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World War II
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Idenitfy Friend or Foe technology desired
Transponders and transmitters first placed on friendly military equipment to determine if approaching aircraft were allies or enemies -
"The Thing"
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transportation of nuclear materials
The need for security and safety surrounding the use of nuclear materials requires development of technology to track containers from origin to destination with position and checkpoints en route. -
first RFID patent issued
Mario Cardullo -
RFID in Agriculture
early RFID transponders were placed in the backs of a dairy cows to allow tracking of the animals' identification and temperature. The thought, being researched by the University of Chicago, was that such things as the animal's health, ovulation, and so forth could be determined by tracking temperature -
Railroads begin to use RFID
RFID implemented to reduce problems caused by the unique environment of railroads. Radio frequency has the advantage of longer read distance, ability to read through dirt, rain, snow, fog, oil, or through non-metallic objects. -
Other than railroad use begins
Identification of fleet vehicles (tractors/trailers/containerized cargo), automatic toll collection on highways, access control to secured or monitored areas, and Remote Keyless Entry -
manufacturing programmable RFID tags
Some RFID tags could be programmed once at the time of manufacture or manually programmed at the time of installation. Others could be electronically programmed either by direct contact or via the RF link. These are generally referred to as Programmable tags. Usually EEPROM based, these can be re-programmed between 10,000-500,000 times -
Work flow efficiency adoption
RFID used for performance improvement and cost reduction. -
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full market competition
competition among RFID manufacturers to sell the cheapest, smallest and most reliable RFID device. Debates over establishing standards. RFID manufacturers seek one type of standard and RFID consumers seek another. The debate continues.