dynamic test: door portal test methodology€¦ · 1 2 dynamic test: door portal test methodology 3...

1

Dynamic Test: Door Portal Test Methodology 2

For Applied Tag Performance Dynamic Testing 3

Rev 1.0.9 4

Test Methodology 5 5-Apr-06 6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Authors: 17 EPCglobal, Inc. Community18

Copyright ©2006, 2007 EPCglobal®, All Rights Reserved. of 29

Copyright notice 19

© 2006, 2007, EPCglobal Inc. 20

All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, modification, and/or use of this Document is not 21 permitted. Requests for permission to reproduce should be addressed to 22 [email protected]. 23 24 EPCglobal Inc.TM is providing this document as a service to interested industries. This 25 document was developed through a consensus process of interested parties. Although efforts 26 have been to assure that the document is correct, reliable, and technically accurate, EPCglobal 27 Inc. makes NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS 28 CORRECT, WILL NOT REQUIRE MODIFICATION AS EXPERIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL 29 ADVANCES DICTATE, OR WILL BE SUITABLE FOR ANY PURPOSE OR WORKABLE IN 30 ANY APPLICATION, OR OTHERWISE. Use of this Proposal Document is with the 31 understanding that EPCglobal Inc. has no liability for any claim to the contrary, or for any 32 damage or loss of any kind or nature. 33

Disclaimer 34

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this document and the information contained 35 herein are correct, EPCglobal and any other party involved in the creation of the document 36 hereby state that the document is provided on an “as is” basis without warranty, either 37 expressed or implied, including but not limited to any warranty that the use of the information 38 herein will not infringe any rights, of accuracy or fitness for purpose, and hereby disclaim any 39 liability, direct or indirect, for damages or loss relating to the use of the document. 40


Abstract 41

This draft document defines test methodology for testing the readability of RFID 42 Tagged Cases or Pallets as they travel through Door Portals, one of several 43 dynamic system elements under the “Applied Tag Performance” (ATP) dynamic 44 test scenarios. 45

Status of This Document 46

This section describes the status of the document at the time of its publication. 47 This test method has been formally accepted by the EPCglobal Technical 48 Steering Committee and the EPCglobal Business Steering Committee. 49

The test methodology described in this document SHALL be only used to test 50 tagged items. 51

Terminology and Typographical Conventions 52

Within this specification, the terms SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD 53 NOT, MAY, NEED NOT, CAN, and CANNOT are to be interpreted as specified in 54 Annex G of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, 2001, 4th edition [ISODir2]. When 55 used in this way, these terms will always be shown in ALL CAPS; when these 56 words appear in ordinary typeface they are intended to have their ordinary 57 English meaning. 58

All sections of this document are normative, except where explicitly noted as 59 non-normative. 60

The following typographical conventions are used throughout the document: 61

• ALL CAPS type is used for the special terms from [ISODir2] enumerated 62 above. 63

• Monospace type is used to denote programming language, UML, and XML 64 identifiers, as well as for the text of XML documents. 65

Placeholders for changes that need to be made to this document prior to its 66 reaching the final stage of approved EPCglobal specification are prefixed by a 67 rightward-facing arrowhead, as this paragraph is. 68


Table of Contents 69

1 Purpose ......................................................................................................................... 5 70

2 Targeted Audience ....................................................................................................... 5 71

3 Scope ............................................................................................................................ 5 72

4 Definitions.................................................................................................................... 5 73

5 Door Portal Test Equipment Configuration ................................................................. 9 74

5.1 Door Portal Definition ........................................................................................... 9 75

5.2 Portal Diagram....................................................................................................... 9 76

5.3 Door Portal Attributes ......................................................................................... 11 77

5.3.1 Types of material handling systems moving material thru portal: ............... 11 78

5.3.2 Types of tagged material that must be readable: .......................................... 11 79

5.3.3 Door Portal Physical Description.................................................................. 12 80

6 Door Portal: Environmental Conditions..................................................................... 14 81

6.1 RF Spectrum Requirements and Test Calibration ............................................... 14 82

6.2 Temperature and Humidity Requirements .......................................................... 16 83

7 Door Portal Test Methodology................................................................................... 17 84

7.1 Sample Size ......................................................................................................... 18 85

7.2 RFID Tag Selection and Placement..................................................................... 18 86

7.3 Sample Pre-conditioning ..................................................................................... 18 87

7.4 Case Orientation and Dynamics .......................................................................... 18 88

7.5 Data Recording and Presentation ........................................................................ 19 89

8 Reporting Requirements............................................................................................. 19 90

8.1 Required Information .......................................................................................... 19 91

9 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................ 21 92

10 APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................... 25 93

11 APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................... 28 94

REVISIONS...................................................................................................................... 29 95

96


1 Purpose 97 98 The purpose of this document is to define criteria to test the performance of RFID 99 tagged cases or pallets with respect to readability within Door Portal 100 configurations. The intent is to achieve consistent performance for the reading of 101 RFID tags that will pass through the portals. This document may also be used as 102 a guideline to assist in the development and implementation of door portal RFID 103 systems. 104

