An active RFID tag captures supply chain data like humidity from perishable cargo.Lawton wraps up his informative piece by offering some thoughts on use cases for each type of tag: Active tags can be much more expensive, but Lawton says bluetooth-based active tags “cost as little as $1.00 at the low end of the market.” But some active tags can cost several dollars each or more. Passive tags today cost somewhere around 5 cents each. Read ranges vary depending on the configuration, and can be from a few inches to 10 or more feet. Their smaller size also mean they can be delivered in many form factors, such as a label or price ticket. The lack of a battery greatly reduces the cost for chip manufacturers to produce an passive tag, such that they can potentially be used to track say millions of pieces of apparel, as some retailers are doing today. Some active tag deployments are used in what are called Real-time Locator Systems (RTLS).Īs noted above, a passive tag always depends on energy provided by a RFID reader to operate. They are primarily uses to track valuable items, or re-usable logistics containers. The article says active RFID tags can support a read range of more than 100 meters. In this type technology, the tag continuously sends a signal, and must therefore have a long-lived battery. One containers a transponder that monitors within its read range for a request from an RFID reader and transmits when prompted (but at longer read ranges than passive tags).Īlternatively, an active tag can carry a radio beacon. Lawton notes there are actually two types of active tags. The latter does not, and instead relies on the energy of the RFID reader for the power to transmit its data.īoth typically transmit just an ID, like an electronic bar code, but other data in some cases can be stored and transmitted as well. There is a clear line of demarcation between active and passive tags: the former includes a battery, so that they in some cases they can transmit their own signals. Old news for RFID veterans, but we hope a nice tutorial for RFID newbies. Active tags can be much more expensive, but Lawton says bluetooth-based active tags “cost as little as $1.00 at the low end of the market.” With interesting news stories on use of RFID in the supply chain still hard to come this week we will do a back to basics piece on active versus passive RFID tags, based on a recent piece on by well-known technology writer George Lawton.
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