Can All RFID Tags Be Read By RFID Readers? Actually, no, not all RFID tags can be read by all RFID readers. And here the reasons: There are many different ISO standards, protocols, and physical differences between various RFID tag types. For the purposes of this explanation, we’ll only focus on passive RFID, though there is also semi-active (aka, battery-assisted passive, or BAP) and active RFID. For a little bit of background, here are some examples of how each type of RFID is currently being used. Passive RFID examples:

• Retail clothing tags (UHF)
• Access control cards on a college campus (LF or HF)
• Running Race bibs (UHF)
• Nametags / Badges at conferences (HF)
• Asset tracking (UHF)
• Animal tagging (LF)

Semi-active RFID examples:

• Temperature logging tags
• Long range tags (30+ meters)

Active RFID examples:

• Toll Road transponders
• Military shipping containers

Within passive RFID, there are three main tag / reader technologies on the market today, named after their respective frequency bands: low-frequency (LF, 125 kHz or 134 kHz), high-frequency (HF, 13.56 MHz), and ultra-high-frequency (UHF, 860-960 MHz). Each type of passive RFID tag (LF, HF, or UHF) can only be read by the SAME type of passive RFID reader. For instance, an LF reader will only be able to read an LF tag; it will not able to read an HF or a UHF tag. Further, within each passive RFID frequency band, there are a handful of ISO standards that need to be followed in order to facilitate reader to tag communication. Here are the major standards for each passive RFID frequency band: Low Frequency:

• ISO 14223
• ISO/IEC 18000-2

High Frequency:

• ISO 15693
• ISO/IEC 14443 A
• ISO/IEC 14443 B
• ISO/IEC 18092

Ultra High Frequency:

• ECPglobal Class1 Gen2 (ISO 18000-6C)

Generally, readers within a certain frequency band (LF, HF, or UHF) can physically support more than one protocol, but require some sort of software changes to do so. However, there is not currently a single radio system that supports the all RFID frequencies and all of the different protocols. In short, when picking an RFID system, make absolutely sure that your reader and tag technologies are compatible.