White Paper: Underappreciated And Unheralded - 433 MHz RFID: Vehicle ID, Gated Entry, Asset And Personnel Tracking Applications

By Douglas L. Cram

Many other frequencies are much better known to end users and integrators alike, due in no small part to their penetration of the public thoroughfares and marketplaces. Most everyone has, at one time or another, used a 125 kHz Prox or 13.56 MHz Smart Card to gain access to their office building, health club or other public facility or place of employment. On a daily basis, many of us speed through the automated toll lanes using 902-928 MHz tags and readers for toll collection or gain access to our gated communities using a similar product. And most everyone not hiding under a rock has heard some level of buzz about the "Wal-Mart initiative" involving the tagging of goods at the pallet level for supply chain monitoring. But just outside of the mainstream public view, our own Department of Defense (DOD) has settled on the use of 433 MHz for the tracking of assets and management of their incredibly huge supply chain. There are also hundreds, maybe even thousands of gated, perimeter security applications currently taking advantage of the unique characteristics of this frequency.

It is critical to understand that any device transmitting radio frequency sold in the United States is subject to regulation by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). FCC Part 15 certification, among other things, certifies that a signaling device does not cause interference with other RF devices. In the case of 433 MHz products, the FCC also limits the amount of data that can be transmitted at this frequency in a given period of time. It is essential that prior to investing in any RF transmitting device, you first verify that the device has a FCC certification number. In the case of active tag technologies, this certification would be assigned to the individual tags. In the case of passive tag technologies, the certification would be assigned to the reader.