10-26-2007, 10:43 AM
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Will 700 MHz Power RFID?
Issue #121 | Oct. 26, 2007 | by Jeff Schaengold
Is 700 MHz written in the future of RFID?
700 MHz is friendlier to metals and definitely more friendly to water.
Moving passive and active RFID to 700 MHz will definitely improve RFID performance. The question for RFID is whether RFID is at the point where performance will drive growth.
For those who are vested in RFID for the long haul, I encourage a serious look at 700 MHz before further investment in 900 MHz.
I understand all the talk about UHF vs. HF for near field applications like bottles of pills or aluminum foil blister packs; but imagine a passive UHF tag that can be read through concrete walls and sheetrock? UHF that not only can backscatter at distances ‘considerably’ greater than 900MHz, but also affected minimally by metals and liquids.
Imagine an active tag with significant greater range than the 433 MHz solution from Savi and Zebra, and an infrastructure cost 90% lower because an entire ship yard, or campus, can be covered by minimal interrogation cells.
The reason it's anticipated that 700 MHz will influence RFID is that this wavelength is really targeted toward broadband, data and media, with less interest in voice than the prevailing cell spectrum.
The multi-billion dollar starting line
Boardroom outsiders may not know why AT&T recently grabbed 700 MHz spectrum licenses covering the majority of the continental U.S. for $2.5 billion. Was it a chess move – AT&T's recognition that Google will pay any amount to acquire the pending licenses for a gPhone? Or is this simply their recognition that AT&T Wireless is short of bandwidth? Although AT&T is provisionally in the RFID business, somehow I feel confident this buy had nothing to do with that.
What is known is that AT&T's alliance with Apple for the iPhone is partially behind the acquisition. Without increased bandwidth the relationship was heading south. Google's gPhone will most likely be co-marketed with VodaPhone or Verizon Wireless.
The fight over 700 MHz is much larger than RFID or bandwidth expansion.
The battle to set rules over the next U.S. 700 MHz spectrum auction, called "beachfront property" for its attractive characteristics, is heating up. Traditional cellular carriers are squaring off against Google and various think-tanks in a PR battle royal, trying to influence the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress. Full page ads can be routinely found in the Washington Post on both sides of this issue.
Beachfront property on the electro-magnetic spectrum
The reason for the "beachfront property" nickname is because of 700 MHz’s ability to penetrate through walls and other obstacles. Signals also travel very well in the spectrum, so a service provider could cover a city with far fewer cell sites and towers. Estimates are that a service provider might need as few as one-tenth the number of towers when compared to implementing a 2.5 GHz WiMAX network.
Last summer, Google announced its intention to bid in the latest wireless spectrum auction. Big G said that if the FCC would be so nice as to incorporate Net-Neutrality-esque provisions as a part of the license conditions, the company would commit a minimum of $4.6 billion to bidding in the upcoming auctions. They laid out their own set of conditions to go along with this.
The association representing cellular carriers, CTIA, fired off a blast accusing Google of trying to "rig" the action with special conditions in its favor. The competing carriers would prefer that Google simply bid $5 billion without conditions. If Google is the winner, it can do whatever it wants with the spectrum.
With AT&T’s recent investment of $2.5 billion in the spectrum, it’s a safe bet 700 MHz will become a significant contributor to the “wireless” and “RF” world.
I'm betting on 700MHz for RFID. I just don't know who will be first and when.
Jeff Schaengold is the internal Senior RFID consultant for Siemens Energy
and Automation. He has extensive experience in the design and development of RFID in Automation, Supply Chain, Packaging and Pharmaceuticals. http://www2.sea.siemens.com/news/blogs.htm
DO YOU AGREE? DISAGREE?
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Last edited by AndreaC : 10-26-2007 at 11:18 AM.
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