Understanding the role governments and industry organizations play in RFID adoption Mark Roberti, Founder & Editor, RFID Journal
Regulations for spectrum allocation RFID standards development organizations Bills and legislations
The spectrum is a resource that governments divide up for different uses Some common uses and the assigned spectrum AM radio - 535 khz to 1.7 MHz Short-wave radio - 5.9 MHz to 26.1 MHz Citizens-band radio - 26.96 MHz to 27.41 MHz Television stations - 54 to 88 MHz (channels 2-6) FM radio - 88 MHz to 108 MHz TV stations - 174 to 220 MHz (channels 7-13)
Garage-door openers, alarms etc. (40 MHz) Cordless phones (40 to 50 MHZ) Baby monitors (49 MHz) Radio-controlled airplanes (72 MHz) Radio-controlled cars (75 MHz) Wildlife-tracking collars (215 to 220 MHz) Cell phones (824 to 849 MHz) New cordless phones (900 MHz) Air-traffic control radar (960 to 1,215 MHz)
Once spectrum bands areas are allocated, it is difficult to change them Many devices competing for bands Governments must avoid having one device interfere with another
Some bands are licensed, for specific uses: Television Radio Cellular phones Unlicensed bands in the United States 900 MHz 2.4 GHz 5.2/5.3/5.8 GHz 24 GHz
Can operate a wireless transmitter over a band only with FCC authorization Spectrum licenses generally come with a frequency assignment and provide protection from harmful interference Most commercial spectrum licenses are now auctioned by geographic area
UHF uses the unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands These were originally reserved internationally for noncommercial use of RF electromagnetic fields for industrial, scientific and medical purposes In general, communications equipment must accept any interference generated by ISM equipment. Now used by RFID, Wi-Fi and other devices
Global Community International Telecommunication Union (ITU) United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) European Community European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Canada & USA 902-928 MHz Europe 865-868 MHz Korea 910-914 MHz China 915 MHz Japan 950-956 MHz South Africa 913-915 MHz Australia 918-926 MHz source: IBM
Regulatory agencies also control Power output Use of channels Duty cycle and other aspects of operation Readers must be certified by the FCC in the US, ETSI in Europe, etc., to meet these requirements
The FCC has allocated 902 MHz to 928 MHz for UHF RFID systems 52 channels 4 watts (2.5W EIRP) of power output ETSI has recommended 865.6 to 867.6 MHz 10 channels 3.2 watts (2W EIRP) of power output
2,0 W 10 channels at 2 Watt(ERP) 200 khz interval ERP Effective Radiated Power EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power EIRP = 1.6 ERP 0,1 W 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0,5 W 865,0 MHz 865,6 MHz 867,6 MHz 868,0 MHz
International Organization for Standardization Air-interface standards (how tags and readers communicate) ISO 18000-6 series for UHF tags Data-protocol standards (structure of data on tag) Animal identification standards (LF 134.2 khz)
EPCglobal joint venture between GS1 and Uniform Code Council (UCC) achieve world-wide adoption and standardization of Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology Standards: Tag protocol UHF C1G2 Low Level Reader Protocol Reader Management Application Level Events EPC Information Services Object Name Service
A family of coding schemes created as an eventual successor to the bar code using RFID Technology. GID SGTIN SSCC SGLN GRAI GIAI GDTI* GSRN* General Identifier Serial GTIN Serial Shipping Container Code Serial Global Location Number Global Returnable Asset Identifier Global Individual Asset Identifier Global Document Type Identifier Global Service Relation Number (*) introduced since version 1.4 of EPCglobal TagDataStandard Document (June 2008) EPC identifies objects id only, the full set of information related to those objects are stored into remote databases.
Standards for using RFID within specific industries Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) International Air Transport Association (IATA) Baggage-tag standard Supply-chain standard (Spec 2000) Chemical industry standards (CIDX)
Most bills have been introduced at the state level in the United States Most have focused on protecting consumer privacy in the retail space Some bills require to disclose the use of RFID technology Some bills prohibit the implanting of subcutaneous RFID chip without consent Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
CA GA MD MA MI MO NV NH NJ NM NY ND PA RI TN TX WA WI Notify customers x x x x x x x No µ-chip implant x x x x x Labels on goods x x x x Study RFID implications No students tracking Unauth. access is a crime No tracking of people Tag removal after purchase x x x x x x x x x x x Source: NCSL - National Conference of State Legislatures
California: Bans skimming Washington State: prohibits the scanning of an RFID tag by anyone except the business or agency that issued that tag, with certain exceptions Wisconsin: Bans coerced RFID implants Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
Massachusetts: Requires notification and removal of nonessential tags Nevada: Felony to use RFID for identity theft New Hampshire: Requires notification of use of RFID on products New York: Would require notification and deactivation Wisconsin: Must deactivate at point of sale Virginia: No use in government documents going nowhere Source: National Conference of State Legislatures