Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID - Radio Frequency Identification) is based on the exchange of information between a radio response, one way or another connected with an object, and a polling device (reader) emitting a continuous or pulsed radio signal through an antenna. When a radio responder, called a radio tag, or a tag, passes through the reader’s reading zone, it changes its signal in a certain way and returns it. Reader determines the difference between the emitted and received signals and sets the identifier of the RFID tag in this way. The radio tag consists of a charger, a transceiver with an antenna, a control unit and a power source (if the label is active). In the absence of a power source (passive label), electricity is supplied from the signal charging the capacitor built into the RFID tag. Depending on the type of memory, tags can be read only or read / write. The distance at which information is read and written varies from a few millimeters to a few meters, depending on the technology used. RFID tags themselves are also quite different - in the form of credit cards, implanted microchips in glass cases or large tags that are attached to huge containers. RFID tags use a specific set of frequencies. The most common low-frequency tags operating at frequencies from 125 to 500 kHz. Mid-frequency devices use 27 and 430-440 MHz, and high-frequency devices use 860-915 MHz, 2.45 GHz (for containers and on railways) and 5.8 GHz (for high-speed vehicles). There is a tendency of wider use of high frequencies both for the purpose of unloading the used frequency range and for increasing the transmission speed. With the appropriate housing, radio tags operate in a wide range of environments. They are sensitive to very high temperatures and thermal shocks. In the cold passive RFID tags work better. It is necessary to note the factor of metal proximity to the tag. The low frequency signal is distorted and attenuated by the presence of a metal, especially containing iron. The RFID tag should not be placed in a full metal case, unless it is part of the antenna system. Microwave labels do not get upset, but in the presence of a significant amount of metal to minimize the effect of reflection require carefully calibrated layout.

From the digital home, according to the CeBIT exhibitors, the average person should move to the digital store. The largest German retailer Metro Group (in Russia operates the Metro Cash & Carry network) at CeBITe presented its concept of a “store of the future”, based on the ubiquitous use of RFID (RadioFrequency IDentification) technology - radio frequency identification. All products in this store have a special label in the form of a small piece of foil, similar to a postage stamp and containing a small chip on which information about the product is recorded. (This may be just a digital code, like on bar codes, and more detailed information about the expiration date, storage conditions, etc.) Such a label is capable of “responding” to the reader signals. When arriving at the warehouse, pallets of goods pass by the gate with a scanner, and the system checks on the fly whether the goods that were ordered, arrived at the warehouse, what storage conditions are required for them, what is the shelf life, etc.

The violent protest rallies of human rights defenders and the emotional discussions that are going on around technologies based on radio-identification chips (RFID) can, apparently, have a tangible effect on the specific nuances in the work and deactivation of the microcircuits. But at the same time, RFID tags offer such obvious and substantial economic benefits that their speedy introduction into various spheres of life is almost inevitable. That was once again emphasized at a recent press conference hosted by the EU administration for announcing the start of a comprehensive pan-European project to study all aspects of the massive use of RFID. Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media, who told about this initiative, said that it is planned to release 600 million radio-identification chips this year, and this figure will increase 450 times over the next ten years.

The flow of news about a variety of applications, in which RFID is already being successfully applied, is growing every month. Reading, in her report, in particular, mentioned the European Airbus Aircraft Concern, where RFID now marks all the elements of aircraft under construction — brakes, seats, seat belts, etc. — that are subject to regular replacement so that they themselves can announce the update when they are scanned. . By the flowery expression of Reading, the large-scale use of radiolabel chips unites the Internet world of cyberspace and the real world surrounding a person into one whole.