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Barcode Technology
What is automatic identification?
Automatic identification, or auto ID for short, is the broad term given to a host of technologies that are used to help machines identify objects. Auto identification is often coupled with automatic data capture. That is, companies want to identify items, capture information about them and somehow get the data into a computer without having employees type it in. The aim of most auto-ID systems is to increase efficiency, reduce data entry errors and free up staff to perform more value-added functions, such as providing customer service. There is a host of technologies that fall under the auto-ID umbrella. These include bar codes, smart cards, voice recognition, some biometric technologies (retinal scans, for instance), optical character recognition (OCR) and radio frequency identification (RFID).
Most people today have seen barcodes because they are printed on nearly every item in a grocery store. These are either UPC or EAN linear barcodes. However, there are over 300 other different types of barcodes. The next most popular linear barcode is Code 39 (also called Code 3 of 9). Also, there are 2D barcodes that can store a large amount of information in a smaller space than linear barcodes. Most linear barcodes are nothing more than "license plates" that identify an item. The numbers and/or letters stored in the barcode are unique identifiers that, when read, can be used by a computer to look up additional information about the item. The price and description of the item is generally not stored in the barcode. The data is read from the barcode, sent to a computer, and the computer looks up the price and description of the item from the computer's database. Barcodes are read by either scanning a point of light across the symbol or capturing a video image of the symbol and measuring the lengths of white spaces and black bars. The lengths and positions of the spaces and bars are analyzed by a computer program and the data is extracted. The relative widths of both the bars and spaces code the data stored in the barcode. The barcode reader detects these relative widths and decodes the data from the barcode. A company can also order labels preprinted with barcode from vendors that specialize in printing barcodes.
How do I get a barcode number for my product?
When someone asks this question, they are usually talking about the UPC or EAN symbol found on most retail products around the world. Specifically, they are asking how to obtain a UPC or EAN company identification number which they can encode into a UPC-A or EAN-12 bar code symbol on their products. In the USA, a company can obtain a unique six digit company identification number by becoming a member of GS1-US (formerly the Uniform Code Council (UCC)). In the rest of the world, contact GS1 (formerly EAN International (EAN)). You must apply for membership and you will be assigned a unique company identification number for use on all your products. What you get is a unique company identification number which is a 6 or 7-digit number. This is the first part of the product UPC/EAN code. The remaining 6 digits are assigned by you (not GS1) for a specific product. Each number must be unique for a particular product and product size. If you have an 8 oz. size and a 12 oz. size, for example, you need to assign two unique numbers. If you want to barcode a book, you use the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). If you are barcoding a monthly publication, you use the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
There are three basic types of barcodes: linear, 2D, and composite. Linear barcode symbols are easily identified by their tall printed bars of varying widths. There are many linear symbols but the ones used most frequently are called UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-8, EAN-13, Code 39, Code 128, and ITF (Interleaved 2-of-5). Two-dimensional (2D) barcode symbols are broken into two major groups called Matrix symbologies and Stacked barcodes. Matrix symbologies look like a matrix of printed dots and stacked barcodes look like linear barcodes with very short bars stacked on top of each other. Composite symbols are a category of barcodes that combine an interdependent linear and 2D symbol.
What size do I make a barcode?
For a closed system (where you control the scanning environment), the size of the barcode is entirely up to you. You will simply use whatever size you need it to be for your scanning equipment. If you are trying to comply with an industry specification, an application specification will define the size that is needed in order to be in compliance. Most application specifications are based on a particular scanning environment and call for a specific barcode symbology, size of the narrow element, and height of the code.
There are two major types of printing equipment used to print barcodes, traditional pressroom equipment and electronic printing equipment. For those who are printing the same barcode over and over within their packaging graphics, the traditional pressroom approach is widely used. For those who print many different bar codes everyday or who print barcodes with information that varies (e.g. shipping labels, apparel tags, or foodservice labels) electronic printers are used. In order to print your own labels and tags you need a printing system comprised of a printer capable of printing barcodes, software to design your barcodes, and labels, tags, and ribbons/toner. Keep in mind that whatever technology you use, it is your responsibility as the printer of these barcodes to verify that they conform with industry specifications and will be readable with any scanner that can decode the symbology you have printed. You can only do this with a barcode verifier.
