RFID Standards

RFID standards help ensure that products are interoperable, regardless of vendor or user. Standards also provide guidelines for developing complementary products.

What are RFID standards?

Like knowing the different types of RFID systems, understanding RFID standards will help you determine the best solution for your business and give you insight into how the industry is regulated.

RFID standards are guidelines or specifications for product development and use. Standards provide guidelines about how RFID systems work, what frequencies they operate at, how data is transferred, and how communication works between the reader and the tag.

Why are RFID standards important?

RFID standards help ensure that products are interoperable, regardless of the vendor or user. Standards also provide guidelines by which companies can develop complementary products, such as different types of tags, readers, software, and accessories.

Additionally, standards help broaden markets and increase competition within the industry, which brings the prices of standardized RFID products down. RFID standards also help increase widespread confidence in the technology.

Standards are developed and issued by industry-specific, national, regional, and global bodies. The International Standards Organization or ISO and GS1 are two organizations that work together to approve standards and protocols in order to provide universal specifications for RFID equipment. By creating global standards, these organizations enable the possibility of worldwide adoption of RAIN RFID.

Who sets RAIN RFID standards?

RAIN RFID is regulated by a single global standard called EPC Gen2v2 UHF or ISO/IEC 18000-63. All Impinj products are compliant with this standard and interoperable with other products that adhere to the standard. The RAIN RFID Alliance continues to promote and advance this standard.

Standards are usually developed and issued by industry-specific, national, regional, and global bodies. International organizations that issue RAIN RFID-related standards include GS1, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Standards Organization (ISO), and the Joint Technical Committee (JTC 1), a committee formed by ISO and IEC. Regional entities that regulate the use of RAIN RFID frequency bands include the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which oversees the United States, and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which operates in Europe. Other regions have their own regulatory entities.

Organizations that oversee RAIN RFID data formats for specific industries include the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the Automotive Industry Standards Group (AIAG), the American Trucking Associations (ATA), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).