaller both in size and operations than some of their western counterparts and lack the scale and scope of operations to implement cost intensive RFID. The cost of investment in RFID technology deployment is major deterrent where the cost ranges from $1 million to $20 million for basic to high-end RFID tagging. The cost of RFID implementation is a major issue in India with tag prices reaching about 60 cents (in case of passive tags) as compared to the sub-10 cent levels for volume purchases in U.S and Europe. In India the RFID tag and reader prices are as high as $200 to several thousand dollars which is a major concern. The lack of mandates in India both in the Government and among the corporate world about research and development in RFID technology and its implementation has resulted in slower adoption. Issuance of spectrum faced initial stiff opposition from both India's military and railways, which had previously had had access to the 865-867 MHz spectrum. India had originally considered allocating 2.4 GHz as the spectrum for ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID, but EPCglobal India, a premier organization responsible for overseeing the adoption of RFID technology in India, argued that having UHF spectrum incompatible with that of U.S and European countries would seriously limit the ability of India's businesses to stay in race with rest of the world in RFID adoption.
Other important issues:
Apart form the above mentioned issues, which seem to be of universal kind, there are other critical issues which may seem to be latent at the surface but are potent enough to act as a major hindrance in the adoption of RFID technology as far as India is concerned. A few of the identified problems are discussed below:
Lack of encouragement for Indian companies: (1) Cost and Profit sharing issues, and (2) Investments in R&D.
Since its adoption in 2005, apart from some noteworthy cases which are mostly self-initiated, there has been negligible initiatives form the government as well as from the corporate world which will encourage investments in the technology the nature of which is usually large. It is surprising to note that the official website of RFID Association of India was last updated way back in 2006. Some of the Indian companies have gone ahead and invested in RFID systems to get the advantages of the technology but these investments are mostly made in closed-loop systems where the company has sole control of their goods as it moves through the supply chain. The reason is that all the currently available RFID systems use proprietary technology, which means that if company A puts an RFID tag on a product, it can't be read by Company B unless they both use the same RFID system from the same vendor. But for the growth of RFID application it becomes very important that the technology should be used in open loops. Most companies don't have closed-loop systems thus others can have the benefits of free riding the technology as goods move in a supply chain from one company to another or even from one country to another. Thus there is a need of proper framework regarding the sharing of cost and profit between the interested parties and some encouragement from the government in terms of policy making.
Ignorance about the technical aspects of RFID technology: (1) Use of active vs passive tags (2) Use of right frequency: low, high or ultra-high frequency tags? (3) Use of read-only vs read write tags (4) Issues like nature of product, reader collision, tag collision, read range etc. (5) Data handling and storage issues: proper software to process data
Active RFID tags have a battery, which is used to run the circuitry and to broadcast signals to a reader. Passive tags have no battery; instead they draw power from the reader which sends out electromagnetic waves that induce a current in the tag's antenna. Semi-passive tags, on other hand, use a battery to run the circuitry but communicate by drawing power from the reader. Active and semi-passive tags are useful for tracking high-value goods that need to be scanned over long ranges, such as railway cars on a track, but they are more costly making them too expensive to put on low-cost items. Companies are focusing more on passive UHF tags, which cost much less in bulks. Although their read range is limited (typically less than 20 feet as compared to 100 feet or more for active tags) they are far less expensive than active tags and can be disposed off with the product packaging.
Just like a radio, RFID tags and readers need to be tuned to the same frequency to communicate. Radio waves behave differently at different frequency, so one has to choose the right frequency for the right application. Different frequencies have different characteristics that make them useful for specific applications. For instance, low-frequency tags are cheaper than ultra high frequency (UHF) tags, use less power and are better able to penetrate non-metallic substances. They are ideal for scanning objects with high-water content (organic substances such as fruits and vegetables) at close range. UHF frequencies typically offer better range and can transfer data faster but use more power and are less likely to pass through materials. Since they tend to be more directed they require a clear path between the tag and reader. UHF tags might be better for scanning boxes of goods and containers in a warehouse facility. Since it is a complex decision involving the choice of right tag with desirable characteristics for right kind of goods, it needs the able guidance of a consultant, integrator or vendor that can help firms choosing the right RFID technology for their application.
