Do you know which part is the key part of RFID products? Absolutely the RFID chips! However, here are so many chips at the market, different chips have different features and can helps us solve different problems. So how to accurately and fast find out the RFID chips which can best satisfy our demand?
Well, I guess if we can know the classification of the RFID chips, then that wouldn’t be a problem any longer! Today we would discuss the 4 main classification methods as follows:
Table of Contents
Method 1: Divide RFID Chips according to RFID Frequency<Hot!>
What is the RFID Frequency?
RFID Frequency refers to how big or small the wave that the chip uses. Here are low Frequency, high frequency, ultra high frequency respectively. Normally, the low frequency has slower transmission speed and shorter reading distance than the high frequency and ultra frequency do. Next, let’s check these 3 frequencies together!
Low Frequency RFID Chip
The low Frequency(LF) chip, whose frequency range is at 125KHz ~134KHz, allows the RFID reader to detect this chip from up to 1m away. The common applications are the animal identification, access control, vehicle access control, etc.
| Anti-interference Ability | Transmission Speed | Reading Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Good | Slow | Medium |
High Frequency RFID Chip
High frequency(HF) chip, whose frequency is at 13.56MHz, can be read by the chip reader from 10cm to 1m. Its typical applications are the library media management, automated manufacturing, gaming chip management, ID card, NFC payment card, etc.
As for the NFC card (or NFC tag), it can be read by nearly any mobile phones with the NFC function from a few centimeters. As time goes by, people get more and more used to the contactless payment so that NFC cards are more and more widely used in our daily lives. Not only NFC payment cards but also NFC business cards are more and more popular.
| Anti-interference Ability | Transmission Speed | Reading Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | Medium | Short |
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Ultra High Frequency RFID Chip
Ultra High Frequency(UHF) chip, whose frequency covers a wider range of 860MHz~960MHz, can reach the reading distance over 10m and has excellent data transmission capacity. However, it is more sensitive to various environment interference such as the places with liquid or metal for the data accuracy. It is seldom applied to human body, either.
| Anti-interference Ability | Transmission Speed | Reading Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bad | Fast | Long |
As for the applications, you may have ever seen UHF RFID products used for the inventory & supply chain management, smart manufacturing, air baggage tracking, sports timing, etc., which brought great convenience and saved much labor.
Now that we have known what the frequency is and the differences among the 3 frequencies, we can easily make it clear which kind a chip belongs to, LF chip, HF chip, or UHF chip. Now let’s check the method 2.
Method 2: Classify RFID Chips by the Memory Mode
RFID chips have 2 main memory modes including Read Only and Read & Write. Read Only refers to that users can access to read data stored in the RFID chip; while Read & Write means that users can also write the data into the chip or modify the data stored before, except the reading access.
Read Only RFID Chip
Ready Only RFID chips are suitable for the occasions where the data writing is not necessary, like the production line management, animal identification, sports timing, electronic license plates, vehicle management and so on; which great reduced the manual operation cost.
Read & Write RFID Microchip
Read & Write RFID microchips are not only suitable for the Read Only chip applications but also can be applied to the situations that the data need to be rewritten, modified, or added frequently, such as the office attendance, access control, etc. With this type of chips, users can directly write data by themselves, no need to ask the supplier for help every time the data modification requirements occur. So convenient, right?
Till now, you must have known how to classify chips by the chip memory and which mode is more suitable for you, I guess. Now let’s move to the method 3.
Method 3: Differ RFID Chips via the Protocol
RFID protocols, developed jointly by ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), are the communication basis among RFID devices. No protocol, then no RFID devices’ mutual communication, let alone the smart management. So important, aren’t they? They are some main protocols for different RFID frequencies as the following table shows:
| RFID Frequencies | Protocols |
|---|---|
| 125KHz Chips (LF Chips) | ISO 7816, ISO 11784, ISO 11785, etc. |
| 13.56MHz (HF Chips) | ISO 14443 A, ISO 15693, etc. |
| 860MHz~960MHz Chips (UHF RFID Chips) | ISO 18000-6C(EPC G2) – the most commonest one |
No doubt, if you know the main protocols and their corresponding RFID frequencies, it will be easier when you are choosing suitable RFID products! By the way, if you want some specialized advice about RFID cards, tags, wristbands, keyfobs, readers and others, Newbega can help you!
With 20+ years industry experience, we can absolutely help you choose the most suitable RFID chip products during the shortest time! You can click the following “Inquire Now” button to contact us now~
Next, let’s continue to check the 4th method.
Method 4: Distinguish RFID Chips through Memory
We have get it clear how to make the chip classifications according to the RFID frequency, memory mode, and protocol. To be honest, there is one more method – to distinguish RFID chips through the different chip memory.
Firstly, let’s get know of the common units of the memory. They are byte and bit. And you can check their connection below:
- 1 Byte = 8 Bits
- 1 KB = 1024 Bytes
- 1 MB = 1024 KB
A bit, the smallest information unit, is the information contained in one digit of a binary number or the amount of information required to specify one of the two options; while a byte, consisted of 8 bits, is the basic unit of data storage, and 1 byte can distinguish 256 numbers. And you can check Newbega most popular memory as follows:
| bit | byte |
|---|---|
| 64 bits, 330 bits, 512 bits, 640 bits, 1024 bits, etc. | 180 bytes, 192 bytes, 540 bytes, 924 bytes, 1024 bytes (1K), 4096 bytes (4K), 2048 bytes, 8192 bytes (8K), etc. |
We can regards the chips as 2 types roughly, the large memory chip (measured with bit) and the small memory chip (measured by byte). Then you can take chip memory into consideration when you are choosing RFID products with the memory knowledge you’ve gotten.
Conclusion
Having read the 4 methods including differing with the RFID frequency, memory mode, protocol, and memory respectively introduced above, it may get easier for you to choose most suitable RFID chips and RFID products, I guess. If you still have some questions about the chip classification, you can also ask us for help by clicking the following “Inquire Now” button.
We own experienced industry knowledge and have accumulated good reputation by our hard efforts, so we can definitely help you! By the way, our production capacity and after-sales service are also excellent. If you care curious about our products and would like to cooperate with us, we would be very appreciated!
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