2 Targeted Audience 105 106

This document is intended for use by EPCglobal Accredited Test Centers that will 107 be performing Dynamic Testing of applied tags within Door Portals. 108

3 Scope 109 110

This document will cover the testing criteria associated with Door Portal 111 configurations that take a variety of forms to accomplish specific business cases 112 such as: 113

• Dock Doors – Loading docks that lead to parked trucks. 114

• Dock Doors – Unloading docks that lead to a building structure. 115

• Interior Door Portals – Openings within the Distribution Center. 116

The tags to be tested through the Portal structures are anticipated to be in the 117 UHF band of ~860 – 960 MHz. 118

The test criteria outlined in this document are designed be performed on passive 119 tags. 120

4 Definitions 121 122

Antenna Array – One or many antennas arranged such that the 123 interrogation field of each antenna is combined to cover a larger surface 124 area or volume. Generally only one antenna is on at a time, requiring that 125 each antenna be sequentially addressed. 126

Cart – A rolling assembly made of metal (e.g., Aluminum) or plastic that 127 can support the material to be transferred through a Portal. A cart can be 128 manually pushed through a portal or can be attached to a tow truck for 129 power assist. 130


Case – Usually a corrugated box that contains one individual product or 131 multiple samples of identical products. Case dimensions can be as small 132 as 10 x 10 x 15 cm (4” x 4” x 6”) to 120 x 74 x 76 cm (48”x 29”x 30”). 133

Clamp Truck – A counterbalanced truck assembly that has its fork lifts 134 replaced by side by side clamps that allow it to pick up and move material 135 by grabbing the sides of the material. Clamps generally are made of metal 136 and therefore can obscure RFID tags. 137

dBm – The official unit of measure for this standard will be determined at 138 a later date. It will be either “dBm eirp” or “dBm erp”. 139

DC – Distribution Center. This is also used to describe general 140 Warehousing facilities. 141

Dock Door Portal – The specific case of a Door Portal that is configured 142 around loading docks that lead to parked trucks. 143

Door Portal – A configuration of readers and antennas that surround a 144 passage way through which tagged material may be conveyed by mobile 145 material handling equipment or personnel. 146

Flex Conveyor – A semi rigid, accordion style configuration of rollers that 147 allows material to be transported from static conveyor systems, and be 148 dynamically extended to reach inside trucks for hand stacking. A section 149 of Flex Conveyor may pass through a configured door portal leading to the 150 truck. 151

Each – An individual unit. A case could consist of Multiple Eaches. 152

Effective Duration – The amount of time the tag is in the Interrogation 153 Field during which it can receive the Effective Power Level. This is usually 154 verified by measuring the duration in which the tag can be read. 155

Effective Interrogation Path Distance – the length of the path that the 156 tag traverses through the Interrogation Field. 157

Effective Power Level – The amount of RF energy in a field is intended 158 to read tags in that field. In an array of antennas, it is the power level at 159 the cross over point of the edge of one antenna’s radiation pattern to its 160 neighbor antenna’s radiation pattern. 161

Hand Pallet Truck – A pushed fork assembly that allows operators to lift 162 and move pallets manually. 163

Inter Gap – A distance between the edge of a portal structure to the 164 effective Interrogation Field. 165

Interior Causeways – Interior access passages from one section of a 166 building to another. 167

Interrogation Path – The path that tagged material will travel through as it 168 passes through the portal configuration. 169


Interrogation Field – The area across which RF energy from the readers 170 and antennas configured in the portal are sufficient to read a tag in the 171 field. 172

Manual Pallet Jack – A pallet jack that allows the operator to perform 173 lifting of the material to heights greater than floor level. 174

maximum allowable power level - The greatest amount of RF energy in 175 a field that is permitted during a valid attempt to read tags in that field 176 during a Door Portal Test. The measurement should be performed per the 177 local regulatory requirements and verified to be within limits. 178

Minimum Effective Duration – The amount of time the tag is in the 179 Interrogation Field during which it can receive the Minimum Effective 180 Power Level. This is usually verified by ensuring that the tag can be read. 181

Minimum Effective Power Level – The least amount of RF energy in a 182 field that can read tags in that field. In an array of antennas, it is the 183 minimum power level at the cross over point of the edge of one antenna’s 184 radiation pattern to its neighbor antenna’s radiation pattern. 185

Motion Detector – A device that senses motion, and will create a trigger 186 that a reader can use to activate an antenna, to perform a tag read. 187

Narrow Aisle Reach Truck – A fork lift or order picking type material 188 handling truck that is designed to accommodate narrow aisle racking 189 configurations. A narrow aisle truck has a width of a few inches wider than 190 the material it carries. (Material is generally a pallet). 191

