Chapter 9: Standards and Regulations

RFID+ Exam Objectives Covered in this Chapter:

ü	3.1 Given a scenario, map user requirements to standards 3.1.1 Regulations, standards that impact the design of a particular RFID solution
ü	3.2 Identify the differences between air interface protocols and tag data formats
ü	3.3 Recognize regulatory requirements globally and by region (keep at high level, not specific requirements-may use scenarios)
ü	3.4 Recognize safety regulations/issues regarding human exposure

If your idea of a standard is a type of poodle, you might not be RFID technician material. To speed end-user adoption and make sure that people across the globe are speaking the same language, RFID, as with many other industries, follows standards and regulations created by international, regional, national, and local authorities. Standards that apply to RFID are usually regulations that were created for other RF-emitting devices or data-capture technologies and were amended or changed to provide specifications for RFID applications. Many organizations base their standards on current uses of the technology as well as best practices and leave space for future inventions and expansions. These standards also ensure that the RFID applications do not restrict operation of other systems and are not safety hazards.

In this chapter, you will learn about the international, regional, and national standards organizations and regulatory authorities, as well as industry groups and their efforts to standardize and regulate RFID technology. I must warn you though: there are many acronyms in this chapter!

First, you will learn about the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). There you go-the acronyms are taking over already. These two organizations joined in an effort to provide technical standards for information technology including RFID, and they developed many data standards and air interface protocols specifically for RFID technology.

Next, you will find out about the frequencies around the world that were allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and discover which countries belong to which of the three regions the ITU established. You will also learn about other functions the ITU performs.

Last but not least of the main group of international standardization organizations is the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which regulates everything related to postal communication and services. The UPU also developed standards for RFID. These standards were presented to the ISO and were used as the basis for some of the ISO/IEC RFID standards.

You will also learn about regional organizations. You will see that there are many organizations in Europe, such as the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) including the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) and the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In the United States, the main organizations are the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). In China, RFID is regulated by the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), and in Hong Kong by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA). In Japan, RFID is regulated by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts, and Telecommunications (MPHPT). You will also learn about various limits for transmitted power posed by these organizations.

Next, you will learn about individual organizations and groups that are more focused on the automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) and the RFID industry, such as GS1, EPCglobal, and AIM Global. You will also recognize different EPC formats and learn their specifics.

Finally, you will also discover various safety regulations, which apply to personnel safety and radiation exposure safety of humans as well as devices. You will find out which organizations publish standards related to worker safety and which organizations take care of human exposure limits to RF and other radiation, as well as guidelines for safe power output and proximity to Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance (HERO) Unsafe devices. (More on HERO later in this chapter.)

I told you, many acronyms! You will find out more about them in the following text.