Standards: Are They Really Standard?

Even within ISO 18000 there are choices to be made. The standard specifies RFID reader and tag communication protocols for five different RFID operating frequencies including 135 KHz, 13.56 MHz (HF), 2.45GHz, 860-960MHz (UHF), and 433MHz. Each frequency offers different characteristics and benefits based on the laws of physics governing the frequency bands. The frequencies offer differing read ranges, size of tags, robustness against environmental interference, and reliability of operation in close proximity to other tags or in random tag orientations. Two RFID frequencies are emerging as the dominant players, HF and UHF; HF for item-level tagging and UHF for case and pallet tagging. HF is covered by ISO 18000, Part 3 and UHF is covered by ISO 18000, part 6.