Pallet –Supporting structures made of wood, plastic or metal that allows 192 the transport of material with mobile equipment such as fork lifts trucks or 193 “walkies”. They are used to transport single SKUs, multiple same type 194 SKUs or a mixture of SKUs types. For example, a typical domestic US 195 pallet base has a size of 102 x 122 x 12.7 cm (40”x 48”x 5”). The standard 196 EU pallet base is 120 x 80 x 14.4 cm (47.25” x 31.5” x 5.67”). 197

Pallet Tag – A tag that is attached to the exterior of the unit load after the 198 unitizing process to specifically identify the contents of the pallet load. Tag 199 is not attached or imbedded into a wood, polymer or other type of pallet 200 assembly. 201

Powered Pallet Jack – A powered floor forklift assembly that assists an 202 operator to manually lift and move pallets. Generally the height of lift is 203 only sufficient to allow the pallet to be put in motion. 204

Racking Aisles – Racking structures that store pallets and material that 205 are arranged such that aisles are formed where mobile material handling 206 equipment will pass through. 207

Sit Down Counterbalanced Lift Truck – A mobile gas or electric 208 powered material handling vehicle that is configured with forks on the front 209 for performing pallet management. Generally they can perform movement 210


of pallets and also can lift the pallets beyond floor level to storage racking. 211 The operator sits in a cab to operator the equipment. 212

Stand Up Counterbalanced Lift Truck - A mobile gas or electric 213 powered material handling vehicle that is configured with forks on the front 214 for performing pallet management. Generally they can perform movement 215 of pallets and also can lift the pallets beyond floor level to storage racking. 216 The operator stands in a protected cage to operate the equipment. 217

Tie High - A plan, usually in the form of a printed schematic on the box, 218 which describes how boxes of that type must be stacked to create a pallet. 219 It includes the number of boxes and box layers in the pallet, and the 220 orientation of boxes in each layer. 221

Tow Tractor – A powered truck that pulls material behind it. 222

X, XX, or XXX – These terms are currently being used as place holders 223 for undefined values. These values will be determined by the findings of 224 the Field Strength Measurement Team (FSMT), Static Test Specification 225 Team, Pilot Testing Program, and various, ongoing, Round Robin Testing 226 Programs. 227

228


5 Door Portal Test Equipment Configuration 229 230

5.1 Door Portal Definition 231 232

The door portal usage in this document is defined as any transition area within a 233 facility that may or may not have a door but has a sufficient cut out to allow 234 material handling equipment or personnel to pass though. For the purposes of 235 this document the “cut out” will be configured with portal configurations that will 236 allow an interrogation zone to be provided for the purposes of reading RFID tags 237 as they travel through the transition. This document will also cover the general 238 case of a free standing transition area that material handling equipment may 239 travel through, that has no physical structure around it other than the portals 240 themselves. It is anticipated that in all cases, tags will be in motion as they are 241 read through the portal. 242

Throughout this document the term “Portal” will be used synonymously to mean a 243 Door Portal configuration. 244

5.2 Portal Diagram 245 246

For the purposes of this document a Door Portal Test Equipment Configuration 247 will be established that allows for the determination of the readability of RFID 248 tagged cases or pallets as they pass through the Portal. 249


Right Side

Antenna Array

Left Side Antenna

Array

Side Array Separation Distance

Minimum Effective Interrogation Field

Left Inter Gap

Interrogation Field Width

Right Inter Gap

Note: An antenna array is defined as one to many antennas configured such that the effective interrogation field surface area is increased by sequencing a number of antennas on a side.

Figure 1 – “Through the portal” View

Figure 2 – Top View

Floor Inter Gap

Right Side Antenna

Array

Left Side Antenna

Array

Minimum Effective

Interrogation Field

Minimum Effective Duration

Inter GapLobe Angle

Motion Detection Minimum Turn on Distance

Minimum Effective

Interrogation Path distance

250 Note: These figures will be updated to correlate with the Field Strength 251 Measurement Team (FSMT) findings.252


253

5.3 Door Portal Attributes 254

5.3.1 Types of material handling systems moving material thru portal: 255 256

A Door Portal is anticipated to capture tag readings as they pass through 257 the interrogation field created by an array of antenna structures. A partial 258 list of material handling equipment includes: 259

• Cart or Dolly 260

• Flex Conveyor 261

• Hand Pallet Truck 262

• Narrow Aisle Reach Truck 263

• Sit down and Stand up Counterbalanced Lift Truck 264

• Tow Tractor 265

• Walkie Stackers and Pallet truck 266

Descriptions of these terms are contained in the Definitions section of this 267 Document. 268 Note: It is not required that the pallet is tested utilizing every possible mode of transport. 269 The mode or modes of pallet transport should be agreed upon between the test 270 laboratory and their customer prior to testing. 271 272

5.3.2 Types of tagged material that must be readable: 273 274

The material handling equipment listed in section 5.2.1 will be used to 275 transport a variety of tagged material generally in the form of: 276

• Exposed “Eaches” 277

• Displays 278

• Single cases 279

• Multiple cases 280

• Pallets 281

• The material handling equipment itself 282

Tags will be placed on this material and tested with different material 283 handling scenarios to establish performance of the tag while it is in motion 284 in the interrogation field. 285


