NEW EU ‘UPPER’ UHF (915-921MHz) RFID BAND

Business briefing

Dr Mo Ramzan
SML Global RFID Group

13th February 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• New UHF RFID band available at 915-921MHz in Europe – Termed ‘Upper UHF RFID’ band
 Increased bandwidth: 6MHz
 Increased power: 4W ERP

• Current UHF RFID band (865-868MHz) still active and supported – Termed ‘Lower UHF RFID’ band
• New band will result in better inventory performance (increased read range and faster tag reads)

• Not all EU / CEPT countries are in full support; leading to partial harmonization
• Channel ‘squeeze plan’ introduced to help other nations adopt
• Adoption of new band is slow but steady
 22 countries have adopted
 5 countries assessing the proposal
 20 countries remaining

• Reader hardware manufacturers have slowly begun to introduce support into existing and new products
• Current lower band ETSI handhelds unlikely to be firmware upgradeable

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
RECENT (PRE-2016) GLOBAL UHF RFID BAND STATUS

ETSI1 (865-868MHz) FCC (902-928MHz) OTHER

Albania Malta Argentina Algeria
Armenia Moldova Canada Australia
Austria Netherlands Chile* Bangladesh
Azerbaijan Nigeria China Brazil
Belarus* Norway Colombia Brunei*
Belgium Oman Costa Rica Hong Kong (China)
Bosnia & Herzegovina Poland Dominican Republic India
Bulgaria Portugal Korea, South Indonesia 1 Not including new ‘Upper
Croatia Romania Mexico Israel UHF RFID’ band
Cyprus Saudi Arabia Panama Japan
Czech Republic Serbia Peru Jordan
Denmark Slovak Republic Taiwan* Malaysia
* Special restrictions and/or
Estonia Slovenia Thailand Morocco licences apply
Finland Spain Unites States New Zealand
France Sweden Uruguay Russian Federation
Germany Switzerland Venezuela Singapore
Greece Tunisia South Africa
Hungary Turkey* Vietnam*
Iceland United Arab Emirates
Iran United Kingdom
Ireland
Italy

47 16
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
FCC (NORTH AMERICAN) UHF RFID BAND
• North American (902-928MHz) FCC UHF RFID band provides:
 26MHz bandwidth (50 x 500kHz sub-channels + gutters)
 4W EIRP maximum radiated power

• Both bandwidth and power limits are greater than Europe / ETSI
• LBT techniques encouraged – but not mandatory
• Channel occupancy restrictions exist
• Other restrictions apply

• ADVANTAGES
 Longer read ranges – up to 40% more than Europe
 Faster tag reads especially in large populations
 Faster inventories
 Better tag reads in complex / difficult applications
 Better RFID EAS performance
 Easier tag design

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
CURRENT ETSI (EUROPEAN) LOWER UHF RFID BAND
• European (865-868MHz) Lower UHF RFID band provides:
 3MHz bandwidth (4 x 200kHz reader sub-channels)
 2W ERP maximum radiated power

• LBT techniques encouraged – but not mandatory

• Channel occupancy restrictions exist
• Other restrictions apply
• Band currently harmonised across Europe and many
other non-EU countries around the world
• Read range is GOOD – But more forward power would
definitely IMPROVE upon this!
• More channel bandwidth will improve on inventory
speed – especially in large tag populations

• RFID industry spoke out – Many European governments

listened and realised importance of UHF RFID
• New band allocated to RFID and other SRDs

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
NEW ETSI (EUROPEAN) UPPER UHF RFID BAND
• New European (915-921MHz) Upper UHF RFID band provides:
 6MHz bandwidth (4 x 400kHz reader sub-channels)
 4W ERP maximum radiated power

• LBT techniques encouraged – but not mandatory

• Channel occupancy restrictions removed
• Tag backscatter restrictions alleviated
• Other restrictions still apply
• HOWEVER – Many EC countries cannot fully support this new band!
 Overlaps military comms (eg. Germany)
 Interference with other civilian use (eg. Railways GSM)

