RFID and Internet of Things (IoT)

What is the Internet of Things? What is RFID(Radio Frequency Identification)?

The internet of things (IoT for short) was a term coined by engineers who were working with the MIT Auto ID center, back in 1999.  Auto ID refers to “Automatic Identification”. In those days the prevalent automatic ID technology was the bar code. But it had several limitations. Hence they were working on developing an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based system, which would be far superior to traditional bar codes. The vision was to tag everything in the commercial and industrial world with a “smart auto -id” tag, that would enable discovery, due to virtue of it being connected to the internet.

Today after two decades, advances in microprocessors, mobile computing, ubiquitous wireless networks and the establishment of powerful cloud computing companies has resulted in the IoT moving far ahead of a network of RFID tagged devices. So right from your smart watch to your smart refrigerator and home airconditioning system, eveything can be a part of the IoT.

Why has it become so important today?

The world is increasingly moving, inexorably towards more sensors (more Instrumentation) and more automation. So this is a fast growing discipline. Many things that were not possible to be automated in previous decades are rapidly on the way to becoming automated (think self driving cars, for instance). As computational power becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous (meaning available everywhere), as more sensors and measurement technologies become available,  the field of Instrumentation, Automation & Control will keep on growing in importance.

Role of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in IOT?

RFID was the first technology used to make dumb objects into “smart” objects in a cheap and easy way. The radio frequency ID tag could be affixed to any physical object (such as a carton) and then RFID readers at various points in a supply chain could track its movement. So you could see on a central computerized system as the smart tagged carton moved out from the factory (via a reader installed at the loading ramp), to the time when it entered a warehouse (via another door way reader at the warehouse ) and so on. Thus supply chain visibility increased a lot.

Today we can add a microcontroller card to any device to make it smart and then connect it via the Internet to track and trace it. However the cheapest way to do this is still via a passive RFID tag, which costs just a few cents (as compared to a few dollars for an electronic card with a microcontroller chip). Thus this remains the far preferred way to tag objects in the IoT.

What technologies are used in IoT?

We have a variety of technologies that are used in the Internet of Things. This goes beyond RFID tags and includes various kinds of microcontrollers, various communication techniques (both wired and wireless), protocols like MQTT, gateway devices that route data, cloud services where one can track all the thousands or even millions of smart objects in the IoT, various ways to secure them not only from cyberattacks that steal data or incapacitate the system, but also to prevent it from used to piggyback the network and launch attacks on other systems. Thus cybersecurity technologies play a big role in IoT.

Abhisam has e-learning courses and training workshops  on RFID, IoT basics, security, cloud implementations and more.

RFID and IoT Training Courses By Abhisam

We have the following RFID Online Courses  and IoT. Each of these courses consist of several modules that have text, animations & simulations, graphics, assessments, examples, real life case studies that help you become a professional. You can complete them from the comfort of your home or office or anywhere else. You can either take them online over the internet (Online version) or download them to your own Windows 10 based computer (Standard version). On passing the associated exam, you can get qualified as a professional, earn an electronic certificate with a unique ID number and a badge issued via Credly, that can be added to your Linked In Profile or other places online such as email signatures. This displays your qualifications and competencies to your colleagues, peers, bosses and potential employers and clients.