RFID is a maturing technology used for inventory tracking. It found its feet in manufacturing, where barcodes are not tough enough, and automated vehicle identification systems because of its ability to track moving objects. As costs fall, it is now being more widely adopted in situations where detailed knowledge of an inventory is required. A move that has launched it into public conscience with concerns over privacy, or example in supermarkets.

The basic RFID system consists of three components: an antenna or coil, a transceiver with decoder and a tag that is electronically programmed with unique identity information. When physically close, the antenna emits a low powered signal that generates a response from the circuitry within the tag. This response is then received and interpreted by the transceiver.

Key advantages of RFID include the non-contact, non-line-of-sight nature of the technology. Tags can be read through a variety of substances such as snow, fog, ice, paint, crusted grime and other visually and environmentally challenging conditions where barcodes or other optically read technologies would be useless. RFID tags can also be read in challenging circumstances at high speed, in most cases responding in less than 100 milliseconds.