New technologies in radio optics have paved the way for a new era of bar code scanning. ¹W. H. Brady Co. has unveiled a radio identification chip, which it hopes will supplant the ubiquitous bar code. Brady feels that this replacement for the unsafe bar code will have a number of advantages. These include safer air travel due to the ability to easily scan each piece of luggage and relate it to a particular passenger. Also, a higher degree of durability is accorded in the radio tag. Cost of these radio tags will be minimal, allowing the technology to be implemented anywhere a bar code is needed.

Radio frequency identification (RF/ID) as Brady calls it, manipulates the company's *LeakTracker(R) System, which involves an automated fugitive emissions monitoring system. RF/ID is a highly reliable way to electronically control, detect, and track a variety of items using FM transmission methods. The chip combines radio processing and memory functions on one chip the size of a postage stamp and can be scanned by this probe system within a range of ten feet. This system is designed to optimize leak detection and aid in chip repair. The tags, developed in conjunction with Motorola and Indala Corporation, use a programmed transponder during fabrication with a numerical code. ²This eliminates reproduction or duplication in the field. An RF antenna, built into the LeakTracker's reader probe, is used to activate the transponder, generating a unique code through radio frequency. The transponder can be affixed or embedded into virtually any object(including livestock). These RF/ID tags come in two types: active and passive. Active types include a battery while the passive types obtain their energy from the burst sent to them from the interrogation unit or probe.

The read-only transponders use a factory programmed ID code, consisting of bits(from 32 to 64) or digits. Read/write transponders consist of bits of code that can be programmed by the user to revise and update data. This allows for custom coding so that data can be easily integrated with other computerized information and automation systems.

There are a multitude of advantages to this new technology. Most importantly, the tags can be read through up to two inches of virtually any non-metallic debris, including paint, grease, dust and the like. This eliminates the need to constantly clean surface, as is needed with bar codes. Also, moisture and heat have no damaging effects on the tag itself, optimizing durability and lifespan. This is a feature that is not associated with bar codes. As you know, debris on bar codes makes them virtually impossible to read. Also, older bar codes are rendered useless with exposure to sun light and moisture. These systems can be read virtually error free at remarkable speeds - responding in less than 100 milliseconds in most cases.

Brady, Motorola, Micron Technologies, and other companies have proposed a myriad of uses for the new technology. ³Micron sees the chips as replacements for bar-code identification in uses such as remotely tracking shipping containers or airline tags that keep luggage from getting lost or stolen. Another possible use of the chip is to help security authorities track possible bombs on airplanes by automatically tracking the location of every packages aboard a plane and identifying its owner. This way, if there were suspicion, or a bag seemed to belong to no one on board, the problem could be quickly investigated. In a similar manner, the chips could be used to identify objects like disguised bombs, which would be required to have an on board tag describing the weight of the item and its original owner. This way, laptops, calculators, and other electronic 'bomb resembling' devices, could be scrutinized without any extra disassembly.

⁴The tags themselves can be engraved in a custom manner affording up to two full lines of human readable language on the surface. This would allow clients to customize the look of their tags. Also, the tags can be color coded for the same reason. If a shipping company were to use the tags for packages, categories of packages such as over night shipping could be coded in their own color. This would greatly increase the efficiency of the process as well as decrease the probability of packages going to the wrong place. Tags can be attached by band, wire, or strap, maximizing efficiency and convenience. This would allow travelers to have tags for their individual pieces of luggage without having to expose their personal information.

⁵As an example of present use, there is an Asian port who recently began using RF/ID to organize thousands of heavy containers from day to day. Management of the loading and unloading was crucial to the accurate transfer of goods between vessels and storage areas. They use thousands of transponders embedded into the ground to act as an electronic grid throughout the port. The lifting arms are supplied with readers to interrogate the ground based transponders. This way, when cargo is being moved, specific locations and destinations of the containers are available to personnel with real time information.

This new technology is aimed at replacing the unreliable bar code of the present. The new chips would include many advantages while optimizing performance increases in situations where bar codes were not viable due to harsh environmental conditions. ⁶According to Brady marketing manager Kevin Novak, Brady can offer clients the optimal tagging solution using the radio frequency technology for their specific needs.

*The LeakTracker System was developed through a partnership effort known as the LeakTracker Alliance. Brady's Signmark Division, a premier provider of industrial identification products, supplies the identification tags. The Foxboro company, an industry leader in gas detection, supplies the monitoring equipment.

Bibliography:

[1] New Radio Frequency Tags Work Where Bar Code Tags Won't: http://www.whbrady.com/press/rfrelea.html, June 20, 1995, anonymous

[2] ibid

[3]http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/fall.96/Assignments/IP/IP-%20Dave%20where%20are%20you..%20we%20are

[4] See [1]

[5] The Wall Street Journal Friday, August 2, 1996; Takahashi, Dean p. B3

[6] See [1]