What innovation did Charles Walton receive a patent for in 1983?
Answer
Passive RFID tag
Charles Walton is credited with laying the foundation for modern, ubiquitous supply chain RFID by receiving a patent in 1983 for the passive RFID tag. The critical distinction of this invention is the elimination of the internal power source found in active systems. Instead, a passive tag operates by harvesting the necessary operational energy directly from the radio waves transmitted by the interrogating reader device. This harvested energy is just enough to power the microchip and send a return signal. Removing the battery drastically reduced the size, complexity, and, most importantly, the per-unit cost of the tag, making it economically feasible to tag massive quantities of items for logistics visibility.
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