#what is rfid

If you’ve ever tapped an ID or payment card on a reader, been through a contactless toll gate on the highway, or even gone shopping for clothes at the mall, then you have experienced the wonderful technology known as RFID. An abbreviation for radio-frequency identification, RFID might feel like a distinctly 21st-century technology, but it actually has a fairly long history, with its earliest known predecessor dating back to 1945. Essentially, RFID is a form of wireless data transfer that utilizes radio waves. These are the RFID tag, RFID reader, and antenna. In a nutshell, it’s a simple matter of the RFID reader scanning the chip embedded in the RFID tag, retrieving its data. You may have noticed that RFID tags and stickers have either a squared-off spiral or zig-zag line. The RFID reader sends a radio wave of a certain frequency, depending on the use case. The RFID tag antennas accept this radio wave as energy, which then powers up the chip. Read more in our articles including "RFID - Explained!" and "WhatsApp for desktop now available for download".