286

5.3.3 Door Portal Physical Description 287 288

A Door Portal configuration as described in the definition in (5.0) can be 289 any structure(s) that allow antenna(s) to be fixed in such a way that they 290 cover the interrogation path and ensure that tags can be read as they 291 move through the portal. A properly implemented Portal configuration will 292 generate an RF field sufficient to meet the Minimum Effective Power 293 Level at each side of the material regardless of the height of the material 294 (This will generally require an array configuration of antennas). It is not the 295 scope of this document to describe how to construct a portal. The 296 Minimum Effective Power Levels found in real world applications will 297 dictate the maximum allowable power levels to be used in developing the 298 door portal test equipment configuration. The portal constructed must be 299 able to achieve the Radio Frequency characteristics defined below. 300

• Typical dimensions 301

o A portal configuration must cover a side area 3 m tall by 2.75 m 302 wide. (10’ x 9’). The usable Interrogation Field will be 2.75 m 303 tall by 2.6 m wide (9’ x 8.5’). 304

The above dimensions are typical door dimensions, although other 305 dimensions may apply for specific test scenarios. 306

307

• Material constraints – Materials to construct the fixtures to hold 308 antennas for the Portal should be rigid enough to not allow the 309 antennas to move or sag over time. 310

• Antennas that radiate back lobes should ideally have anechoic material 311 to minimize reflections off surfaces that are behind the portal. 312

• Portals shall have a solid and conductive metal ground plane located 313 on the floor. This plane shall be grounded, and shall be as wide as the 314 portal. The plane shall be square with all sides the same length. The 315 thickness of the plane shall be at least 6 mm. 316

• For Portal structures that have a wall in close proximity to the portal, 317 the antennas should be positioned such that they radiate away from 318 the wall into the interrogation zone, or anechoic material may be used 319 to minimize reflections form the wall. The antennas should always be 320 positioned bore sight to bore sight. The tilting or turning of antennas is 321 not acceptable. 322

• There should not be any material, equipment, bollards, or other 323 protective structures located or placed in the Interrogation field or in an 324


area where they could affect the RF field pattern. This includes non-325 reflective material. 326

• There shall be no effective interference or cross talk between each 327 interrogator at the Portal. This may be determined by noting that there 328 is no degradation in read performance, with and without the cross talk 329 source. 330

If multiple antennas are being used, readers should be programmed to allow 331 sequencing of antennas in an array to occur such that the effective duty cycle for 332 each antenna is equal. 333


6 Door Portal: Environmental Conditions 334

6.1 RF Spectrum Requirements and Test Calibration 335 336

Testing will commence when the following pre-requisites have been met. 337

• An RF reading is taken with a spectrum analyzer and shows no other 338 significant radiating sources in the area where the test will take place. 339

• The antennas in the portal SHALL be circularly polarized to accommodate 340 the widest range of tag orientations that will be under test. In the event 341 some other technology is used to provide a field that is orientation 342 insensitive it must be described to show that tags can be rotated and not 343 degrade in performance. 344

• All RF generating equipment shall be used in a manor compliant with all 345 local regulatory requirements unless proper permits or licenses are 346 obtained. For power measurements, when ever possible, readers will be 347 placed in single frequency mode to stabilize the readings. When ever 348 possible, tags under test should be read by interrogators configured for 349 the region(s) of the world in which the tags are intended to be read. The 350 interrogator shall conform to the protocol standard that will be used in the 351 operation (Generation 2 Hardware Shall be EPC certified). 352

• The maximum allowable power level SHALL be tested on each side of 353 the Portal structure to ensure that an RF field with no more than the 354 maximum allowable field strength is generated across the face of the 355 material under test over the Interrogation Field Width. Each antenna 356 array will contribute to a total effective Interrogation field. After each 357 antenna is energized, the average power shall be measured at those 358 locations closest to the Inter Gap. Power SHALL be measured using a 359 calibrated antenna in the frequency range of the band under test. See 360 APPENDIX B FOR guidance as to the measurement method. The dipole 361 antenna SHALL be moved from the floor level to the top of the anticipated 362 coverage area along the edge of the transition of the Inter Gap and 363 measurements will be verified and recorded to ensure that the 364 Interrogation Field Height is sufficient to cover the material under test. 365

• As an example, for a vertical three element antenna array, antenna 366 dimensions of 2.75m x 2.75m (9’ x 9’), first antenna 43cm (17”) off the 367 floor, second antenna 122cm (48”) off the floor and third antenna 200cm 368 (79”) off the floor, operating at US frequencies of 902 to 928 MHz, 369 powered with a +33 dBm reader, the maximum allowable power level on 370 axis with the antenna array center line at an Inter Gap of 46cm (1.5 ft) is 371 XX dBm. At 68.5cm (2.25 feet) off-axis on either side of the center line, a 372 maximum allowable power of XX dBm is recommended across the height 373 of the interrogation field. 374


(These measurements, alternate antenna structures and power levels, for 375 US, European and Asian configurations, will be verified with data from pilot 376 tests). 377

