Month: November 2022

Fail-fast Mode Saves Time with TIPP and ARC Measurements

Tagformance 13.3 release introduces a new feature to the Tagged-Item Grading System and ARC Pre-compliance testing. The new “fail-fast” test mode option skips unnecessary tests which are bound to fail, saving valuable testing time. For example, if there is an angle where the tag does not reply at all, the rest of the test for the given cell is simply skipped after the first failure. This is particularly useful when testing for all TIPP grade or ARC categories.

The 13.3 version also adds support for the new ARC Y-specification.

Custom Command Waveforms: Control over timing and modulation depth

V13.3 adds new options for custom command waveform generation with control over timings and modulation depth, plus a configuration possibility for ISO18000-6C link parameters. These will add more flexibility for testing and enable new kinds of test scenarios, such as emulating filtered modulation signals.

JSON File Format

The new release also introduces a new result file format that will replace the TFF format in the long term. The new JSON result file is more machine-friendly and allows programmatic post-processing of results, as well as more flexible management of metadata. The old TFF format is still available as a legacy option (import, export), but JSON is the recommended default export format.

Voyantic Tagformance is used in UHF and HF RFID tag design, deployment, item tagging, protocol testing, technical sales, and academic research. It is the industry standard solution for RAIN RFID and NFC testing and measurement.

*V13.3 requires V13 license. Contact sales@voyantic.com for assistance.

Note: Tagformance Pro HF users will need to update the software too.

How cool is NFC in that it simply works all over the globe: 13,56 MHz everywhere? How cool do you think it is, that RAIN RFID today enjoys the same: several reader channels between 902 and 928 MHz on all the continents!

Status up until 2018: two regulatory regions with no overlap

Traditionally, the end users and RAIN solution providers have accepted and adapted the fact, that in Europe RAIN deployments have been limited to operate at the 866-868 MHz range, also known as the ETSI range, where the four reader transmit channels are. The rest of the world utilized reader transmit channels somewhere between 902 and 928 MHz – the so-called FCC range.

The EU decided to harmonize the RAIN RFID band in 2018

After years of CEPT (short for European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations) technical studies and mounting pressure from the RAIN end users, the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1538 specified three reader channels at 916,3 MHz, 917,5 MHz, and 918,7 MHz. The Commission also defined the implementation deadline as 1st February 2019 but acknowledged several exceptions for existing regional radio systems, such as military and railway deployments.

The picture above shows how well the European new RAIN RFID reader channels fit among the other global regulatory regions.

Status today: 902-928 MHz covered by a grand majority of countries!

As we study the RAIN RFID regulatory status document maintained by Mr. Craig Alan Repec of GS1 Global Office, out of the listed 81 countries with known status, 55 offer RAIN RFID reader channels between the band 902 – 928 MHz. Out of the CEPT 46 member counties, 25 have partial or full implementation for the upper European RAIN RFID channels, and that number is rising every year.

Performance benefits are significant

As one looks behind the numbers, you come to realize that specifically, the upper European band is wonderful news: more of everything!

*Comparison of lower and upper European RAIN RFID frequency channels*

“The upper European frequency band definitely offers dramatically more wiggle room for RAIN engineers to optimize system and component designs,” says Dr. Jesse Tuominen, the CTO RFID of Voyantic.

Business benefits

As most supply chains are global, it makes sense to keep the RAIN tagging specs at 860 – 930 MHz. This way tagging is responsive all around the globe, which adds simplicity to the deployments.

In certain applications, it might even make sense to narrow down the tagging specs to 902-928 MHz, as tagging and reader antennas can be further optimized for performance, footprint and, ultimately, cost. I believe this opportunity is especially interesting in applications, where there are severe space or area constraints for either the readers or the tagging.

What’s up with the slow adopters

Well, all I can say is that the RAIN RFID end users in Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Greece and a few other countries are in a totally unfair situation – they are outliers that remain limited to the lower European RAIN frequency bands for the time being.

*For future-proofing RAIN RFID deployments also in Germany, please prepare to upgrade systems to support the Upper ETSI frequency band.*

Having said that, I foresee that nuisance to eventually pass. My advice is to prepare to upgrade deployments as those reader channels become available later on. Practically that means requiring the deployments to be compatible with and upgradeable to the 915-917 MHz in the RAIN project specifications.

Bottom line: use the upper European reader channels and be appreciative of them!

The awareness around the global harmonized RAIN frequency band has been slim. However, numerous end users are embracing it. “Most of the main RAIN users in France have declared they are going to use the upper bandwidth for their deployment to get all benefits from this new frequency possibility”, says Hervé d´Halluin, Leader RFID & Traceability of Decathlon. “This represents tens of thousand of locations spread all over France.”

What about the appreciation? Regulatory advocacy is an area where industry stakeholders need to pull their ranks together. With the help of industrial associations, such as the RAIN Alliance, AIM and GS1, we’ve done just that. If you’re in the RAIN RFID business for the long run, make sure your company supports these associations by becoming their member, because regulatory work never ends.

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