Regulations, Standards and Protocols

RFID systems are Radio Systems

• The function of other radio systems must not be disrupted

• Restriction on the range of available frequencies– ISM (Industrial-Scientific-Medical) frequency ranges– All frequencies below 135 kHz

• ISM frequencies: 13.56MHz, 27.125MHz, 40.68MHz, 433.92 MHz, 890MHz, 915MHz, 2.45GHz, 5.8 GHz, 24.125GHz

Source: RFID Handbook

Standards

• RFID standards deal with:– the air interface protocol (the way tags and

readers communicate)– data content (the way data is organized or

formatted)– conformance (ways to test that products meet

the standard) – applications (how standards are used on

shipping labels, for example).

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

• ISO has created standards for tracking animals with RFID– ISO 11784 defines how data is structured on the tag. – ISO 11785 defines the air interface protocol. – ISO 14223 defines the “Advance Transponders”

standard• ISO has created a standard for the air interface protocol

for RFID tags used in payment systems and contactless smart cards (ISO 14443) and in vicinity cards (ISO 15693).

• It also has established standards for testing the conformance of RFID tags and readers to a standard (ISO 18047), and for testing the performance of RFID tags and readers (ISO 18046).

source: RFID Journal

Air-Interface Protocols • High-frequency (HF) RFID air-interface protocols have a

single operating frequency (13.56 MHz) but none are compatible.

• These protocols include ISO 14443A, ISO 14443B, ISO 15693, ISO 18000-3 Mode 2 and EPCglobal HF Class 1.

• Each has its own data structures, requires infrastructures that are incompatible– different memory map– different timing

• This results in a proprietary platform rather than a standards-based model.

Source: RFID Journal

• Some ISO Standards

History of UHF Standards

• The ISO created standards for tracking goods through the international supply chain with RFID.

• Auto-ID Center, which developed Electronic Product Code technologies, created its own air interface protocol for tracking goods through the international supply chain.

• The Auto-ID Center developed its own protocol and licensed it to EPCglobal on the condition that it be available royalty-free.

• In 2004, EPCglobal began developing a second-generation protocol Gen 2, which would not be backward compatible with earlier Class 1 or Class 0.

• EPCglobal's Gen 2 standard could be submitted to ISO under 18000-6, but it's not clear when that will happen or how quickly it will be approved

Source: RFID Journal

UHF Gen 2

• RFID's only worldwide standard

• With UHF Gen 2, reader and tag manufacturers have products that operate at all regional UHF frequencies using the same communications protocol.

• Features secure memory modules and the ability to permanently kill a tag.

• The whole story