We pushed the use of UHF label data area last time (click on the blue character to see), the author often received customers for label capacity inquiries, this time to share with you the following views:
► Question 1, Is there a standard encoding format?
I do. First of all, we usually talk about the label EPC, which comes from the EPC Global organization launched a coding specification, similar to the EAN code bar code, or similar to the VIN code on the vehicle.
He has a lot of coding rules, such as the SGTIN code we often see in the tire industry, which will include the manufacturer identification code, project or product code, verification code and so on. Compared with user-defined coding, this code can be universal in the world due to the organization of standard specifications, and has a certain ability to prevent tampering.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), for example, has its own code code, which can be found on the radio frequency tag of baggage; Another example is the VDA5500 coding standard launched by the German Automobile Manufacturers Association. These are some of the encoding formats introduced by large institutions or organizations.
Each of these encoding formats has the characteristic of being able to contain much larger than these lengths within a limited encoding length.
► Question 2, since there is a standard coding format, why does it not seem to be used much in industrial automation?
For EPC or similar coding, it is not only necessary to code in accordance with the specification, but also for the label coding manufacturers if they want to achieve the transparent circulation of information on a global scale, the manufacturer needs to join the corresponding organization or register the manufacturer in the corresponding organization, which raises the threshold of such coding applications.
If it is only an internal application in the factory, most users will not choose this encoding method. Instead, a more flexible custom encoding format is used.
Hicker RFID readers can implement direct decoding outputs such as EPC (URI), IATA and VDA5500.
► Question 3, How do I encode the label?
This is an old question. Regardless of the coding, the main purpose is to achieve lean and efficient product traceability. First of all, it is well known that the capacity of the label is mostly proportional to the cost of the label, which is similar to our common storage products hard disk memory; Secondly, efficiency, that is, it is necessary to achieve faster identification of upper management, and how to achieve shorter application implementation cycle.
Most of what I saw in the field was plaintext ASCII encoding. Let’s take the box number as an example, suppose the box number is 20231231ABCD, which is translated into hexadecimal as 32 30 32 33 31 33 31 41 42 43 44, a total of 12 Bytes (Bytes), that is, 96 Bits. Usually, the bar code read by the reader will be expressed in hexadecimal, and the Thicke reader can directly output the ASC code bar code.
At this point, if we write directly in hexadecimal, it will be 20 23 12 31 AB CD, and the required capacity will be halved to only 48 Bits.
If we further encode the substitution, for example, 2023 is represented by 0B, 2024 is represented by 0C, 1231 is compiled by the number of weeks in 2023 is 52 weeks, then the encoding is 0B52 ABCD, that is, only 32 Bits are required.
Assuming a certain label capacity, the less space used means that the cost of the label is more controllable, and the remaining space that can be customized is larger, and the greater the scalability.