Overview of RFID-Based Indoor Positioning Technology Yuntian Brian Bai, Suqin Wu, Hongren Wu, Kefei Zhang RMIT University, Australia yuntianbrian.bai, suqin.wu, henry.wu, kefei.zhang@rmit.edu.au Abstract: Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology was originally invented for military uses. From 1980s, commercial RFID products started to be available and they were mainly applied in areas of supply chains, transport, manufacturing, personnel access, animal tagging, toll collection etc. Nowadays, RFID has been recognised as an emerging technology for ubiquitous positioning (UP), especially in an indoor environment. The development and implementation of RFID-based positioning technology are very fast, whilst according to the literature, little comprehensive review and convinced assessment for the latest RFID technology have been conducted, and some of the main features of the latest RFID technology have rarely or unclearly been presented in the literature, for example, the longest reading range of RFID systems, the smallest tag size and overall commercial application fields. This paper provides an overview of state-of-the-art RFID technology, particularly for the purpose of indoor positioning. It includes a review of historical and current development of RFID technology and its applications, an evaluation of up-to-date RFID-based positioning techniques and their performance as well as a prediction of future trends of RFID-based indoor positioning techniques. This paper can be a valuable guidance and solution for researchers and other end users to better understand RFID and critical factors considered on system requirements, hardware selection and positioning performance for various applications. Keywords: RFID; indoor positioning; LBS; RFID solution. Biography: Yuntian Brian Bai: PhD candidate at the SPACE Research Centre, School of Mathematical and Geospatial Science (SMGS), RMIT University. His current research focuses on RFID-based ubiquitous positioning. Dr. Suqin Wu: Research fellow at the SPACE Research Centre, SMGS, RMIT University. She is specialized in Geodesy, especially data processing and analysis for GPS precise positioning and GPS applications. Hongren Wu: Professor of Visual Communications Engineering and Discipline Head of Computer and Network Engineering in School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University. Professor Kefei Zhang: Director of the SPACE Research Centre, RMIT University and he is the chief scientist of the ASRP project and leads a number of major Australian initiatives in the areas of algorithm development and new applications of frontier geospatial technologies. 1. Introduction Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which uses radio waves to wirelessly transmit the identity (e.g. a unique serial number) and other information of an object, is an emerging technology for indoor positioning (Ahuja & Potti 2010). RFID was invented during the Second World War II and was first used by Britain to identify aircraft as part of the refinement of the radar. It was during the 1960s that RFID was first considered for the commercial world, RFID products started to be available in 1980s and its wider spread usage was only in recent years. Earlier RFID applications were mainly applied to identifying assets in a single location. In 1998, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Auto-ID Center began to investigate new ways to track and identify objects while they were moving between different locations, when is considered as the third era of RFID (Holloway 2006b). Since 2000, RFID has experienced a rapid evolution and broad implementation throughout the economy. It has become a worldwide and rapid-evolving technology, which has been combined with other emerging technologies worldwide. Today, there are a variety of technical solutions, some being simple and common, while others are complex and expensive but offer better functionality and performance. RFID has substantially increased productivity and efficiency of its associated business (Ramli 2010). As intelligent RFID technology continues to develop, in conjunction with intelligent sensor technologies, RFID has been becoming the core technology of the Internet of things (IoT) (Holloway 2006b). Research and developments of RFID has been rapid, however, challenges remain, particularly in standards development, security compliance and privacy concerns (Choi et al. 2011). The implementation of RFID requires diligent assessment of the need for RFID solutions in particular organisations. Therefore, it is important to explore and review this technology in order to maximise its potential benefits and reduce the risk of its implementation.