About the development history of UHF technology

Ultra-high frequency RFID (UHF RFID, 860-960 MHz) technology is an important branch of the RFID field. Due to its long reading distance, high-speed reading capability and simultaneous reading of multiple tags, it has gradually been widely used in logistics, retail, manufacturing, medical and other industries, changing the management and operation methods of many industries. So what is the development history of UHF technology? Let's take a closer look and look forward to the future development trend.

1. Origin of technology and early exploration (1980s-1990s)

1980s: Technological germination
The early forms of RFID technology were mainly concentrated in the low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) ranges, used for animal tracking, access control systems, etc. The potential of ultra-high frequency (UHF) technology began to be paid attention to, but its technical complexity and cost were high, and it had not yet been widely used.
1990s: Technological breakthrough
In the 1990s, UHF RFID technology began to make breakthroughs. Researchers found that the UHF band could achieve longer reading distances and higher data transmission rates.
In 1999, the Auto-ID Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was established to promote the standardization and commercialization of RFID technology, and UHF RFID became one of the research focuses.

2. Technical standardization and initial application (2000s)

2000s: Standardization process
In 2003, EPCglobal (developed from the Auto-ID Center) released the EPC Gen 2 standard (later became the ISO 18000-6C standard), laying the foundation for the commercialization of UHF RFID technology. The EPC Gen 2 standard defines the communication protocol, tag encoding method and anti-collision mechanism of UHF RFID, and supports simultaneous reading of multiple tags and long-distance communication.

Initial application scenarios
Retail and supply chain: Large retailers such as Walmart promote the application of UHF RFID in supply chain management for pallet and box-level tracking.
Logistics and warehousing: UHF RFID is used for logistics tracking and inventory management to improve efficiency and accuracy.
Asset tracking: Enterprises began to use UHF RFID technology to manage high-value assets such as equipment and tools.

3. Commercialization and large-scale application (2010s)

2010s: With the maturity of technology and the decline in cost, the cost of UHF RFID tags and readers has dropped significantly, and the reliability of technology has significantly improved, which has promoted its commercial application in multiple industries.
Retail industry: UHF RFID is used for single-item inventory management, such as clothing and footwear, to help companies achieve real-time inventory visualization and anti-counterfeiting.
Logistics and express delivery: UHF RFID is used for package tracking and sorting to improve logistics efficiency.
Smart manufacturing: UHF RFID is used for production process monitoring, material tracking and quality control.
Medical industry: UHF RFID is used for medical equipment management, drug tracking and patient safety.
Technological progress: The tag size is smaller, the power consumption is lower, and it is suitable for more scenarios. The performance of the reader is improved, supporting longer reading distances and higher reading speeds.

4. Deepening and innovation of industry applications (2020s)

2020s: Technology integration and intelligence, UHF RFID technology is deeply integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G communication technology to promote the development of intelligent applications.
Smart retail: UHF RFID is used for unmanned stores, smart shelves and omni-channel inventory management.
Smart logistics: UHF RFID is combined with automated sorting systems to achieve efficient logistics management.
Smart city: UHF RFID is used for smart transportation, smart parking and public safety management.
Medical and health: UHF RFID is used for vaccine tracking, medical equipment management and patient safety.
Technological innovation
Passive UHF RFID: Further development of passive tags reduces energy consumption and costs.
Flexible tags: UHF RFID tags suitable for curved surfaces and irregular objects.
Energy harvesting technology: UHF RFID tags are powered by environmental energy (such as light, heat, vibration).

5. Future development trends

Wider application scenarios: UHF RFID will be more widely used in agriculture, food traceability, aerospace and other fields.
Technology integration: 1) Combine with blockchain technology to improve data security and traceability. 2) Combine with AI and big data to achieve more intelligent data analysis and decision support.
Green and sustainable development: 1) Develop environmentally friendly UHF RFID tags to reduce the impact on the environment. 2) Promote the development of energy harvesting technology and reduce dependence on batteries.