• Unless it can be shown as important for a test, there will be no reliance on 378 any reflected energy as the basis for enabling tags on the far side of the 379 Interrogation Field Width. All tags on a side should be enabled by the 380 incident field from the antenna closest to the tag. 381

• The edge of any portal structure to the beginning of the Effective 382 Interrogation Field is defined as the Inter Gap. This distance SHALL be 383 greater than 1.5 wavelengths times the lowest frequency of characteristic 384 frequency band that is being tested. The Portal structure should be 385 positioned and its antenna(s) aligned such that field crossover be 1.5 386 wavelengths behind the start of the Effective Interrogation Field. 387

• Multi-path effects must be minimized in the Effective Interrogation Field. 388 If obstructions such as walls are in close proximity, portals should allow 389 rotation of antennas to cause the main lobe of the radiating field to point 390 away from the obstruction to reduce multi-path interference. Dampening 391 material MAY be used to minimize the effect of the reflections. 392

• The portal structure must achieve a continuous RF field through the 393 Interrogation Path of a maximum of XX dBm, as measured with a 394 calibrated dipole antenna that will sustain for the Effective Duration. 395 Additionally, the continuous RF field present in this Interrogation Path 396 should be a minimum of XX dBm, as energies less than this may result in 397 the underperformance of tag SKU combinations that would otherwise be 398 found acceptable. The length of the interrogation path will be defined as 399 the Effective Interrogation Path Distance. A calibration assembly will be 400 demonstrated by the test center that allows a calibrated dipole to be 401 passed through the portal transition to capture power read points sufficient 402 to establish the Effective Interrogation Field start and end distance. 403 The tag under test must be able to be sampled at least X times by the 404 interrogator in the interrogation field as it travels through the portal. 405

406

A monthly, full portal verification SHALL be performed. At the beginning of each 407 testing session, a limited sub-set of these measurements SHALL be performed 408 and compared to the results of the monthly verification in order to provide a 409 reasonable assurance that the portal set-up has not changed. For these 410 verifications, the operator will record all applicable measurements defined below. 411 Each power measurement must be collected and averaged over 8 samples (If 412 dead zones are detected in the portal, their cause should be investigated. It is 413 possible that these may be Fesnel zones caused by the reflection of the incident 414 energy. Any dead zones and their causes shall be reported): 415

416

• Right Inter Gap distance 417


• Right Interrogation Field Power 418

• Left Inter Gap distance 419

• Left Interrogation Field Power 420

• Top Interrogation Field Power 421

• Floor Interrogation Field Power 422

• Interrogation Field Height 423

• Interrogation Field Width 424

• Effective Duration 425

• Effective Interrogation Path distance 426

• Power level at the center of interrogation zone 427

• Sequence time of antennas, if applicable 428

• Motion Detection Turn-on distance 429

• Speed of the calibration assembly that is used to pass through the portal 430 with calibration equipment for the purpose of establishing the start and 431 end points of the Effective Interrogation Field. 432

433 Note: The Field Strength Measurement Team (FSMT) will develop detailed procedures and 434 requirements for these measurements. 435

6.2 Temperature and Humidity Requirements 436 437

All testing shall be conducted in a test laboratory in which the ambient 438 temperature and humidity are maintained within the manufacturer’s specified 439 operating range of the equipment used to perform the analysis. The conditions 440 SHALL not exceed the following range limits: 441

• 10oC to 45o C (15oF to 113o F) 442

• 20% to 95% Relative Humidity 443

444


7 Door Portal Test Methodology 445 Once the portal has been calibrated to perform a test and its attributes recorded, 446 the following are specific tests that are anticipated to be carried out: 447

448

It is a goal that all tests SHOULD achieve 100% readability of the tag while in the 449 Effective Interrogation Field. 450

This is an FMCG BAG requirement. 451

Pallet Tag Test Type

Speed in Portal (±10%)

Tag Location

Material Handling Equipment

Tag Count

Sample Orientations

Manual 4.8 km/h 3 mph

case face panel manual pallet jack 1 1

Powered Jack

8.0 km/h 5 mph

case face panel

powered pallet jack 1 1

Fork Truck 12.9 km/h

8 mph case face

panel counterbalanced

fork truck 1 1

Double Wide Fork

Truck

12.9 km/h 8 mph

case face panel

counterbalanced fork truck 2 1

Double Deep Fork

Truck

12.9 km/h 8 mph

case face panel


Double Deep, Double

Wide Fork Truck

12.9 km/h 8 mph

case face panel


Clamp Truck

12.9 km/h 8 mph

case face panel


Note: It is not required that the pallet is tested utilizing every possible mode of transport. The 452 mode or modes of pallet transport should be agreed upon between the test laboratory and their 453 customer prior to testing. 454


7.1 Sample Size 455 456

Sample size basis: 457

Will be developed and verified during subsequent iterations of this 458 test methodology 459

Each tagged case will be measured during each “iteration” or “pass” through the 460 door portal. 461

