ISO approves EPC GEN 2

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has approved the EPC Gen 2 Class 1 UHF standard, a move that is expected to facilitate global RFID adoption. The new standard, largely based on input from leading RFID equipment manufacturers and end users, was published as an amendment to the ISO 18000-6 RFID air interface standard for devices operating in the 860-960MHz ISM band.

ISO's approval of the EPC GEN 2 standard provides a global technical specification for RFID devices, which should significantly break down certain region-specific UHF adoption barriers. The worldwide acceptance and credibility of ISO virtually ensures some standardization on a global platform, easing RFID integration concerns of multi-national supply chain owners and refocusing suppliers away from standards distractions and on more valuable implementations and business impact issues. 

‘UHF is the preferred frequency for pallet and case tracking applications,’ stated Drew Nathanson, Venture Development Corporation's RFID practice director. ‘Now that a universally accepted standard is in place, there should be an increase in the conversion rate of evaluations and pilots to high-volume commercial deployments.’ As the number of commercial rollouts surge, manufacturers will increasingly be able to attain economies of scale, thus making UHF solutions more cost-competitive.

The question is: will this enable UHF to become the accepted frequency for item-level tagging?  Louis Bianchin, senior RFID analyst at VDC says it is too early to tell: ‘Although pricing may become more competitive, UHF innovators must still overcome several technical hurdles, create additional 'benchmark' evaluations, and gain further acceptance in key item-level vertical markets (i.e.: Pharmaceuticals) before it can seriously be considered an alternative to HF.’

Regardless, the approval of the EPC GEN 2 standard by ISO will facilitate the global adoption of RFID, taking the industry a step closer to realizing the technology's full potential within the supply chain.