Will The Tags Work Globally - SATO CL408e Rfid Manual

Specifications, standards, and terminology are continually updated. RFID systems must
comply with all relevant regulatory requirements as local governments regulate allowable
frequencies, power output, emissions, and other performance characteristics. RFID
standards created by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva
meet all worldwide regulatory requirements, so users can be assured their systems are
available for global use.
Q: Will the tags work globally?
EPCglobal is in progress with a goal and mission to establish a global standard for
immediate, automatic identification of any RFID item in the supply chain of any company,
in any industry, anywhere in the world. Additionally, different regions of the world have
designated different frequencies for RFID; thus, tags that are able to handle a wider range
of frequencies would have more global coverage. Additionally, UHF tags, despite the
target design frequency, can be read by another UHF frequency (i.e. a 915 MHz tag can
be read with an 868 MHz reader and vice versa) given that the reader can support the
handling of multiple frequencies. However, a degradation of performance can be expected
when using mismatched components.
DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN EPC TAG PROTOCOLS
The current specifications of the EPC (Electronic Product Code) protocol are open
standards with the intention of allowing any vendor to manufacture products to either one
of these specifications. Unfortunately, these protocols are not interoperable. A single
reader can't read all these tags unless it is a multi-protocol reader. While Class 0 and 1 are
tag protocols, Class 2, 3, and 4 are not distinct protocols, but different configurations.
Differences lie in the following:
Class 0 is a read-only tag, which is the simplest type of tag where the EPC data is written
only once into the tag during manufacture, resulting in a unique ID number assigned only
to that particular tag. The memory is then disabled from any further updates. Class 0 is
also used to define a category of tags called EAS (electronic article surveillance) or anti-
theft devices, which have no ID, and only announce their presence when passing through
an antenna field.
There is a newer version of the Class 0 tag, the Class 0 plus, which can read and write,
and in which the transponders generally provide a tamper-proof fix factory-set identification
code. Other than the read-write capabilities of this tag protocol, the Class 0 plus tag is
identical to the Class 0 tag.
Class 1 is a read-write tag allowing the end-user to input any serial number. Both operate
in the 860-950MHz frequency band. This offers advantages in many applications where
Version 0.8 21/10/2004 Page 16 of 44