7.2 RFID Tag Selection and Placement 462 463

Tags to be used during the testing will be selected using the tag selection 464 technique – See Appendix A. Those tags selected will be of median 465 responsiveness as described in Appendix A. 466

The tags used for testing SHALL be used as intended by the manufacturer. For 467 tags intended to be attached by adhesive, they must be affixed to the package 468 utilizing stock adhesive. Tags may not be affixed to packages using adhesive 469 strip tape, spray adhesive, or any other method which does not faithfully replicate 470 a “real world” application. No artificial layers of any material can be placed 471 between the tag and the tagged item. The individual tags are not expected to be 472 reusable. 473

7.3 Sample Pre-conditioning 474 475

If the package is normally stored or shipped in a refrigerated, frozen or heated 476 condition, the end user may require that the package is tested while at these 477 conditions. It is acceptable to precondition the package to the required 478 conditions, and then perform the testing. Multiple conditioning and then testing 479 cycles may be required to insure that the package temperature does not vary by 480 more than 5 degrees Centigrade (10 degrees F) during testing. 481

7.4 Case Orientation and Dynamics 482 483

An entire pallet, fully loaded with the SKU under test, SHALL be used for this 484 test. Cases SHALL be oriented to match the Tie High characteristics of the load 485 to insure integrity of the pallet load. As a result, some cases may be turned such 486 that the case tag is obscured from being read as it passes through the portal. 487

The bottom edge of the pallet under test should be at its normal transport height, 488 for the type of material handling equipment used, as it traverses the Interrogation 489 Field. All cases SHALL contain case level RFID tags (if applicable). The pallet 490 tag SHALL be located and applied as it would be in the supply chain. 491


7.5 Data Recording and Presentation 492 493

The applications written for collecting testing information SHOULD be integrated 494 with the reader and power capture equipment as much as possible to eliminate 495 the need to hand write test results. All data must eventually be transferred to a 496 test center supplied management system that records the results of a test. 497

8 Reporting Requirements 498

8.1 Required Information 499 All read events and accompanying data (iteration number, orientation, and 500 optional information about the read event) will be reported in a human and 501 machine readable file, such as a comma delimited text file. 502

The following will also be reported: 503

• The Calibration information as defined in section 6.1 504

• An identification of the testing lab, and the particular door used for the 505 testing if the testing lab has multiple testing points 506

• The pallet transport speed at which the lab performed dynamic tests 507

• The type of material handling equipment that was used to perform the test 508

• Material Height 509

• Material Width 510

• Description of material, if available 511

• Material Depth (for double deep pallet tests) 512

• The Brand, model number, serial number, and firmware version(s) of the 513 reader(s) 514

• The model of the reader antennas 515

• The tuning parameters and settings of the reader 516

• The time and date of the start, and end, of the test 517

• The temperature and relative humidity at both the start and end of the test 518

• The Spectral Noise information measured at both the start and end of the 519 test 520

• The manufacturer, model, and calibration date of the Spectrum Analyzer 521 and the Antenna in use to make RF measurements. 522

• Information identifying the Case, such as brand code or text description 523

• Information identifying the tag, such as the tag manufacturer’s part 524 number and lot number 525


• The position of the tags on the material used in the testing 526

• The stacking plan of the material on the carrier, if available 527

• The dominant antenna that had the best read of the tag 528

• Constraints associated with tag placement, stacking, pallet depth, rotation, 529 pallet integrity and any other information important for the unit under test 530


9 APPENDIX A 531 532

Tag selection method 533

534 (NOTE: This Appendix will be updated to correlate with the Static Test Standard) 535 536

This brief suggests a way to select tags that can be used in EPCglobal related static 537 and dynamic pilot tests. 538

Randomly select a quantity of tags from a source. It is preferable that the tags be from 539 the same source, preferably the same lot, supplied by a converter or tag manufacturer. 540

Measure the free space maximum read distance of each tag. This may be done in two 541 ways: 542

A. Method one – measuring actual maximum free space read distance 543

1. Set up a reader and an antenna. Antenna may be linearly or circularly polarized. (Tag 544 will have to be oriented properly, aligned to the field, if LP antenna is used). 545

2. The reader and antenna must be set up in a room such that multi-path effects are 546 minimized. (Suggest that ceiling be at least 6 meters (20 feet) high, the antenna is 547 mounted at least 2.1 meters (7 feet) above the ground, distance between antenna and 548 wall facing antenna, if any, be at least 15.25 meters (50 feet)). Alternately, the reader 549 and antenna may be set up outside, perhaps in a parking lot. 550

3. Mount the tag on an RF friendly material (E.g., Styrofoam, cardboard). Cellophane or 551 masking tape may be used to mount the tag. Place the tag on a mount, preferably with 552 wheels, such that the tag is aligned to center of the antenna (bore sight). For the mount, 553 avoid metal. Wood or plastic is recommended. 554

4. Adjust reader power to a set value, 1 Watt. 555

5. Set the reader to a single frequency, say 915 MHz. (Note: this may not be possible 556 due to regulatory requirements. 557

