Passive UHF RFID Packaging With Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) Material for Metallic Objects Tracking

Passive ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) is a promising technology for products tracking in logistics or routing packages in supply chain. However, passive UHF RFID tag's performance degrades a lot when it is placed near metal plane or water surface. Many designs like microstrip antenna and ferrite material antenna have been used to solve this metal-water problem. But their usage is limited by narrow bandwidth and low antenna gain. The electromagnetic band gap (EBG) material which exhibits a unique forbidden band gap at certain frequency offers a potential solution to solve this metal-water problem. In this paper, we disclosed a new method using EBG material to insulate the UHF RFID tag from backside objects, so that the tag could still work on metallic surface. The design of EBG material for UHF RFID which operates at 915 MHz under federal communications commission regulation was discussed in this paper. The simulation results showed that the EBG RFID tag can be read on metal. The measurement results indicated that the read range of RFID tag with EBG substrate is up to 9 m on metal surface.