Radifinity | Technology - Active Vs Passie

	RFID

	Active vs Passive

	Industry standards & Frequency ranges

	Applications

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Technology

Active vs Passive

For all practical purposes, it is the sourcing of power that determines this classification. The two basic types of tags available are:. Active RFID tags and Passive RFID tags. Active tags have their own power source like batteries, the benefit being that the reader can be much farther away and still get the signal. Whereas, Passive RFID tags do not require their own power source, and can be much smaller and hence have a much longer life span.

Basic differences in characteristics:

No.	Characteristics	Active	Passive
1	Power source	Internally powered	Energy obtained through RF (from the reader)
2	Battery	Within the Tag	Tags have no battery source
3	Tag Power range	Continuously powered	Power available when the reader is in range
4	Range	100m	5m
5	Signal requirement from reader to tag	Low	High- such that it powers the tag
6	Signal requirement from tag to reader	High	Low
7	Multi-tag read capability	In the order of 1000's	In the order of 100's
8	Data storage capacity	128kb of read/ write	128 bytes of read/write

Differences in applications:

No.	Characteristics	Active	Passive
1	Area Monitoring- Warehouse management	Capable	Not capable
2	High speed monitoring- Retail, warehouse management	Capable	Not capable
3	Multi tag reading- Supply chain management	Capable	Not capable
4	Continuous processing- security and asset monitoring	Capable	Not capable

At the offset, the type of tags used is determined by the application characteristics. Typically active technologies are used in dynamic business processes with unrestricted movement of assets and products. It facilitates unconstrained applications in the security and sensing space. In addition, it allows for large amounts of data storage and logging. Passive technology on the other hand is used for rigid business practices. It facilitates movement of assets and products in a more constrained manner. The security and sensing application sector is limited by scope and range with passive technology. Data storage and logging is limited in size and range, with passive technology.

Selection of RFID technology

The choice of RFID technology is based on a few fundamental characteristics that include frequency of operation, performance criteria, regulatory compliance, range of operation, cost and business sense- including ROI. The below figure indicates the performance criteria plotted against a frequency spectrum ranging from the MHz to the licensed GHz range.