6. Verify that antenna is radiating, by measuring the field at the face of the antenna. A 558 dipole antenna connected to an average power meter may be used. Expect to see +10 559 to +20 dBm power at the face of the antenna, as the dipole is moved over the face of 560 the antenna. 561

7. Stick masking tape on the floor from the antenna out to about 6 meters (20 feet). 562 Mark it in feet and inches to create a ruler. Or use a tape measure laid out on the floor. 563

8. Position the tag about 6 meters (20 feet) away from the reader. Wheel the mount in 564 slowly. Note the point where the reader begins to read the tag. Verify this position by 565 moving the tag forward or backward a couple of times. Note this distance from tag to 566 reader as the maximum free space read distance, Dmax. 567


568


569

B. Method 2 - measuring maximum tag sensitivity 570

571

1. Set up the antenna in an anechoic chamber. (See EPCglobal Guide lines for static 572 test anechoic chamber, for details on the chamber). 573

2. The following test set up is suggested. 574

575

576 577

In the above set up, the circulators circ-1 and circ-2, and the return path attenuator Attn-578 back, may be removed in the interests of simplicity, if desired. In that case, the forward 579 signal path is simplified to reader – attenuator – power monitor – antenna. This 580 simplified setup is assumed for the following instructions. 581

3. Place a dipole measurement antenna at the position at which tag will be placed. (See 582 point 5). Starting from no attenuation, increase the attenuation in steps, typically less 583 than 1 dB per step, while noting the average power measured by the dipole, as well as 584 the power at the monitor port. This allows the calibration of power at the tag position 585 with power being read at the monitor port. Alternately, in the absence of the monitor 586 port, the received power at the tag location may be directly calibrated to attenuation 587 values off the attenuator. 588

4. With no attenuation, let the maximum received power at the tag location be Pmax 589 dBm. 590

5. Position the tag in the anechoic chamber at a distance of 1 to 2 meters (4 to 6 feet) 591 from the antenna face, tag aligned to antenna center (bore sight). Set the attenuation to 592 minimum. Ensure that tag is being read by the reader. 593

6. Decrease the power (increase the attenuation) in steps while monitoring the read rate 594 of the tag, until tag is un-detected by the reader. Note either the monitored power value, 595


or the attenuation value. Use either to find the corresponding received power at the tag, 596 Pmin dBm. 597

7. Calculate the maximum tag sensitivity, Tmax = Pmax – Pmin dB. 598

599

C. Selecting “average” tags 600

601

1. Use either method A or method B described above to screen the sample selection of 602 tags. 603

2. Sort the tags according to the maximum read distance or maximum tag sensitivity, 604 depending on the test method used. 605

3. Now that the total tag distribution is available, for the tests under consideration, 606 choose “average” tags, i.e., tags with Dmax within one foot of each other, or tags with 607 Tmax within 2 dB of each other. 608

This will ensure that the selected tags are relatively identical in performance, based on 609 free space maximum read distance or free space maximum tag sensitivity. 610


10 APPENDIX B 611 612

Procedure for the Determination of relative RFID Interrogator 613 Electromagnetic Field Strength 614

615 (NOTE: This Appendix will be updated to correlate with the outcome of Field Strength 616 Measurement Team (FSMT) findings and the Static Test Standard) 617 618

Required test equipment: 619

620

1) Spectrum Analyzer, with an upper frequency threshold of at least 1 GHz 621 2) EMCO 7405-905 whip antenna or equivalent 622 3) Low loss RG58 interconnecting coaxial cable, 4.5 to 6.0 meters (15’ or 623

20’) in length 624 4) 6 dB to 30dB, 50 Ohm attenuators 625

626

After warm-up and self-calibration of the Spectrum analyzer, connect the 627 whip antenna to its input port, with a 30 dB attenuating pad in line, and 628 preset the Spectrum Analyzer to the following: 629

i) Center frequency: Frequency(s) of Interest 630 ii) Span: 100 MHz 631 iii) Reference level: 120 dB 632 iv) Resolution Bandwidth: 1 MHz 633 v) Amplitude Offset: 30 dB (or the face value of the attenuator in line) 634 635

Locate the antenna in proximity of the center volume of the read envelope and 636 take notice of any ambient noise that may interfere with your measurement. To 637 do this, place the Spectrum Analyzer in an integrating mode (Max hold function) 638 for a minute or so until the integration has basically stabilized, so as to have a 639 steady representation of all the electromagnetic pollutants falling into the 640 frequency band of interest. 641

642

Energize the scanning equipment and gradually increase its power level from 643 the lowest setting to about half-power. You should clearly notice strong 644 frequency-hopping emissions. One minute integration should produce an 645 envelope very similar to the one depicted below. 646

