There seem to be a lot of misconceptions about RFID tags. I'm hardly an expert but I do know this much: RFID tags are generic, you don't put data into them unique to your application. All they are is a range of long serial numbers guaranteed to be globally unique, like ethernet macs more or less. You get an RFID tag, associate it with a piece of equipment, enter the tag serial number and other info INTO YOUR OWN INVENTORY DATABASE, and stick it on the equipment. Then you can later use a wand which can retrieve the RFID tag number at some distance, a few feet, think: supermarket checkout. The big advantage of RFIDs is that you don't need line of sight access like you do with bar codes, they use RF, radio frequency. Think: anti-shoplifting tags, most of them are basically RFID tags tho older ones don't have a unique id which is why they had to be physically removed or disabled. More modern anti-shoplifting systems wand the tag id (possibly via an externally printed bar code because point of sale (POS) systems aren't quite there yet) into the POS system so the anti-shoplifting exit system can look it up to see if the item has been paid for. A system which also used these to track equipment being removed from an area or building would be a relatively straightforward plus. It may not stop someone but it might know exactly what time it passed out the door to help with any investigation, or in a more secure environment one might have to mark the RFID tag as authorized to go out the door via some security process, or at least associate its leaving with a security badge or whatever id is used. It's much better than sliced bread for some apps except that they make for really lousy BLTs. On January 13, 2010 at 11:23 lyndon@orthanc.ca (Lyndon Nerenberg (VE6BBM/VE7TFX)) wrote:
Barry's right, for at least some scenarios. If I have an unauthorized somebody walking down the row with a wand in their pocket, the fact they have a wand in their pocket is the least of my problems.
Encrypt the data?
-- -Barry Shein The World | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 800-THE-WRLD | Dial-Up: US, PR, Canada Software Tool & Die | Public Access Internet | SINCE 1989 *oo*