RFID

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) is a technology that uses radio waves to identify and track objects automatically, without line-of-sight contact. A small tag containing a chip and antenna stores an identifier or data payload, and a reader energizes and queries that tag over the air. It is the quiet infrastructure behind supply-chain tracking, access badges, contactless payments, toll collection, and inventory management.

• Tags and readers - Passive tags draw power from the reader’s field, while active tags carry their own battery for longer range.
• Frequency bands - Low-, high-, and ultra-high-frequency bands trade off range, speed, and cost for different use cases.
• Standards bodies - ISO/IEC and GS1’s EPCglobal define the air-interface protocols and data formats that make tags and readers interoperable.
• Contactless data capture - Many items can be read at once, at speed, which is what makes RFID valuable for bulk logistics over barcodes.

In API operations, RFID matters as a data source rather than an interface itself. Readers and gateways feed identification and location events into inventory, asset-tracking, and supply-chain systems, which then expose that data through APIs for downstream applications and partners. As logistics and retail push toward real-time visibility, the stream of RFID reads becomes an event feed that increasingly flows through the same API and event-driven pipelines that autonomous agents and analytics platforms consume.