[LINK] Airport to tag passengers

[Geoffrey Ramadan]

Howard

Try this news source:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/2658/
which provides a bit more technical information.

"Called Optag <http://www.optag-consortium.com/>, it would employ 
panoramic cameras and active 5.8 GHz RFID 
<javascript:OpenGlossary("RFID");> transponders with a 10- to 20-meter 
read range <javascript:OpenGlossary("read range");>."

"Real Time Location Systems" (RTLS) based on ACTIVE  RFID tags is 
nothing new, and is becoming popular to track major assets (eg in 
hospitals).

An Australian based RFID technology company, G2 Microsystems, 
http://www.g2microsystems.com/
develop IC for such devices.

CISCO and others incorporate RTLS technology in their access points.

Regards

Geoffrey Ramadan B.E.(Elec)
Chairman, Automatic Data Capture Association (www.adca.com.au)
and
Managing Director, Unique Micro Design (www.umd.com.au)

Howard Lowndes wrote:
> <hfl>
> Note the stated reading range of these tags
> </hfl>
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/12/airport_rfid/
>
> Airport security chiefs and efficiency geeks will be able to keep 
> close tabs on airport passengers by tagging them with a high powered 
> radio chip developed at the University of Central London.
>
> The technology is to be trialled in Debrecen Airport in Hungary after 
> being in development for two-and-a-half years by University College 
> London as part of an EU-funded consortium called Optag.
> Click here to find out more!
>
> Dr Paul Brennan, of UCL's antennas and radar group, said his team had 
> developed a radio frequency identification tag far in advance of any 
> that had been used to now to label supermarket produce.
>
> People will be told to wear radio tags round their necks when they get 
> to the airport. The tag would notify a computer system of their 
> identity and whereabouts. The system would then track their activities 
> in the airport using a network of high definition cameras.
>
> "[The tags] have got a long range, of 10m to 20m," said Brennan, "and 
> the system has been designed so the tag can be located to within a 
> metre, and it can locate thousands of tags in one area at a given time."
>
> RFID tags can normally only transmit their presence to readers a few 
> centimetres away, while their location is difficult to grasp.
>
> The project, called "Improving airport efficiency, security and 
> passenger flow by enhanced passenger monitoring," is using €2m of 
> European funding so airports can herd people through the airport system.
>
> Colin Brooks, Optag co-ordinator, said the trial would determine if 
> the tags would be feasible in the light of obvious problems, such as 
> the possibility that people might ditch their tags to avoid detection, 
> or swap them with another person.
>
> One solution might be to require people to use their tags to get 
> through gates placed throughout the airport, he said. Perhaps a little 
> like a shepherd might gate off his pasture and check the tags on his 
> sheep as they passed into this field. ®
>
>