1. What is the RFID standard?

RFID standards are guidelines or specifications for all RFID products. The standard provides guidelines on how RFID systems work, how often they operate, how data is transferred, and how the communication between readers and tags works.

2. Why are RFID standards important?

Regardless of supplier or user, RFID standards help ensure that RFID products are interoperable. The RFID standard also provides guidelines for RFID manufacturers, including which companies can develop complementary products such as different types of RFID tags, RFID readers, software and accessories. In addition, RFID standards help to expand the market and increase competition within the RFID industry, thereby driving down the price of standardized RFID products. RFID standards also help increase widespread confidence in RFID technology.

3. Who sets the RFID standard?

RFID standards are developed and published by industry, national, regional and global bodies. The more global the RFID standard is, the more institutions it develops. International organizations that issue RFID-related standards include EPCglobal, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Standards Organization (ISO), and the Joint Technical Committee (JTC 1), a committee composed of ISO and IEC. Regional regulatory entities governing the use of RFID include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is responsible for the United States, and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which operates in Europe. Other regions also have their own regulatory entities.

Organizations that oversee industry-specific RFID standards include the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the Automotive Industry Standards Group (AIAG), the American Trucking Association (ATA), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In addition, the GS1 VICS Item-Level RFID Initiative (VILRI) oversees standards for item-level tagging and the use of RFID technology throughout the retail supply chain.

4. What are the existing RFID standards?

Active RFID, passive LF RFID, passive HF RFID and passive UHF RFID all have their own unique standards to govern their related products.

Passive UHF RFID is currently the only RFID regulated by a single global standard. The standard is called EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 V1 or UHF Gen 2. UHF Gen 2 defines a communication protocol for passive backscatter operating in the frequency range 860 MHz - 960 MHz. EPCglobal certification testing includes conformance testing to ensure RFID products comply with the UHF Gen2 standard and interoperability testing to ensure that all aspects of the tag reader interface are properly designed for seamless interoperability with other Gen 2 certified products. While most passive RFID tags use the energy of the RFID reader/writer signal to power the tag's integrated circuit (IC) and backscatter to the reader, BAP tags use an integrated power source (usually a battery) to power the IC, So all the captured energy of the reader is available for backscattering.

An update to the UHF Gen 2 standard, known as UHF Gen 2V2, or G2, is in the process of being ratified. This new standard builds on the original V1 standard, but ensures future RFID communications with more sophisticated and robust security options to protect data and prevent tag counterfeiting.

Under the G2 standard, the user can hide all, part of, or unlabeled memory. The ability of the reader to access or modify the tag data varies depending on the reader's access rights and how close it is to the tag. This prevents tag data from being stolen or tampered with.

The G2 standard also establishes an anti-counterfeiting measure involving cryptographic authentication labels. UHF Gen2 V1 tags send static replies back to the reader, making it easy for clones to create counterfeit tags. Under the G2 standard, each time the reader sends a signal to the tag, it sends a different secret number, and the tag computes a reply specific to that interaction.