RFID system with passive RFID tags for textiles

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, by assigning a unique identifier to each product allowed spectacular development of wireless monitoring and control applications. With the advances of tags with passive integrated circuits, operating without a self-contained energy source, extracting the needed energy from the energy of electromagnetic waves generated by an interrogator, RFID applications extended to processes held in harsh industrial environments. For textile articles, in industrial laundries, the RFID system with passive RFID tags involves specific architectures and building solutions. The paper analyses the weak points of actual passive UHF RFID tags and proposes solutions regarding the architecture and the materials used in construction of tags suitable for laundry applications. Thus, new requirements have been established to design passive RFID tags: they should be washable and wearable, robustness enough to operate in harsh environments, with a sufficiently long lifetime, and cost-efficient.