12. Dual Frequency Tag Performances in the Fashion Industry

The paper strives at benchmarking performances of dual frequency inlays, operating in UHF and HF bands, when deployed in the apparel logistics and end-user retail processes. The developed testing protocol makes it possible to evaluate performances of RFID devices in simulated supply chain and end-user-oriented processes. It has been designed according to the needs for identification both of the supply chain and of the end-users, who can take advantage of the adoption of NFC technology. We applied the testing procedure to RFID inlays equipped with an innovative IC and two antennas, capable of managing both EPC communication in UHF band and NFC communication in HF band with smart devices. The performances of the inlays have been compared to standard tags commonly used in EPC and NFC fields. We measured and compared read rate, accuracy, and read time when testing EPC capabilities, and read/write throughput, time and distance when measuring NFC functionalities. By simulating a real-world environment, test results give a direct insight of performances to be expected from different dual frequency RFID inlays. Therefore, IT and logistics managers can find answers to how these innovative tags perform and which would be the best choice for new RFID applications.