RFID Primer
Niceware will be right there with you as you sell and support your Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) applications. The NiceLabel Pro and Suite edition software supports most printers and all RFID standards available today and will stay current with future standards as they evolve.
Based on requests from our reseller network, we decided to provide this 'RFID Primer' communication as a way to provide basic information about RFID to our customers. RFID can be a complex initiative to undertake. Hopefully the information provided below when coupled with NiceLabel software will ease the transition into RFID for you.
NiceLabel's intuitive RFID design interface eliminates the questions and frustration that can come with learning and understanding the Electronic Product Code (EPC) specification. In NiceLabel, simply select the tag that you have and the standard that you want to encode and fill in the blanks. You can share data and variables between the printed image on the label and the programmed RFID tag. Click on the image below to view the NiceLabel RFID Configurator.
RFID OVERVIEW
Surprisingly to some people, RFID is not a new technology, it's been around for well over 10 years, and is already used in applications like access control and transport. There have been many false starts and promises in the past what makes the difference this time around, is the creation of the EPC coupled with lower tag costs and the mandated adoption of RFID by Wal-Mart and the United States Department of Defense (DOD).
RFID is a set of inter-related hardware components that act together to provide a data storage and retrieval system. The base component here is the Tag. The tag (also called a "transponder") is composed of a chip and an antenna. The bare tag by itself is fragile and must be protected by some kind of housing in order to be used. Communication with the tag requires it to be attached to an antenna. Antennas can have many different shapes and sizes, each of which is a compromise between communication effectiveness and suitability for a particular application. The active part of the communication channel is known as the reader or "interrogator". The reader continuously watches for tags to come into range. Once a tag enters the read field, the reader activates and reads the tag's data content for use by the host or enterprise application.
FREQUENCY RANGES
Low Frequency (LF) operates in the 125KHz range with a read range about 2 feet. Applications include: Access Control, Animal Tracking, POS check point…
High Frequency (HF) operates in the 13.56MHz range with a read range about 4 feet. Suppliers include: I-Code by Philips / Tag-It by TI / My-d by Infineon / Pico Tag… Applications include: Hospital Patient Identification, Smart cards, Access Control, Baggage control, Libraries…
Ultra High Frequency (UHF) operates in the 860-930MHZ range with a read range up to 30 feet. Suppliers include: Alien, Matrics, Impinj… Applications include Supply chain, EPC Global based on UHF…
STANDARDS COMMITTEES
GS1 (formerly UCC), International Standard Organization (ISO). Auto ID Lab (EPC) and EAN/UCC which became EPC Global. According to EPC Global, Gen2 standards have been accepted by ISO.
EPC TAG DATA STANDARD
The EPC is a number made up of a header and three sets of data, as shown in the list below. The header identifies the EPC's version number. This allows for different lengths or types of EPC in the future. The second part of the number identifies the EPC Manager—usually the manufacturer of the product to which the EPC is attached (i.e., ABC Company, Inc.). The third, called object class, refers to the exact type of product, most often the SKU (i.e., Model 426 Cordless Phone). The fourth is the serial number, unique to the item. This tells us exactly which Model 426 Cordless Phone is being identified.
8 bits Header: Defines the length of the code and encoding scheme:
28 bits EPC Manager: Typically references the company
24 bits Object Class: An item or SKU
36 bits Serial Number: Provides a unique identifier
96 bits Total tag size
Encoding schemes you'll hear about are as follows:
SGTIN: Serialized Global Trade Identification Number
SSCC: Serial Shipping Container Code
SGLN: Serialized Global Location Number
GRAI: Global Returnable Asset Identifier
GIAI: Global Individual Asset Identifier
DoD: U.S. Department of Defense Data Construct
EPC also references a Class number which refers to the air interface protocol:
Class 0: UHF Read Only, pre-programmed tags (Matrics, Impinj...)
Class 0 : UHF Write once read many 64/96/128/256 bit (Matrics, Impinj…)
Class 1: UHF Write once read many 64 or 96 bit capacity (Alien …)
Class 1 Gen2: UHF 96 bit - enhanced security and features(Alien…)
Class 2: UHF 256 bit fully read writable
Class 3: Active tag
The Gen2 tags will become widely available mid 2006 according to various industry sources. Gen2 tags have several benefits, all of which are customer-driven: an open standard, more memory, a security password, smaller size, cross-vendor compatibility, higher read reliability, kill feature and more. The ratified Gen2 specification is available from EPCGlobal's website at: http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards_technology/specifications.html
