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Published June 2021 | Published
Journal Article Open

Microwaves Are Everywhere: RFID-Do You Know Where Your Pet Is?

Abstract

This is the third article in our continuing series of general interest tutorial papers on the applications of microwaves in areas of science and technology that might not be appreciated by every engineer. The tagging of people, animals, and all manner of things for individual identification purposes has been an obsession of humanity since the earliest days of community existence and personal property. Doing so permanently, discretely, and without the possibility of removal or alteration was the realm of science fiction and spy novels until very recently. In this article we examine, from a microwave perspective, the techniques, devices, development and basic operation of the now ubiquitous RFID industry which, in my humble opinion, and like so many technological and science innovations, takes on the mantra of the Roman deity, Janus: transitioning from a past seeking change for the better, to a future which promises both benefits and dangers in the embrace of new technology. The author hopes you will enjoy this month's "Microwaves are Everywhere."

Additional Information

© 2021 IEEE. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The author would like to thank Steve Wilcox of Petlink (a division of Datamars SA, Switzerland) for an interesting conversation on the Datamars RFID system for pets and permission to use the images at the top of Figure 11. Thanks are also extended to Dr. Kym Mitchell of Montrose Pet Hospital for the X-Ray image of Maxwell in Fig 11, and for many years of quality care. The author also thanks Dr. Alex Siegel for reference [41] and Dr. Heather Lee for help with some of the images in Fig. 8. Finally, the author is grateful for many useful comments and corrections from one of the reviewers, who also very appropriately reminded the author that Janus, or a counterpart, does not exist in the Greek mythological cosmos (originally attributed in the Abstract), but rather is strongly anchored in the more pragmatic Roman pantheon of deities. This reviewer also pointed out the similarity between the ever evolving and improving RFID chips, and the continual change and adaptation of organic lifeforms. He/she may not be too far off the mark!

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Created:
August 20, 2023
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October 23, 2023