• Channel “SQUEEZE PLAN” introduced

• ERC Rec. 70-03 and EC Decision 2018/1538/EU
• For countries unable to fully adopt the new upper band,
they may restrict use of channels 3 and/or 4
• Will be included in next version of EN 302 208 (v3.2.1)
• Channel 4 may become available in future
Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
CURRENT ADOPTION STATUS OF NEW UPPER RFID BAND

COMPLETE PARTIAL / “SQUEEZE PLAN”

NONE
(4 Channels) 3 Channels 2 Channels
Albania Belgium Liechtenstein Andorra
Estonia Bulgaria Switzerland Armenia
Ireland Cyprus Austria*
Luxembourg Czech Republic Azerbaijan
Moldova Denmark Belarus
Norway Finland Bosnia & Herzegovina
1 ER-GSM protection applies
United Kingdom1 Hungary1 Croatia*
Lithuania France*
Malta Georgia * Countries assessing new
Russian Federation Germany* Upper band
Slovak Republic Greece
Slovenia Iceland*
Sweden Italy * Countries which have pre-
Latvia
Macedonia existing use of this band
Montenegro (e.g. military) and cannot
Netherlands*
Poland yet adopt
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Serbia
Spain
Turkey
Ukraine*

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
UPPER BAND ADVANTAGES
• ADVANTAGES
 Longer read ranges – up to 40% more
 Increased tag reads especially in large populations
 Faster inventories
 Better tag reads in complex / difficult applications
 Increased RFID EAS performance
 Easier tag design
 Compatibility with existing FCC tags and antennas
 Easier to deploy comparable hardware
 Compatibility with Auburn ARC FCC grades? TBC

POINTS TO NOTE
• Transition to new band is relatively slow
• Current Lower Band will continue to co-exist GB4eU7 GB4MuU7

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
FIXED READER MANUFACTURER SUPPORT
• Most UHF RFID reader manufacturers have no immediate plans to
support the new Upper Band
• Waiting on more country adoption and harmonisation of band

• HOWEVER – Some manufacturers have slowly begun to phase in support

of the Upper Band* in anticipation

• Impinj
 R420 Fixed UHF RFID Reader supports Upper Band
 R700 will eventually also support this upon release
 R660 XSpan Gateway
 R680 Xarray Gateway

• Zebra
 Zebra have already release beta firmware to partners to test
performance in Upper Band

* Channel “Squeeze Plan” (Draft ETSI 302 208, v3.2.1) Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
FIXED READER ANTENNAS AND HANDHELDS
• Current UHF antennas marked for FCC specifications should be
compatible with new European Upper Band
• Manufacturers will begin to explicitly market antennas for Upper Band

• HANDHELDS

• Situation is more complex since handheld antennas are usually composed

of dual dipoles or 90deg phase-shifted feeds to achieve circular
polarisation
• Antennas are typically tuned at target frequency with good return loss and
narrow bandwidth – Fine for that particular region
• RF circuitry (filters, oscillators, amplifiers) may also be optimised
• Due to these reasons, most (if not all) Lower Band handhelds are unlikely
to be upgradeable to Upper Band
• Discussions with Zebra technical department – they may look to release
Lower and Upper Band handhelds in future depending on market needs

* Channel “Squeeze Plan” (Draft ETSI 302 208, v3.2.1) Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
CONCLUSIONS

• New high power / high bandwidth UHF RFID band coming soon to Europe

• Current national support slow but steady

• As new EN 302 208 v3.2.1 is published, more countries will adopt the harmonised standard

• New band will deliver better UHF RFID performance across Europe

• FCC band compatibility will benefit manufacturers alike – easier and more cost-effective product development

• For system integrators – easier system deployment – lowering overall costs

• For label / solution suppliers – easier and faster product development – reduced product inventory – lower overall costs

• Some manufacturers are already beginning to support products on the new band

• As more countries ratify, demand grows – more new products will be released explicitly for European upper UHF RFID band

• As performance realisation of new upper band grows, demand for lower band will likely diminish

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020
Q&A

Dr Mo Ramzan - 13.02.2020