Asset Tracking: Beyond RFID

Abstract–Asset tracking is an integral part of many industries. Recent times have seen large investment in wireless automated identification technology, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Whilst this technology is a step forward from optical techniques, such as barcodes, the basic functionality is the same. It is the aim of this paper to discuss the use of an emerging technology, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), as an eventual successor to RFID. WSN offer huge potential in asset tracking due to their sensing abilities as well as their potential for further functionality, such as providing positional data. In addition looking at these two technologies, some preliminary findings are also presented which are specifically aimed the idea of positioning within WSN. I