RFID: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has existed for a number of years, with some in the industry believing that the industry had its start during World War II with the advent of the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) method of identifying allied aircraft. In this system, a transponder within the aircraft detected the radar energy from the shore-based radar systems and responded with a specific encoded signal as a return. While this may have been the impetus of RFID, the first commercial applications had to wait on advancing technology developments to enable success.