Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2008 32 Much has been written about the pros and cons of low frequency (LF), ultra high frequency (UHF) versus high frequency (HF) RFID systems. The gaming industry has generally opted for high frequency systems, as these are considered more robust both to handle the amounts of data required and to cope with public or semi-public environments with large numbers of people using radio signal equipment such as mobile phones, which can create electronic ‘noise’. Other businesses may not need RFID systems engineered to the same standards as casino operators. Unlike other more high profile technology tussles in the consumer sector—such as the Betamax versus VHS debate seen in the home video market in the late 1970s and early 1980s—RFID systems tend to be selected on the basis of how fit they are for purpose. High, ultra high and low frequency RFID all have their applications and their supporters in many different industries. Deciding which configuration to choose depends on customers getting impartial advice tailored to the practical needs of their business. Tags Most RFID tags consist of two parts—an integrated circuit for storing and processing information (including radio signals) and an antenna for receiving and transmitting those signals. A system called chipless RFID means identifying tags can be printed directly onto assets. This is cheaper than installing tags containing integrated circuits. Although the gaming industry appears to have settled on the high frequency route, another issue has been whether to adopt ‘passive’ or ‘active’ tagging. Active tagging is generally more expensive than passive tagging, and there are currently some issues on miniaturisation with regard to active tags. Highs and Lows The debate around RFID systems Passive Passive tags have no internal power supply, as their name suggests. They are mostly limited to transmitting a response to an interrogating signal though some can have data ‘written’ onto them. They can only be read accurately when placed short distances fromthe interrogating device—typically 10 centimeters (4 inches) up to several meters. One of the main advantages of passive tags is that because they don’t need an independent power source they can be made as small as silicon technology currently allows. Microchips have also become relatively cheap to manufacture as the production technology has been exported to emerging economies such as China and India. In 2006 the Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi produced a tag less than 7.5 micrometers deep—the average thickness of a piece of writing paper, meaning that potentially casino playing cards as well as chips could be given an electronic signature. While tags have been miniaturised to the degree they can now be implanted under human skin, in the longer term the theory known as Moore’s Law predicts that the silicon technology used in microchips will hit a technological brick wall. It suggests silicon will lose its power to conduct electricity once it gets beyond a certain critical point of miniaturisation. Active Active tags have their own internal power source to process and transmit data and typically have fewer read and send errors than passive tags.Active tags transmit at higher power levels than passive tags, allowing them to be more effective in places where radio signals face interference or blocking from environmental or human factors.Many active tags typically have effective ranges of 500 meters (1,500 feet) and a battery life of up to 10 years. RFID