How do I know the barcode that I printed is good?
Many people take their barcode to a scanner to see if it will scan, but the only way to know for certain is by scanning the barcode with an ANSI-based verifier. The difference between using an ANSI-based verifier and a scanner to determine if the barcode is good is the scanner only assures you that what you have printed can be scanned by that particular scanner. With a verifier, you will know if the symbol you have printed is scannable by any scanner in the world capable of decoding the particular symbology you have printed.
RFID Technology
Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves reflected back from the RFID tag into digital information that can then be passed on to computers that can make use of it.
RFID is a technology that's been around since World War II. Up to now, it's been too expensive and too limited to be practical for many commercial applications. But if tags can be made cheaply enough, they can solve many of the problems associated with bar codes. Radio waves travel through most non-metallic materials, so they can be embedded in packaging or encased in protective plastic for weatherproofing and greater durability. And tags have microchips that can store a unique serial number for every product manufactured around the world.
Is RFID better than using barcodes?
RFID is not necessarily "better" than barcodes. The two are different technologies and have different applications, which sometimes overlap. The big difference between the two is barcode is a line-of-sight technology. That is, a scanner has to "see" the bar code to read it, which means people usually have to orient the barcode toward a scanner for it to be read. Radio frequency identification, by contrast, doesn't require line of sight. RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a reader. Barcodes have other shortcomings as well. If a label is ripped or soiled or has fallen off, there is no way to scan the item. In addition, standard barcodes identify only the manufacturer and product, not the unique item. The bar code on one milk carton is the same as every other milk carton, making it impossible to identify which one might pass its expiration date first.
What are some of the most common applications for RFID?
RFID is used for everything from tracking cows and pets to providing secure building access to employees. The most common applications are payment systems (Toll collection systems, for instance), access control and asset tracking. Increasingly, retail/CPG and pharma companies, healthcare are looking to use RFID to track goods within their supply chain, to simplify work in process and for other applications.
An RFID system consists of a tag made up of a microchip with an antenna, and an interrogator or reader with an antenna. The reader sends out electromagnetic waves. The tag antenna is tuned to receive these waves. A passive RFID tag draws power from the field created by the reader and uses it to power the microchip's circuits. The chip then modulates the waves that the tag sends back to the reader, which converts the new waves into digital data.
What is the difference between low-, high-, and ultra-high frequencies?
Just as your radio tunes in to different frequencies to hear different channels, RFID tags and readers have to be tuned to the same frequency to communicate. RFID systems use many different frequencies, but generally the most common are low-frequency (around 125 KHz), high-frequency (13.56 MHz) and ultra-high-frequency or UHF (860-960 MHz). Microwave (2.45 GHz) is also used in some applications. Radio waves behave differently at different frequencies, so it’s important to choose the right frequency for the right application.
Do all countries use the same frequencies?
No. Different countries have allotted different parts of the radio spectrum for RFID, so no single technology optimally satisfies all the requirements of existing and potential markets. The industry has worked diligently to standardize three main RF bands: low frequency (LF), 125 to 134 kHz; high frequency (HF), 13.56 MHz; and ultrahigh frequency (UHF), 860 to 960 MHz. Most countries have assigned the 125 or 134 kHz areas of the spectrum for low-frequency systems, and 13.56 MHz is used around the world for high-frequency systems (with a few exceptions), but UHF systems have only been around since the mid-1990s, and countries have not agreed on a single area of the UHF spectrum for RFID.
How much information can an RFID tag store?
It depends on the vendor and the application, but typically a tag carries no more than 2KB of data—enough to store some basic information about the item it is on. Companies are now looking at using a simple "license plate" tag that contains only a 96-bit serial number. The simple tags are cheaper to manufacture and are more useful for applications where the tag will be disposed of with the product packaging.
What's the difference between read-only and read-write RFID tags?
