RFID and Automatic Identification Focus: Our Weekly Feature Article on Topics of Interest to those Using or Considering RFID or other Auto ID Technologies  
 
 
  - June 23, 2010 -  

RFID Basics: Reviewing the Differences between RFID and Bar Codes and RFID

 
 

Each Auto ID Technology will Continue to have its Place, but RFID Offers a Number of Unique Advantages

 
 

 

SCDigest Editorial Staff

SCDigest Says:
It is hard to summarize RFID tag attributes, given that there are many different tag types and frequencies, each designed for specific types of applications.

Click Here to See Reader Feedback

Each month, we still receive a number of questions about the real differences between bar codes and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), each a type of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) technology.

Despite the hype around RFID, bar codes still have a dominant share of the auto ID marketplace, and are likely to continue to play a key role in supply chains for many years - maybe even forever.

While we often get the question about the difference between RFID and bar codes, the answer is complicated because there are many forms of both technologies.

For example, in RFID there are "passive tags" that require energy from the reader to wake them up and broadvast a signal. That limits the distance from which they can be read. There are also "active tags" that carrying their own power source and broadcast their own signals, and which thus can be read at much longer differences - at the price of a much more expensive tag. (There is also a sort of hybrid tag that falls somewhere in between.)

In bar codes, there are numerous different types of symbologies, including the familiar UPC code, Code 39, Code 128, I 2 of 5, etc. These are all examples of "linear" bar codes that contain just a single row, if you will - the type of bar code familiar to most people.

There are also "two-dimensional" bar codes that contains what look like stacks of linear codes or some other approach that enables more information to be encoded in each symbol. Examples of 2D bar code symbologies include PRD417, DataMatrix, QR Code, and more, such as the familiar UPS bar code (MaxiCode), which is shown in the graphic below. To understand how 2D bar codes can be used, UPS puts the destination address of a parcel into the MaxiCode. That means as the package is being sorted as it moves throughout its network, the system does not have to look up in a database where the package is going, but can simply read the zip code in the MaxiCode and divert the package to the right destination. This saves computer processing time versus a linear bar code that required a database look-up, allows the parcels to move faster on the conveyors, and means the packages can keep moving even if the corporate systems were to go down temporarily. (Note the familiar "bullseye" is mean to help the scanner find the focal point quickly as the package moves past at high speed.)

The UPS MaxiCode is an Example  of a 2D Bar Code

 

The graphics below provide a concise summary of the key differences among traditional “linear” bar codes, new “two-dimensional bar codes such as Datamatrix or PDF417, and RFID tags. The final graphic summarizes several of the key advantages of RFID.

Want these charts in Powerpoint format? Send us an email at info@scdigest.com.

 

 

(RFID and Automatic Identification Article - Continued Below)

 
 
CATEGORY SPONSOR: SOFTEON

 

 
 

 

Again, we will note that it is hard to summarize RFID tag attributes, given that there are many different tag types and frequencies, each designed for specific types of applications. Nonetheless, at a general level, the charts above should provide a solid overview to the capabilities and attributes of each AIDC option.

What would you add or subtract from our comparison list of bar codes versus RFID? Do you agree both will have a place for many years? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.

 
     
Send an Email
     
     
.