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RFID EXPERT VIEWS
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Why Buy EPCglobal-Certified Products?
The consequences of tagging a product with a tag that only a few readers can interrogate can be detrimental to the entire process. RFID edge software that filters out good tags and does not report them can also have this effect. Both issues can be resolved during the certification process.
In addition, certification offers legal protection to both solution providers and end users regarding IP claims (per EPCglobal IP policy). No other standards organization in the world offers such a comprehensive certification program.
Risks of Buying Non-certified Products
It is not an easy process to get certified. The test cases are very demanding, and readers and tags are subjected to more than 300 conformance and interoperability tests. All tests have to pass in order to obtain certification. On average, 44 percent of all hardware devices fail on the first try, as do 98 percent of software tested. The majority of vendors fix their products to achieve certification, while the few that fail do not complete the process. For these vendors, certification takes a back seat to a product launch. So what is the end result? The product is non-interoperable, and is unstable when the RFID system is deployed, resulting in added deployment and operating costs.
Common issues discovered during the testing of hardware—and their likely consequences if not fixed—include Dense Reader Mask adherence, which can cause interrogators to interfere with each other and read tags they are not supposed to read; timing issues on tag ICs and readers, which may slow a tag's response to an interrogator command so that it is not read; a problem with the Select-Query-EPC Test Script, causing a tag to not be read; a tag using improper preambles, making the tag unreadable; and a monotonic rise of the interrogator's power-up envelope, which can cause a tag to not wake up properly and respond to reader commands.
Frequent problems discovered during software testing involve such things as EPC values encoded incorrectly, which may cause the user's RFID system to not recognize a tagged product (item, case or pallet); the mishandling of exception conditions as defined in software specifications, thereby causing the RFID software applications to crash; and invalid EPCglobal XML namespaces (as defined in ALE and EPCIS), which also cause the RFID applications to crash.
For RFID to succeed, end users must have confidence that the products they buy work correctly with implemented standards, and with each other. EPCglobal certification provides this assurance. As a result, users should ask their solution providers for the EPCglobal Certification Mark, and purchase certified products. All EPCglobal member solution providers support this certification program. They need user companies to recognize the value of certification, and to only buy certified products. This will accelerate the adoption of RFID. EPCglobal is unrivaled in the extensiveness of its certification program, and all participants in the industry should take advantage of it.
Ted Osinski is the director of RFID programs at MET Laboratories, which provides testing certification services for a range of standards, including RFID.
In addition, certification offers legal protection to both solution providers and end users regarding IP claims (per EPCglobal IP policy). No other standards organization in the world offers such a comprehensive certification program.
Risks of Buying Non-certified Products
It is not an easy process to get certified. The test cases are very demanding, and readers and tags are subjected to more than 300 conformance and interoperability tests. All tests have to pass in order to obtain certification. On average, 44 percent of all hardware devices fail on the first try, as do 98 percent of software tested. The majority of vendors fix their products to achieve certification, while the few that fail do not complete the process. For these vendors, certification takes a back seat to a product launch. So what is the end result? The product is non-interoperable, and is unstable when the RFID system is deployed, resulting in added deployment and operating costs.
Common issues discovered during the testing of hardware—and their likely consequences if not fixed—include Dense Reader Mask adherence, which can cause interrogators to interfere with each other and read tags they are not supposed to read; timing issues on tag ICs and readers, which may slow a tag's response to an interrogator command so that it is not read; a problem with the Select-Query-EPC Test Script, causing a tag to not be read; a tag using improper preambles, making the tag unreadable; and a monotonic rise of the interrogator's power-up envelope, which can cause a tag to not wake up properly and respond to reader commands.
For RFID to succeed, end users must have confidence that the products they buy work correctly with implemented standards, and with each other. EPCglobal certification provides this assurance. As a result, users should ask their solution providers for the EPCglobal Certification Mark, and purchase certified products. All EPCglobal member solution providers support this certification program. They need user companies to recognize the value of certification, and to only buy certified products. This will accelerate the adoption of RFID. EPCglobal is unrivaled in the extensiveness of its certification program, and all participants in the industry should take advantage of it.
Ted Osinski is the director of RFID programs at MET Laboratories, which provides testing certification services for a range of standards, including RFID.