Microchips in RFID tags can be read-write, read-only or “write once, read many” (WORM). With read-write chips, you can add information to the tag or write over existing information when the tag is within range of a reader. Read-write tags usually have a serial number that can't be written over. Additional blocks of data can be used to store additional information about the items the tag is attached to (these can usually be locked to prevent overwriting of data). Read-only microchips have information stored on them during the manufacturing process. The information on such chips can never be changed. WORM tags can have a serial number written to them once, and that information cannot be overwritten later.
What's the difference between passive and active tags?
Active RFID tags have a transmitter and their own power source (typically a battery). The power source is used to run the microchip's circuitry and to broadcast a signal to a reader (the way a cell phone transmits signals to a base station). Passive tags have no battery. Instead, they draw power from the reader, which sends out electromagnetic waves that induce a current in the tag's antenna. Semi-passive tags use a battery to run the chip's circuitry, but communicate by drawing power from the reader. Active and semi-passive tags are useful for tracking high-value goods that need to be scanned over long ranges, such as railway cars on a track, but they cost more than passive tags, which means they can't be used on low-cost items. (There are companies developing technology that could make active tags far less expensive than they are today.) End-users are focusing on passive UHF tags, which cost less than 40 cents today in volumes of 1 million tags or more. Their read range isn't as far—typically less than 20 feet vs. 100 feet or more for active tags—but they are far less expensive than active tags and can be disposed of with the product packaging
Radio waves bounce off metal and are absorbed by water at ultrahigh frequencies. That makes tracking metal products, or those with high water content, difficult. However, good system design and engineering are beginning to overcome this shortcoming. Low- and high-frequency tags work better on products with water and metal. In fact, there are applications in which low-frequency RFID tags are embedded in metal auto parts to track them.
From how far away can a typical RFID tag be read?
The distance from which a tag can be read is called its read range. Read range depends on a number of factors, including the frequency of the radio waves used for tag-reader communication, the size of the tag antenna, the power output of the reader, and whether the tags have a battery to broadcast a signal or gather energy from a reader or merely reflect a weak signal back to the reader. Battery-powered tags typically have a read range of 300 feet (100 meters). These are the kinds of tags used in toll collection systems. High-frequency tags, which are often used in smart cards, have a read range of three feet or less. UHF tags - the kind used on pallets and cases of goods in the supply chain - have a read range of 20 to 30 feet under ideal conditions. If the tags are attached to products with water or metal, the read range can be significantly less. If the size of the UHF antenna is reduced, that will also dramatically reduce the read range. Increasing the power output could increase the range, but most governments restrict the output of readers so that they don't interfere with other RF devices, such as cordless phones
Gen 2 is the shorthand name given to EPCglobal's second-generation EPC protocol. It was designed to work internationally and has other enhancements such as a dense reader mode of operation, which prevents readers from interfering with one another when many are used in close proximity to one another.
The EPC (electronic product code) is a string of numbers and letters, consisting of a header and three sets of data partitions. The first partition identifies the manufacturer. The second identifies the product type (stock keeping unit or SKU) and the third is the serial number unique to the item. By separating the data into partitions, readers can search for items with a particular manufacturer's code or product code. Readers can also be programmed to search for EPCs with the same manufacturer and product code, but which have unique numbers in a certain sequence. This makes it possible, for example, to quickly find products that might be nearing their expiration date or that need to be recalled.
Biometric Technology
Biometrics is a general term used alternatively to describe a characteristic or a process. As a characteristic: a biometric is a measurable biological (anatomical and physiological) and behavioral characteristic that can be used for automated recognition. As a process: a biometric is an automated method of recognizing an individual based on measurable biological (anatomical and physiological) and behavioral characteristics.
What are the common biometrics?
Biometrics commonly implemented or studied includes face, fingerprints, iris, voice, signature and hand geometry.
How biometrics will be collected?
Biometrics are typically collected by a device called a sensor. These sensors are used to collect the data needed for recognition and to convert the data to a digital form. The quality of the sensor has a significant impact on the recognition results. Example ‘sensors’ could be digital cameras (for face recognition) and telephones (for voice recognition).
What are the common uses for biometrics?
Common examples of biometric use include controlling access to physical locations (e.g., buildings or laboratories) or logical information (e.g., personal computers, secure electronic documents) or time and attendance systems. Biometrics can be used to determine if a person is already in a database.