EPC Gen 2 RFID
Data, Articles and Information in Support of UHF RFID 915 MHz as a Global Standard
Compiled by Eriginate,
Inc.
7 April 2008
RFID Standards
The EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 standard is the first
royalty-free, global standard that will allow companies to harness the power of
RFID to provide greater product visibility in their supply chains worldwide.
With greater product visibility, companies and consumers alike are expected to
benefit with fewer out-of-stock products, safer drugs, and fresher produce,
among others. The standard was developed through a collaborative process which
involved more than 60 leading global companies that subscribe to EPCglobal, a not-for-profit standards organization.
Some significant features of the new standard include:
Global operations. Products built to the new standard are expected to
work with each other in any area of the world. The UHF Generation 2 standard
uses frequency and power in a way that complies with the major regional
regulatory environments.
Increased security. To better protect data
stored on the tags and corresponding databases, products built to the UHF
Generation 2 standard will feature, among other improvements, advanced
encryption technology, password protection and authentication.
Designed for real-world performance. To provide
tag read and write speeds for real supply chain operations, as well as the
ability to work in dense reader environments (distribution centers, warehouses,
etc.).
Taken from www.processor.com,
General Information, May 13, 2005; Vol 27:19
Organizations Setting Gen 2 Standards
1.
International Standards Organization (ISO):
ISO 18000-6
ISO/IEC 18000-6:2004
defines the air interface for radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices
operating in the 860 MHz to 960 MHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM)
band used in item management applications. Its purpose is to provide a common
technical specification for RFID devices that may be used by ISO committees
developing RFID application standards. ISO/IEC 18000-6:2004 is intended to
allow for compatibility and to encourage inter-operability of products for the
growing RFID market in the international marketplace. ISO/IEC 18000-6:2004
defines the forward and return link parameters for technical attributes
including, but not limited to, operating frequency, operating channel accuracy,
occupied channel bandwidth, maximum EIRP, spurious emissions, modulation, duty
cycle, data coding, bit rate, bit rate accuracy, bit transmission order, and
where appropriate operating channels, frequency hop rate, hop sequence,
spreading sequence, and chip rate. It further defines the communications
protocol used in the air interface.
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=34117
2.
Electronic Product Code (EPC Global):
The EPC Gen2 standard was adopted with minor modifications as ISO 18000-6C
in 2006.
PDF
file of EPC Standard attached.
Wal-Mart and the United States Department of Defense have published
requirements that their vendors place RFID tags on all shipments to improve supply
chain management. Due to the size of these two organizations, their RFID
mandates impact thousands of companies worldwide.
Since January, 2005, Wal-Mart has
required its top 100 suppliers to apply RFID labels to all shipments. To meet
this requirement, vendors use RFID printer/encoders to label cases and pallets
that require EPC tags for Wal-Mart. These smart labels are produced by
embedding RFID inlays inside the label material, and then printing bar code and
other visible information on the surface of the label.
Another Wal-Mart division, Sam's
Club, has also moved in this direction. It sent letters dated Jan. 7, 2008, to
all of its suppliers, stating that by Jan. 31, 2008, every full single-item
pallet shipped to its distribution center in
Walmart EPC Gen 2 mandate for suppliers:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/2070/1/1
Sam’s Club EPC Gen 2 mandate
for suppliers:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/3845/1/1/
Target EPC Gen 2 mandate for suppliers:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/802/1/1
Additional companies using Gen 2 RFID for
supply chain management:
Nestle,
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Hormel Foods, Kraft, Unilever, Sara Lee, Wal-Mart, Wegmans Food Markets, Colgate Palmolive, E J Gallo, Gillette, Johnson & Johnson,ÂÂ
Kroger, Lowe's, Office Depot, Paramount, Pep Boys, Procter & Gamble and
Staples.
http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=62546-epcglobal-metro-rfid
Department of Defense Gen 2 mandate for
suppliers:
Mr. Michael Wynne, Acting Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), published the final policy on July 30, 2004 for the use of radio frequency identification within the Department of Defense.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Policy (July 30, 2004) (Final)
http://rfidlawjournal.blogspot.com/2006/08/dod-is-critical-early-adopter-rfid-law.html
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/2530/1/1/