<P> Mario Cardullo's device, patented on January 23, 1973, was the first true ancestor of modern RFID, as it was a passive radio transponder with memory . The initial device was passive, powered by the interrogating signal, and was demonstrated in 1971 to the New York Port Authority and other potential users . It consisted of a transponder with 16 bit memory for use as a toll device . The basic Cardullo patent covers the use of RF, sound and light as transmission media . The original business plan presented to investors in 1969 showed uses in transportation (automotive vehicle identification, automatic toll system, electronic license plate, electronic manifest, vehicle routing, vehicle performance monitoring), banking (electronic check book, electronic credit card), security (personnel identification, automatic gates, surveillance) and medical (identification, patient history). </P> <P> An early demonstration of reflected power (modulated backscatter) RFID tags, both passive and semi-passive, was performed by Steven Depp, Alfred Koelle, and Robert Frayman at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1973 . The portable system operated at 915 MHz and used 12 - bit tags . This technique is used by the majority of today's UHFID and microwave RFID tags . </P> <P> The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton in 1983 . </P> <P> A radio - frequency identification system uses tags, or labels attached to the objects to be identified . Two - way radio transmitter - receivers called interrogators or readers send a signal to the tag and read its response . </P>

Who owns the patent for the rfid chip