The newly updated ISO/IEC 18000-7 (nicknamed DASH7) active RFID standard has all the making of ushering in a new era of innovation in the supply chain industry. After years of hype, the RFID Tempest May Be Moving Out of the Teapot.
Why DASH7? DASH7 enables RFID products from different vendors to inter-operate with each other’s equipment. This will bring prices down. This will enable RFID products to be used and re-used across supply chains. RFID interrogators as well as RFID tags can now inter-operate across multiple supply chains. RFID technology can now be re-used and be shared by multiple suppliers and customers. No need for stovepipe, proprietary systems.
DASH7 RFID Standard. The official name for DASH7 is ISO 18000-7. This is an open standard operating in the unlicensed 433 MHz spectrum. This Internationally-accepted standard is ideal for active RFID tags that track mobile equipment and high-value assets. It boasts a multi-year battery life, no 802.11n (2.45 GHz) interference, better tag-to-tag communication, military-grade reliability, and lower costs. Wikipedia has a good write-up on RFID DASH7. For more on the technical aspects of RFID DASH7 see JP Norair’s white paper, Introduction to DASH7 Technologies.
DASH7 Alliance. The DASH7 Alliance was formed to promote the DASH7 RF standard. There mission is: “… to advance the use of DASH7 wireless data technology by developing extensions to the ISO 18000-7 standard, ensuring interoperability among devices, and educating the market about DASH7 technology”.
RFID DASH7, a Catalyst For Change. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), China, and many others are basically mandating the DASH7 standard for RFID tags. This mature DASH7 standard will definitely be the standard for active RFID tags going forward. There are a lot of similarities for the DASH7 mandate being a catalyst for change today as was the LOGSMARS barcoding mandate from DoD in 1981. LOGSMARS basically ushered in the implementation of barcodes within the supply chain industry. Now barcodes are everywhere. The DASH7 standard is sure to offer many opportunities with good Return On Investment (ROI) going forward. Soon every pallets, vehicle, high-value assets, and mobile assets may have a DASH7-compliant RFID tags.