How Is Tag Memory Tested?

By RFID Journal

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Ask The Experts › How Is Tag Memory Tested?

RFID Journal Staff asked 10 years ago

Can you please tell me how testing is conducted on tag memory? I don’t understand the concept of testing memory and the states of tags, such as ready state, arbitrate state and reply state, as well as commands like query and query rep command. Please help me out with these concepts.

— Sireesha B.

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Dear Sireesha,

To answer your question, I turned to the experts at Impinj, which manufactures ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID chips for transponders. Here is the company’s response.

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If online die testing is performed, this happens at the pre-diced wafer level. The test arrays are probed at the probing station.

The states you mentioned are programmed into the tester—which, in turn, exercises the protocol to test timing-link parameters and other crucial functions.

If, on the other hand, online inlay testing is performed, a certified Gen 2 RFID reader, such as Impinj’s Speedway Revolution model, is used, and is usually installed at the end of the assembly line.

The readers exercise macros using a Low-Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) to assemble different commands and functions with which the inlay will be tested.

If further low-level control becomes necessary, there are off-the-shelf testing systems that allow the user individual command control.

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal