Free-space and on-metal dual-band tag for UHF-RFID applications in Europe and USA

In this paper, we present an UHF-RFID tag mountable on metallic surfaces and capable to operate in the assigned frequency bands in Europe (866-869 MHz) and USA (902-928 MHz). Due to the proximity of these frequency bands, the dual-band functionality can be achieved through a perturbation method applied to a single band tag designed to operate at the intermediate frequency. The tag consists of an integrated circuit, an impedance matching network (where the perturbation method is applied) and a patch antenna. The considered antenna has been chosen because it has high efficiency over metallic surfaces. The whole tag has been analyzed, designed and finally fabricated. The read ranges measured in free-space are 9.5 m and 7.5 m at the European and USA frequency bands, respectively. By placing the tag on a metal surface, the read ranges increase up to 14 m and almost 11 m, respectively.