Radio waves tend to bounce off metal or are absorbed by water at ultra-high frequencies. That makes tracking metal products or those with high water content problematic, but with good system design and engineering one can overcome this shortcoming. One major problem encountered with RFID is that the signal from one reader can interfere with the signal from another where coverage overlaps. This phenomenon is called reader collision. One way to avoid the problem is to use a technique called time division multiple access or TDMA. The other problem readers have is regarding the inability to read a lot of chips in the same field. Tag collision occurs when more than one chip reflects back a signal at the same time, confusing the reader. To encounter such problems different vendors have developed different systems for having the tags respond to the reader one at a time. Since a signal can be read in milliseconds, it appears that all the tags are being read simultaneously.
In India since companies tend to follow closed loop system, read-only tags are prevalent which have a serial number written on it once during the manufacturing process and then no information can be overwritten later. Once the companies start using the technology in open loops involving more than one interested parties use of read-write tags will become a reality where one can add or modify information in the tag as and when required. Companies are currently looking at using a simple license plate tags that contains only a 96-bit serial number, enough to store some basic information about the item it is on. The simple tags are cheaper to manufacture and are more useful for applications where the tag can be disposed off, after consumption, with the product packaging.
Lack of universal standard: Incompatibly at global level
Most countries have assigned the 125 kHz - 134 kHz band of radio spectrum for low-frequency systems, while 13.56 MHz range is used around the world for high-frequency systems. Since the usage of ultra high frequency RFID systems for commercial purposes started only during the mid-90s, countries all over the world have not yet agreed on a uniform band of the UHF spectrum for RFID since in many counties UHF comes under defense surveillance. Europe uses 868 MHz for UHF and the U.S. uses 915 MHz. Until recently, Japan did not allow any use of the UHF spectrum for RFID, but it is looking to open up the 960MHz area for RFID. Many other devices use the UHF spectrum, so it will take years for all governments to agree on a single UHF band for RFID. Governments also regulate the power of the readers to limit interference with other devices. Some groups, such as the Global Commerce Initiative, are trying to encourage governments to come to common terms on frequencies and output. To get around the problem, tag and reader makers are also trying to develop systems that can work at more than one frequency. At the global level the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is working on standards for tracking goods in the supply chain using high-frequency tags (ISO 18000-3) and ultra-high frequency tags (ISO 18000-6).
Lack of information about the latest in RFID technology, vendors, clients
One obstacle for businesses in realizing RFID's true potential is the lack of informed vendor who can guide firms in building RFID related infrastructure and develop proper tools for analyzing the information. In India there are actually very limited RFID vendors with different areas of expertise. One problem with current RFID systems is lack of interoperability i.e. the RFID tags are unique to each vendor and cannot be read by other vendor's RFID equipment. Thus, lack of standardization among vendors complicates resource sharing not only between different databases but also among partner firms.
Issues related to privacy
There is a growing perception among people that RFID is a threat to patron privacy. The major concern with the usage of RFID technology is that this data collected with help of RFID will be accessed at a later date and used for purposes other than that for which it was intended. Privacy advocators have been voicing their concerns that despite industry self-regulation efforts many database owners are not following fair information practices. In particular, the Internet has made it possible for organizations to disseminate information without the immediate knowledge of consumers. Several countries are already considering legislation that would pose restrictions on the use of RFID by companies.
Conclusion
With its economy growing up steadily India is offering immense opportunities to companies world over to exploit RFID technology and its usage to its full potential. Slowly but surely, RFID is penetrating India. From defense sector to corporate and from medical practitioners to rural farmers everybody is trying to make good use of it. India is increasingly becoming a manufacturing hub of goods and services for U.S and European nations whose own supply chains are equipped with RFID. These customers are applying pressure on Indian manufacturers to adopt RFID technology. And in spite of all the hindrance such as the high implementation costs, the issue of privacy and low RFID awareness industry that presents a great amount of challenge for wide scale application of RFID in India, analysts are optimistic that the RFID market in India will grow to Rs. 100 crores by 2012.
