Chipless tags: the future of RFID

RFID tags that do not contain a silicon chip are called chipless tags. A new generation of chipless technologies has emerged with the potential to be both trouble-free from a technical standpoint, and produced in mass quantities at relatively low costs. Some of these tags also could carry fairly large payloads of data while operating at a 13.56MHz—the same frequency at which more than 55 percent of the tags already in the marketplace operate. Research conducted by U.K.-based IDTechEx indicates 70 percent of all tags will be operating at this frequency by 2016.

Second-generation chipless tags—based on surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology—clearly are suitable for large-scale RFID deployments.

IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, 3M, and Samsung are investing in SAW, and other promising chipless technologies.

The good news for manufacturers is that the best potential use of chipless tags appears to be for identifying and tracking items—which makes them ideal candidates for pharmaceuticals and consumers goods.