The Brain of RFID - Guest blog from Alien Technology

An IC (integrated circuit) in a RFID tag is undisputedly likened to the brain of a human body. The health and well-being of a human brain determines the intelligence, emotions, skills and sanity of a person. A geeky (still cool, mind you) and non-medical professional who obviously spent too much time exposed to the invisible radio waves can’t help but view from a tag’s anatomy standpoint.

The performance of a tag is largely dependent on the quality of its IC. No matter how good an antenna design is, a weak IC will almost guarantee a weak to mediocre performance. These are things to look out for:

1.   Sensitivity

Sensitivity - the Holy Grail in the world of UHF RFID IC. The higher the sensitivity the less power the tag needs to be activated which in turn means the longer the reading distance. So now, one might ask ‘What if I only require a reading distance of 2m?
I don’t need a highly sensitive IC.’ So wrong! High sensitivity ICs translate to a whole new world of possibilities.

Firstly, tag designers can now design smaller tags with minimal compromise on performance. Check out Xerafy’s Pico – the world’s smallest tag and you’ll know what I mean. Half the size of an Advil pill can get you a meter read range!

Secondly, tagging RF unfriendly materials are no longer impossible. Traditionally difficult materials to tag, such as windshields, are now a breeze.

Thirdly, in a large volume tag environment, the ability to penetrate through piles of fabric, for example, directly converts to higher read performance margins. This is only possible with a high sensitivity IC. 

2.   Memory

Everyone who has taken history lessons in school knows how important having a good memory is. The ability to memorize the exact date the nuclear bomb was dropped in Hiroshima and to process information such as how did the US get involved in WWII is no small feat. A good RFID IC needs to be easily read, written into, rewritten into, rewritten into multiple times, retain information over long periods of time and above all, process information in a matter of a split second. Which human can possibly do that? Probably only Aliens.

3.   Intelligence / Functionalities

There are 2 kinds of people in the world: the intelligent ones and the not so intelligent ones. The same applies for an RFID IC. The not-so-intelligent ones have limited functionalities and at best can provide you with an ID when asked. On the other hand, an intelligent IC contains all the cool features of dynamic authentication (as if UTID is not good enough), fast writing speed and smaller parsed memory  blocks for multiple parties to use in a value chain. What? Overkill you say?

I say who in their right mind would complain of being too smart and as clearly illustrated by Alan in the casino scene in the movie ‘The Hangover’, intelligence will do you good if used at the right time, in the right place.

Evelyn Ong is Director, Sales/Channels
Asia Pacific for Alien Technology