Anyone works with the implementation or design of RFID chips?

[SSSnail]

What's the realistic range on an RFID chip? Say the ones that are in the new passport for instance. Through my limited knowledge of the subject, RFID chips work on a very close proximity, so tracking by satellite as some people have suggested is out of the question, or is it?

Does RFID has different standards or grades that would work on different range? Clue me in here.

 

[maddogchen]

I remember reading that you could put rfid chips on inventory in a warehouse. When you want to find out what inventory you have, you send out a signal that the rfid chips respond to. So it doesn't have to be close proximity.

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: maddogchen
I remember reading that you could put rfid chips on inventory in a warehouse. When you want to find out what inventory you have, you send out a signal that the rfid chips respond to. So it doesn't have to be close proximity.

Right, and I have talked to the guy that implemented it, and he said even with the RFID chips installed, whoever is tracking the inventory have to drive up and down between the isles to get correct readings. Also, they don't want their competitors to know what they have in their warehouse by simply tracking the RFID chips using the same methods.

What I'm more interested in is the military or government usage, more or less whoever that can design these things and know their capabilities well enough.

 

[Archvile]

I work in a library and on a good day the tags on our books have a range of about a foot.

 

[PottedMeat]

Range? Depends on if it's passive or active. Wouldn't a passive tag's range vary with the strength of the recieved signal? Active (powered) would be able to amplify the incident signal (within reason) and transmit out the data.

Satellite tracking would require a lot of power. More than you can put in a tiny little tag or small capsule. I saw a episode of Nature (at least that's what I think it was) where they tracked forest elephants in Africa by satellite. I think they used a fairly large transmitter package - like a big school backpack around the animals neck. The biologists tracked them for about a year I think.

 

[George P Burdell]

The RFID tags in my pocket set off the RFID readers around here from about a foot or two away. What Archvile said sounds about right.