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IATA Approves UHF for Bag Tags
IATA advocates the use of RFID technology to improve baggage handling as part of its Simplifying the Business initiative, which also endorses the use of bar-coded boarding passes and self-service kiosks for passenger check-in.
The use of UHF tags and interrogators is not licensed in a uniform manner across the world. UHF RFID systems must operate between 902 MHz and 928 MHz in the United States, 865.6 MHz to 867.6 MHz in the European Union, and 950 to 956 MHz in Japan. This summer, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) completed a feasibility trial proving UHF tags could be encoded at frequencies at the high end of the UHF band (950 MHz to 956 MHz) and later read in the middle (902 MHz to 928 MHz) and low (865.6 MHz to 867.6 MHz) portions of the band.
This was proven by encoding tags in Asia, then sending them to the United States and Europe, where 99.2 percent of the tags were successfully read. The TSA also worked with EPCglobal to encode electronic product codes (EPCs) to RFID tags, and to test whether airlines and airports could share RFID data as EPCs by using the types of data standards EPCglobal is developing for sharing product data over the EPCglobal Network. Such data standards will be used by manufacturers, retailers and other members of the retail supply chain. The trial was reportedly successful, and the TSA recommended the use of the EPCglobal data model to IATA.
UHF is also emerging as a preferred frequency for tracking airline parts. See Airplane Industry Looks at UHF and Boeing's Flight Plan for Dreamliner Tags. In May, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the use of passive RFID tags, including those operating at ultra-high frequencies in labels applied to individual airline parts (see FAA to Publish Passive RFID Policy). The TSA and EPCglobal are currently working on a field trial using RFID to track and trace airplane cargo.
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The use of UHF tags and interrogators is not licensed in a uniform manner across the world. UHF RFID systems must operate between 902 MHz and 928 MHz in the United States, 865.6 MHz to 867.6 MHz in the European Union, and 950 to 956 MHz in Japan. This summer, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) completed a feasibility trial proving UHF tags could be encoded at frequencies at the high end of the UHF band (950 MHz to 956 MHz) and later read in the middle (902 MHz to 928 MHz) and low (865.6 MHz to 867.6 MHz) portions of the band.
This was proven by encoding tags in Asia, then sending them to the United States and Europe, where 99.2 percent of the tags were successfully read. The TSA also worked with EPCglobal to encode electronic product codes (EPCs) to RFID tags, and to test whether airlines and airports could share RFID data as EPCs by using the types of data standards EPCglobal is developing for sharing product data over the EPCglobal Network. Such data standards will be used by manufacturers, retailers and other members of the retail supply chain. The trial was reportedly successful, and the TSA recommended the use of the EPCglobal data model to IATA.
UHF is also emerging as a preferred frequency for tracking airline parts. See Airplane Industry Looks at UHF and Boeing's Flight Plan for Dreamliner Tags. In May, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved the use of passive RFID tags, including those operating at ultra-high frequencies in labels applied to individual airline parts (see FAA to Publish Passive RFID Policy). The TSA and EPCglobal are currently working on a field trial using RFID to track and trace airplane cargo.
