Chapter 4. Standards Related to RFID

Role of Standards in Technology Advancement and Adoption 62

Standards and RFIDAn Overview of EPCglobal 63

Version 1.0/1.1 Specifications 64

Implementation of EPC through EPCglobal Network 69

Functions and Features of EPCglobal 70

ISO and RFID Standards 72

Other Standardization Initiatives 73

Recommendations for the Practitioner 74

Summary 75

Five Questions This Chapter Will Answer

• How do standards help technology adoption?

• What are the key standards for RFID?

• What does the EPCglobal standard mean and what is EPC generation 2?

• How are standards different between the United States, Europe, and China?

• How can you ensure standards compliance in RFID deployment while the standards are evolving?

The creation and adoption of official (or de facto) standards can powerfully accelerate the adoption of new technology. Standards promise interoperability, luring more vendors to provide solutions that improve services and lower costs. By complying with standards, technology developers, suppliers, and vendors avoid the risk of costly modifications that may result from customized or proprietary implementations, or non-compliance with regulations. Standards give consumers the confidence that products will work together, that they will have more choices, and that they won't be subject to vendor lock-in. This has been true in one technology market after another. RFID is no exception.

In this chapter, we will do the following:

• Describe the role of standards in technology advancement

• Provide an overview of key standards around RFID and details of the EPCglobal standards

• Outline recommendations to deal with evolving standards while deploying RFID