Purpose: an RFID tag provides a unique identifier for the object to which it is attached .

a transponder which is a small chip with a typical capacity of 2,000 bytes of data or less

a scanning antenna, with a range of up to 20 feet for high-frequency devices. This emits radiation that both:

• serves as a means of communicating with the transponder tag
• provides the RFID device with the energy to communicate

a transceiver with a decoder to interpret the data

Process:

The RFID tag passes through the field of the scanning antenna and detects the activation signal from the antenna.

The RFID chip "wakes up" and transmits the information on its microchip to the scanning antenna.