printer friendly version

Active long range RFID ...

Protecting assets and lives

Recent global disasters and increasing concern around national safety against terrorist attacks have brought into focus the importance of security and the urgent need for improving overall security protocol.

The simple concept of being able to track and monitor assets and people in realtime has resulted in the development of advanced hi-tech solutions, such as RFID (radio frequency identification), a technology which is already proving to be the next evolution in information technology.

Active RFID, as developed and manufactured by Wavetrend Technologies, lends itself to a vast number of applications where it is vital to have continuous realtime location tracking capability, unlike technologies that monitor only specific points of entry/exit.

When an asset or person is 'tagged' using a Wavetrend Active RFID tag that transmits a secure signal every 1,5 seconds, that asset or person's identification, location and state/change of state becomes dynamically visible. For obvious reasons this has raised some public concern about privacy, but such concerns are overshadowed by the need for safety in public areas and at public gatherings, where the use of RFID can be used for the effective and efficient evacuation of people from a site, such as an exhibition centre or stadium.

Imagine a world in which delegates or visitors have electronic pre-registration, automatic electronic ticket payment, and continuous tracking within a public gathering area, thus removing the need for long queues, removing the need for carrying cash or credit cards on oneself and having the ability to know where people and emergency services are located should an emergency situation arise. We no longer have to imagine this, as it is very possible to achieve with wireless tracking technologies.

In addition to protecting the lives of people, the loss and theft of vital assets can be curbed simply by 'tagging' all of these assets and interfacing an RFID tracking system with security protocol such as locking doors or setting off alarms. By creating specific zones/'no-go' zones for monitoring the presence and movement of assets, it is possible to be alerted by an RFID-enabled system when unauthorised movement or removal of an asset occurs, thereby facilitating rapid and pro-active response.

Some other advantages of an active RFID-enabled system for event management are:

* Time and attendance monitoring of on-site contractors for accurate payment reconciliation.

* Improved building and operational management, by being able to instantly locate the whereabouts of on-site contractors, such as electricians, plumbers and other service-related teams.

* Dynamically guiding visitors to specific zones of interest and/or locating visitors' and exhibitors' whereabouts to co-ordinate on-the-spot meetings.

* Marketing services; provide exhibitors and event managers with accurate data relating to the number of visitors and duration of time each visitor spent at the event and in specific zones/booths, as well as highlighting hot-spots/most visited zones.

In 2003, Wavetrend's Active RFID technology was implemented at a gathering of 11 000 business leaders, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at the Global Entropolis@Singapore event held at Suntec City in Singapore. Conference staff carried hand-held devices with on-screen visualisation of the entire site (four levels) and simply by typing in the name of a delegate, that person's exact realtime location could be pinpointed on the map. Delegates and visitors used this tracking system for networking purposes. It is easy to see how the same system and infrastructure of RFID technology can be used for a multitude of applications in the same or similar environments.

Share this article:

Further reading: