Migration to wireless a sign of things to come in telecom (Bits & Bytes Column)
Kansas City,MO (11-02-2004)
(Only the portion of the column that discusses ITTC is below)
Tracking RFID
Anyone who has run a business knows how difficult it can be to keep track of inventory.
New tags that use relatively inexpensive radio wave technology are on the horizon and could eventually replace bar codes.
Companies such as Wal-Mart are requiring their suppliers to include Radio Frequency Identification tags, initially to track pallets of merchandise.
Eventually, the so-called RFID tags will track individual products.
Toby Rush, president of Rush Tracking Systems of Lenexa, is planning to talk about RFID technology at a breakfast meeting later this month at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Rush's company recently helped finance an RFID research center at the
University of Kansas Information and Telecommunication Technology Center.
RFID tags consist of a microprocessor chip and a miniature antenna. The technology allows the tag to communicate with a RFID reader by sending a signal at the frequency of radio waves emitted by the antenna.
Data sent by the tags includes a unique identification number, similar to that used in bar codes.
Some industry analysts predict that RFID tags eventually will be used to do more than track inventory.
For example, the tag could be used to generate a bill before a consumer gets near a checkout counter.
The RFID session is being sponsored by
ITKC, a networking program of
KCCatalyst.
The ITKC session is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 at the Kauffman Foundation. The event costs $25 and includes breakfast.
Information and registration is online at www.itkc.org/events2.asp.
For more information, contact ITTC.
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