RFID-based Localization and Tracking Technologies

Published

April 1, 2011

Author(s)

Michael R. Souryal, Lionel M. Ni, Dian Zhang

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) usually incorporates a tag into an object for the purpose of identification or localization using radio signals. It has gained a lot of attention recently due to its advantages in terms of low cost and easy deployment. This article presents an overview of RFID-based localization and tracking technologies, including transmitter-based (e.g., LANDMARC), receiver-based (e.g., Reverse RFID), transceiver-free (e.g., tag-free) and some hybrid approaches. These technologies mainly use the readily available resource of Radio Signal Strength (RSS) information or RSS change information to localize the target objects. A number of well known approaches and their limitations are introduced. This article also indicates the challenges and possible solutions in the near and long terms. The challenges include multipath, interference and localizing multiple objects. These challenges are not only for RFID-based localization, but also for all the Radio Frequency (RF) based localization technologies.

Citation

IEEE Wireless Communications

Volume

18

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

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Keywords

RFID, localization, tracking

Citation

Souryal, M. , Ni, L. and Zhang, D. (2011), RFID-based Localization and Tracking Technologies, IEEE Wireless Communications, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=905571 (Accessed June 20, 2025)