Computing with RFID: drivers, technology and implications

Radio Frequency Identification or simply RFID has become an integral part of modern computing. RFID is notable in that it is the first practical technology to tightly couple physical entities and digital information. In this survey, we cater to the computing professional who is not familiar with the specifics of RFID, which we discuss in the context of supply chain management, its most popular application. We begin with a primer on supply chains, with particular reference to the relationship between efficiency and information flow. We recognize universal identification with bar codes and electronic data interchange as the two principle computing technologies that have played a central role in the optimization of supply chains. We then discuss RFID and supporting network technologies and identify their novel features and capabilities. We proceed by examining the performance improvements in supply chain management due to RFID and differentiate between different levels of tagging. We explore consumer applications and services using item-level RFID in particular. Such applications not only offer novel opportunities for business but also raise important social and policy challenges primarily related to privacy protection, which we discuss in more detail. We conclude by exploring how European law is attempting to address the new issues arising from the use of RFID and look ahead at the challenges encountered when computing with RFID before it can be made an effective end-user technology.