No decision in Germany yet
In addition to the Netherlands and Greece, Germany would have to agree to use the 915-921 MHz band. It is not yet clear when this will happen. Preishuber-Pflügl is continuing her discussions with the BNetzA, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economics.
“I already feel like I know half the Bundeswehr and half the DB. Of course, the decision is more severe in Germany than in other countries because the required frequency band is occupied by the Bundeswehr. But if you don’t do anything, nothing will happen.”
DI Josef Preishuber-Pfluegl – Founder, innobir
According to Preishuber-Pflügl, the decision will be made jointly by the German Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economics. From the Netherlands, it is heard that the German way of harmonization could also be applied there.
Unique path in Germany, the Netherlands and Greece
Currently, at least three RFID channels are available in the 915-921 MHz frequency range in almost all EU countries. Only Germany, the Netherlands and Greece have not yet decided to open up this band for RFID applications, as it is still intended for military use. It is still unclear what alternative frequencies will be available for military use in the future.
Global coverage of ultra-high frequency
The frequencies for RAIN (UHF RFID) are located worldwide in the range of 860 to 930 MHz. When comparing frequency ranges by country, the 900 to 930 MHz range is the most common. In Europe, the 915-921 MHz frequency band was not used for RFID for a long time. This was due to slow coordination within the European Union and the allocation of the frequency band for other purposes.
Harmonization achievements in the EU
According to Preishuber-Pflügl, years of work by the RFID community, in particular the intensive work of the RAIN Alliance and GS1 Global, have led to significant progress in the release of frequency bands in Europe in recent years.
As Head of Regulatory Affairs at the RAIN Alliance and Chairman of ETSI ERM TG34 “RFID”, Preishuber-Pflügl, supported by vendors and users, has made a significant contribution to the current harmonization through intensive interaction with the European authorities.
What advantages would European harmonization bring?
The 915-921 MHz band offers the key advantage that RAIN tags used worldwide only need to be designed for the lower bandwidth of 30 MHz instead of 70 MHz. However, there are a number of other advantages, which are summarized below:
- Coverage of the global 900-930 MHz frequency range
- Twice the transmit power of 4 Werp, enabling 40% more reader-to-tag range
- Twice the channel width of 400kHz enables twice the data rate from reader to tag
- Double channel spacing enables double data rate from tag to reader
- While the four channels in the 865-868 MHz band are available as two channel pairs, the three channels in the 915-921 MHz band have a higher frequency spacing and can therefore be used independently.
- Europe is the only region in the world where the power of the passive tag signal is limited. In the 915-921 MHz band, 10 times the power can be used at 100 µW, making it easier for readers to receive data, resulting in lower cost designs and greater range.
Countries marked in green allow use of the 915-921 MHz band. In the countries marked in yellow, no resources are currently available for clarification or implementation. In the countries marked in red, the frequency bands are currently used for other purposes. (Source: RAIN Alliance Inc.)
The decisive implementation in the countries of the European Union and in CEPT member states has led to a clear picture:
- The countries marked in green allow the use of the 915-921 MHz band.
- In the countries marked in yellow, no resources are currently available for clarification or implementation.
- In the red marked countries, the frequency bands are currently used for other applications. In order to achieve the release of the frequency bands, it is necessary that the RAIN (UHF RFID) community brings the economic demand more into the discussion. In particular, the political representatives of these countries are called upon to clarify the demand in communication with the authorities.
