RFID for Indoor Asset Tracking

The venerable RFID tag traces its ancestry to the “friend or foe” transponder systems developed for military aircraft beginning in WWII. Since then, RFID has earned its place as a reliable asset identification system. Recently, it has been marketed as a solution for real-time indoor positioning. This post provides a brief overview of how RFID works, how it might be used for indoor asset tracking, and how it compares to alternatives. In some cases, RFID competes most directly with barcodes or QR codes. It offers the obvious advantage of being readable at a distance. Active or semi-active RFID tags can provide valuable sensor information.