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SDDC realizes positive results from passive RFID tag tests

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ALEXANDRIA, VA. (USTCNS) --- The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command tested Passive Radio Frequency Identification (pRFID) tag technology earlier this year to determine its viability to support in-transit visibility of Department of Defense cargo and containers.

The command currently capitalizes on active RFID technology to track shipments worldwide.

Testing was performed at the Port of Norfolk, Va., followed by a demonstration involving several hundred containers the Port of Shuwaikh, Kuwait, with positive results.

"A passive tag is similar to an active tag in that it uses radio frequencies," said Paula Mihalek, information technology project manager for SDDC. "One of the big differences between active and passive RFID tags is the effective range in which they can be read. The passive tag’s effective range will vary, but for the most part will register within about 9 to 12 feet."

Currently, the command uses the Early Entry Deployment Support kits (EEDSK) in conjunction with active RFID tags for in-transit visibility. All cargo utilizing active RFID tags arriving or leaving a particular area is identified and tracked through the EEDSK.

"The EEDSK is designed to be placed in the flow of a traffic area," said Steve Gutridge, information technology specialist for the 834th Transportation Terminal Battalion at Concord, Calif. "The EEDSK captures every piece of equipment with an RFID tag on it within a 300-foot radius. The EEDSK interrogator will read the data from the tag and upload it to a server so anyone could find out where their equipment is."

Another difference between active and passive tags is the amount of data that each can hold and maintain.

Active tags, depending on the model of tag, can hold up to 128,000 bits of information. The pRFID tags used during testing only hold 96 bits, around 12 characters. A shipping container’s serial number is eleven characters in length leaving room for registering one more digit if necessary.

"Another issue is the active tag is much larger than the passive tag," Mihalek said.

Mihalek mentioned that one of the tests performed involved gluing the smaller pRFID tags onto equipment, making them a permanent fixture. This phase of the test consisted of trying out various types of adhesives.

An active tag runs off of its own battery giving it a wider effective range. A pRFID tag has no batteries and gets its energy from the responder which is why it has a much shorter range.

"One of the problems with active RFID tag usage is the battery issue," Mihalek said. "Many times batteries are taken out of these tags for one reason or another rendering the tag useless. Passive RFID tags don’t require batteries thus eliminating this particular problem."

A "stubby pencil" test was performed where 48 containers were inventoried by hand, using written notes. It took almost 12 minutes to complete each container plus an additional 10 minutes to enter the data into a spreadsheet. Two mistakes were identified.

During the hand-held scanner test, it took less than three minutes to complete each container, resulting in 100 percent successful reads at 3, 6, 9 and 12 feet distances with containers on ground level.

With containers stacked two high, a 100 percent success rate was realized at 3 and 6 foot read distances. Trouble occurred in reading tags at 9 feet; failure at 12 feet. With containers stacked three high, all tags failed to be read.

Out of 417 tags tested, five tags were found to be inoperable.

While the active RFID tags can be read from the EEDSK interrogator, the passive tags require a hand-held scanner or an antenna that resembles a solar panel.

The test results demonstrated pRFID’s advantages in performing inventory of container assets over current "stubby pencil" methods.

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