Ultra High Frequency (UHF) technology is the new member of Electro-Com ’s RFID product family. UHF RFID operates between 860MHz to 960 MHz band width and varies from region to region.
Australia has specified 918-926 MHz, the US has specified 915 MHz and Europe 868 MHz for RFID applications.
The non-profit organisation EPCglobal who is chartered to drive standards for RFID technology approved the EPCglobal UHF Generation 2 specification in December 2004.
This decision marks a milestone for EPCglobal who chaired the standard based on consensus from more than 60 technology companies and government agencies worldwide.
The UHF Gen2 standard will provide the platform on which future products for passive RFID technology are built.
The Gen2 specification is seen as the significant event in EPCglobal's history. It is believed that it opens the door for a large number of manufacturers to make Gen 2 products quickly. It allows for global interoperability [of EPC systems] and creates a single converged standard.
End users would not have to worry about using equipment specified for Class 0, Class 1, Class 2, ISO 18000-6A or 18000-6B UHF standards.
Electro-Com are keeping at the forefront of EPC standards and local and overseas RFID technology developments by being actively involved in a number of RFID industry groups and associations such as Automatic Data Capture Association (ADCA) and the newly formed and government funded Victorian RFID Cluster.
UHF RFID is ideally targeted towards supply chain and logistics applications and is considered to be better suited for reading pallets and cases from portal or conveyor antennas, while the HF technology's shorter read range allows for a more well-defined read zone. HF is better suited for item-level applications.