US Department of Defense “Endorses” Active RFID Standard

US Department of Defense “Endorses” Active RFID Standard

December 1, 2006
By Adrian Gonzalez

The Department of Defense (DoD) sent out a Request for Information (RFI) on November 16th regarding the commercial availability of active RFID tags and readers that comply with the ISO-18000-7 standard. The DoD is considering issuing a follow-on contract to it’s RFID-II Contract. In other words, hundreds of millions of dollars will likely be put out for bids sometime in 2007. Savi Technology, for example, announced in February 2006 that the DoD raised its RFID II contract value with the company from $207.9 million to $424.5 million.

While the DoD hasn’t formally endorsed ISO-18000-7, this RFI certainly signals their support of the standard. Specifically, the DoD is seeking suppliers whose products meet the following requirements (among others):

• Active RFID data rich transponders with a memory size of 128 Kbytes, unobstructed read distance of at least 300 feet , battery life of four years, and operate at an FCC approved 433.92 Mhz frequency;
• Transponders with sensor (humidity, temperature, shock, light) data capture and reporting out-of-tolerance incidence;
• Availability of handheld and fixed interrogators (readers). The products must be sufficiently mature (minimally a prototype) to verify full functionality and be fully compliant with the ISO-18000-7 standard.

Suppliers are responsible for addressing Intellectual Property (IP) rights; products that do not use the IP specified in the standard will not be considered ISO-18000-7 compliant by the DoD. This requirement will probably spark interest in licensing programs from IP owners like Savi who announced a “Quick Start” program back in August that expires at the end of December.

Briefly stated, this RFI from the DoD is another indication that the ISO-18000-7 standard for active RFID is gaining support. Earlier in the month, the China State Radio Regulation Committee (a division of the China Ministry of Information Industry) authorized the use throughout the country of active RFID products that are compatible with the standard. Similar approvals have been reported in Europe, South America, and other Asian countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore (Japan is a notable exception, but they’re currently evaluating the standard).

So, while much of the spotlight remains focused on EPC and passive RFID developments, there’s a lot taking place on the active RFID front too. And now that a sizeable contract for ISO-18000-7 products is probably on the horizon from a highly-influential user, there will certainly be more support for the standard among RFID suppliers. This is all good news, especially on the commercial side. Having a universally-supported active RFID standard, for example, will lower the barrier to enabling the broad adoption of “smart containers” in global supply chains.

Link to Department of Defense RFI:
http://www.fbo.gov/spg/USA/DABL/DABL01/W91QUZ%2D07%2DR%2D0006/SynopsisR.html).