647

648


649

650

651 652

653

654

At this point, it would be desirable to map the active scanning volume in order 655 to reveal eventual shadow or dead zones. Perhaps, you should start by 656 positioning the antenna on the center of the conveyor belt and at the scanners 657 center-line, about 10 cm (4 inches) height. After clearing the Spectrum Analyzer 658 from the previous plot, reintegrate for another minute and record the new level 659 at 915 MHz. Move the antenna along the conveyor belt, in 25 cm (10 inch) 660 increments, and record the results of the measurements. Given symmetry of 661 field, measurements in only one direction from the scanning centerline should 662 be sufficient. 663

It would be advisable to repeat all these measurements, performing a run with 664 the antenna near the border of the belt (Beware! Please read attentively the 665 precautionary note below) and two with the antenna raised a level 666 approximating one-half of the scanning tunnel height. 667

For larger portals, doubling the above-cited distances should suffice 668

Please note that any measurements over 1.5 meters (5 feet) from the scanners 669 center-line would be irrelevant because, despite transmitter field strength, the 670 backscattering of the tags is the limiting factor. 671

672

IMPORTANT PRECAUTIONARY NOTE 673

It cannot be overemphasized: be very careful while taking measurements with 674 the antenna in close proximity with the scanner! Voltages of well over 120 dBuV 675 could be induced into the antenna and destroy, or at least seriously degrade, 676 the sensitive input circuitry of the Spectrum Analyzer, usually limited to an 677


absolute maximum of one volt. A 30 dB attenuating pad would be your best 678 insurance policy against unintentional or accidentally destructive exposures. 679

680

General Notes 681

If a whip antenna is not available, a makeshift stub antenna, fabricated from a 682 wire of precisely 81 mm length, will perform as an excellent substitute. 683

It would be advisable to locate the attenuating pad on the antenna side of the 684 coaxial cable and coupled to a 90* (or a “T”) connector; this arrangement 685 should minimize interferences of the cable while positioning the antenna. 686

If your Spectrum Analyzer does not offer the Amplitude Offset feature, please 687 DO NOT forget to add the dB face value of the antenna attenuator to the 688 recorded measurements. 689

690


11 APPENDIX C 691 692

Procedure for the determination of cable insertion losses 693

at RFID UHF Frequencies 694

695 (NOTE: This Appendix will be updated to correlate with the Static Test Standard) 696 697 For this determination, the following test equipment is suggested: 698

699

1) Spectrum Analyzer with Tracking Generator feature and with an upper 700 frequency threshold of at least 1 GHz 701

2) 10 dB to 30dB, 50 Ohm attenuator 702 3) High quality RG58 cable, very short length (the calibration interconnect 703

would do just fine) 704 705

After warm-up and self-calibration of the Spectrum analyzer, connect the 706 attenuator to the Tracking generator output and a very short interconnect cable 707 to the Spectrum Analyzer input. Preset the Analyzer as follow: 708

709

i) Center frequency: 915 MHz 710 ii) Span: 50 MHz 711 iii) Reference level: 120 dB 712 iv) Resolution Bandwidth: 10 kHz 713 v) Sweep in Continuous Mode 714 vi) Amplitude Offset: 30 dB (or the face value of the attenuator in line) 715 716

Start the sweep and integrate trace A (Max-hold) for a minute or so. Store the trace 717 (View-hold function). This is your reference trace, as it accounts for the un-linearity of 718 the attenuator and connections. 719

Replace the short interconnect with the cable that you intend to sweep. 720

Restart the scan on trace B. Integrate for a minute or so and store it; you will notice 721 that trace B, to varying degrees, “slants downward” respect to trace A; the degree of 722 this slope is the insertion loss in the frequency range of 890 MHz to 940 MHz. 723

It is now feasible to measure this insertion loss by moving the marker along the 724 stored traces while invoking the differential measurement function. 725

If the Spectrum Analyzer does not offer this feature, it is possible to blank alternately 726 one of the two traces and take amplitude readings at the marker position. The 727 insertion loss will be the delta between trace A and trace B reading magnitudes. 728


REVISIONS 729 Rev Date Description

1.0.0 5/31/2005 Creating Table of Contents – based on EPC Global Conveyor Portal Spec dated 5/16/2005. Venture Research, Vishwa Narayan,

1.0.1 6/10/2005 Added in all the content for first pass - Venture Research, John Baker 972 881-2622

1.0.2 6/29/2005 Added comments received until date, cleaned up definitions, sections - Vishwa

1.0.3 8/14/2005 More comments incorporated. Sample field power measurements with antenna array included.

1.0.4 8/15/2005 Checked for conformance to EPCglobal SDP. No material changes. Ted Osinski.

1.0.5 9/27/2005 Amended per Comment Resolution Committee and added Appendices A and B – John Onderko and Gaylon Morris

1.0.6 10/19/2005 Revised documents to include metric and SI units for all measurements. Corrected grammar in Appendix A. – Phil Layman

1.0.7 12/15/05 Amended to address Comment Resolution Committee changes that were not fully addressed in 1.0.5

1.0.8 1/12/06 Amended “Status of This Document” section per co-chair conference call comments – 01/06/06

1.0.9 04/06/06 Amended to address Comment Resolution Committee changes received since 01/12/06 – Phil Layman

730

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