Focus on the application and development of radio frequency tag technology

Today, radio frequency tags (daily FIDs), a powerful new type of tag, have begun to be used for product tracking and logistics management in the distribution of goods. Experts predict that radio frequency technology will eventually replace bar codes by virtue of its automatic identification and continuous improvement of digital acquisition systems. It is reported that Wal-Mart has asked all suppliers to use RFID tags before 2005. However, due to the fact that the cost of RFID tags is much higher than that of bar codes, and there is concern that the use of RFID tags will cause leakage of personal privacy, it is opposed to the promotion of RFID technology.

In fact, it is not important to discuss whether people can accept RFID. After all, RFID technology has many advantages and it is still improving, especially after the appearance of conductive ink. In August 2003, Flint Ink Company of the United States organized a new department called RFID for RFID, which specializes in the development of conductive inks. Conductive inks can be used to make low-cost RFID tracking antennas to facilitate the use of RFID tags. According to the technical director of the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, they are also working to establish an RF-ID global network system that can collect data information in real time. The application of phenol ID technology and products has an important relationship with conductive inks and has a potential impact on retail supply chains because the cost of RFID tags has to be considered.

The principle and application of RFID tags

1. working principle

The RFID tag consists of two parts, a silicon chip and a dedicated antenna. Through the antenna, the chip can receive and transmit microwave signals, such as product identity data. An RFID reader is connected to an antenna and a computer network. After a certain frequency inquiry signal is sent to the RFID tag, the tag sends a feedback signal. The signal includes information such as a product code, and the signal is processed by the reader and transmitted to the computer network. . In this way, if shop assistants want to know the types and quantities of goods on the shelves, they can use the reader to scan the shelves, which greatly facilitates product management.

2. Classification '
From the structural point of view, there are three kinds of RFID tags, active, semi-active, and passive. Passive structure is the simplest. It consists of an antenna and a chip. Its working energy comes from the electromagnetic signal emitted by the reader and is not required by the integrated circuit power supply. Therefore, the cost is also the lowest. Semi-active and active RFID tags require power to obtain higher operating frequencies, or to record the energy of sensor data. Such tags are powerful, complex, and costly.

From the functional point of view, RFID tags can be divided into read-only and read-write. The data information in read-only RFID tags cannot be changed, but it can usually be read many times; while read-write tags allow the user to change the data that has been written to the tag as needed.

3. Applications

The most popular application area of ​​RFID tags is commodity circulation and logistics management, such as large-scale warehouse supermarkets. In general, tracking a piece of merchandise requires a supermarket manager to directly read the barcode of the product with a scanner. If there are 30 kinds of merchandise on the shelf, scanning the barcode will consume a lot of time. With RFID technology, information collection for all products can be completed automatically within a few seconds; moreover, once new products are filled into the shelves. The system will automatically update the product catalog and automatically place orders when the stock is out of stock. RFID technology can also quickly register products and solve problems such as waiting in line for payment in supermarkets.

In addition, RFID technology can effectively save operating costs through the use of faster, more detailed product catalog monitoring.

RFID tags, as a kind of smart tag, are being taken seriously by more and more users and tag makers, but such tags are different from other tag products and can be completely printed. To use printing technology to complete the printing of RFID tags, only new conductive inks are used.

Conductive ink reduces RFID tag value

Conductive inks for RFID tags are composed of dispersed fine conductive particles or other special materials (such as conductive polymers, etc.). After printed on the substrate, they can act as wires, antennas, and resistors. This ink is printed on a flexible or rigid substrate to make a printed circuit, and an antenna printed with conductive ink can receive radio signals from a dedicated RFID computer.

In the past, conductive inks were mainly used to print circuit boards that were not suitable for copper etching. Today, conductive inks have been used to produce RFID tag antennas in high-speed printing, and the advantages are outstanding.

1. Excellent electrical conductivity

As we all know, smart labels are new types of labels that are more powerful than traditional data labels, including RFID labels, explicit/hidden anti-counterfeiting labels, and sensor labels that indicate the role of product status. In RFID tags, conductive ink can be used to connect components of the tag to act as a sensor or antenna.

Some people have used various kinds of emission frequencies to test the effect of using conductive ink instead of corroding metal as an RFID tag antenna. Experiments have shown that at ultra-high frequencies. (860-950MHz) and microwave (2450MHz) emission frequency, the two have the same function; if at 13.56MHz high frequency, additional additional processing, such as high temperature or plating, can make conductive ink printed antenna Copper coil antennas work just as well.

2. cut costs

In the promotion of the use of RFID tags, the biggest problem is the cost. At present, the price of each RFID tag is between 0.3 and 0.6 US dollars. For those high-end products, the increase of 0.5 US dollars can be used by manufacturers and consumers. Accepted, because for them, RFID tags are an excellent identification tracking device, and the convenience and benefits it brings are more cost-effective. However, for medium. Low-end consumer products, RFID tags are not easy to accept, after all, who can not accept an ordinary toothpaste because of the use of RFID tags rose by 0.5 US dollars.

Conductive ink saves the cost of RFID tags in two ways. First of all, from the aspect of material cost, the price of ink is lower than that of medium voltage or etched metal coils. Secondly, from the aspect of material consumption, because stamping or etching consumes a large amount of metal, it wastes resources and is called subtraction. Processing methods: The use of conductive ink printed antenna or circuit is an additional method of processing, high speed, low cost and high efficiency.

In the past, conductive inks were simply screen printed. Today, conductive inks have been extended to offset and flexo printing. Gravure. Flint Ink Company and Japan. T. Circuits has signed an exclusive license to allow it to use conductive inks in offset printing. This is an important technological advancement that will promote the production and use of RFID tags, especially for large retailers, and will require suppliers to provide RFID-tagged goods.

For manufacturers. For retailers and consumers, smart labels provide a real-time solution. The visible product catalog can help the user to grasp the status of the product and each link of the supply chain.

The future of RFID tags

According to Frost & Su, Livan estimates that the global RFID tag market will reach 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2004, and it is expected to exceed 7 billion U.S. dollars in 2006. At the RFID seminar held in Shanghai, experts predict that the global RFID market will reach 300 billion US dollars in 2010. Although there are differences in the results predicted by different agencies, they all describe the application of RFID tags.

With the full opening of the commodity market, China has also accelerated the process of comprehensive promotion and application of RFID tags. The China Standardization Association's EPC and IoT Standardization Working Group predicts that China will need 3 billion or more electronic tags in the future, of which 83 million are for consumer electronic products; 800 million for cigarette products; 130 million for alcoholic products ;, T products need 13 to 14 billion, other products need about 700 million.

China has now started the development of related technologies and the formulation of standards. In February 2004, the national standard working group for electronic tags was announced. They will be responsible for drafting and formulating China's national standards for electronic tags. At the end of April, Chinese companies had joined EPC global, an RFID globalization standards organization, and established EPC global China in the same period. (Author: Linlin)