Benchmarking of RFID EPC and NFC tags for apparel Applications

The objective of the paper is twofold: on the one hand, to propose a designed testing protocol to measure and compare performances of specific NFC and EPC tags. The protocol matches some common operational conditions in supply chain processes and is particularly tailored to the apparel industry, which represents one of the most important target for these innovative devices. On the other one, the paper strives at benchmarking performances of dual frequency inlays, bringing innovative features to the NFC and EPC worlds, when deployed in the apparel logistics and end-user retail processes. The developed testing protocol makes it possible to assess performances of RFID devices in simulated supply chains and end-user-oriented processes. It has been designed according to the needs for identification both for the supply chain and the end users, who can take advantage of the adoption of NFC technology. We applied the testing procedure to three 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 rates, accuracies, and read times when testing EPC capabilities, and read times and distances 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 scenarios involving company's RFID applications, such as logistics, inventory checking or store security. At the same time, researchers focused on the business value of RFID applications can validate innovative RFIDreengineered business processes.