Asset and Staff Tracking is one of today’s major concentration. A lot of techniques are being used on this problem and two are the most popular RFID and beacon technologies. Which leads us to a question which one is better,
There are two types of RFID technologies; Active and passive and both use a tag and a reader. For passive RFID, the tag is placed on the employees/property, the reader is sending the signal. The reader is getting complicated depending on the antenna’s range. The limit is only 4 meters and you need to pass a gate so that the reader can find your place. In addition, accuracy is more because it reads the tag closely that does not give it an opportunity to be affected by the environment. But This system does not actually fit for asset tracking Due to the requirement of a gate, and low range. So, passive RFID is not really a subject in comparison.
The active rfid is slightly different. Because the tag is with a battery and as a result, the tag is sending his ID to the reader and by him, the location of the employees/property is known.
Bluetooth beacon technology is more like active RFID. Beacon tags broadcast signals and they are collected by the gateway. The location of the employees/property is calculated from the angle of strength and signals.
Both are similar how they work But where do they differentiate,
1) access
Rfid: To work for this system we need a special reader and a special tag. This cannot be integrated into existing mobile devices.
Bicon: This system works with Bluetooth technology. Even you have this technique, so it is easy to integrate with other equipment
2) Cost
Rfid: Readers are given high price and requires a basic structure which is also expensive
Bicon: Reader and infrastructure are cheaper than RFID
3) Range and accuracy
Rfid and beacon: They are both affected by the environment and other signs that give them a relatively low accuracy level
4) Security
Rfid: The encryption of the tag-read channel is high.
Bicon: The technology was launched in 2013 which makes it a new. Bluetooth 4.0 did not have so much protection, but with the launch of Bluetooth 5.0, these existing security problems are eliminated and the channel’s encryption is improving day by day.
For more information:
