Proximity cards or Access Control Cards, or access cards or RFID access cards, these cards are available with different frequencies based on application and use. Generally, access control cards are classified into three
A : Active, Active RFID access card, offered with the built-in battery.
B : Biometric, Biometric access card, based on fingerprints.
C : Combo cards, Combination of UHF & LF or UHF & HF
P : Passive, Passive RFID access card that work on showing to an assigned reader, these cards are widely used being less expensive
The major classification of RFID or Proximity cards is based on frequency for active and passive cards. The passive RFID cards are classified based on frequency as
30Hz ~300KHz. The widely used RFID cards are
125KHz Low frequency cards (LF),
13.56MHZ High frequency cards (HF),
860~960MHz Ultra High Frequency (UHF)
HF Cards 13.56MHz
Mifare cards fall in category of HF cards, with the frequency Range of 13.56 MHz with the reading range of approximately 30 CM. These cards are have the short reading range with the low data transmission rate. These type of cards are offered with memory of 1K or 2K or 4K. and are ISO/IEC 14443 Type A contact less card standard. Various categories of Mifare cards are Classic, Plus, Ultralight, DESfire. MIFARE is owned by NXP Semiconductors NXP Semiconductors Austria . The cards are available in PVC, ABS, PET material. The data saved on such cards can be retained for the period of 10 years.
LF Cards 125KHz
LF Cards 125KHz or Low frequency cards as denoted have the frequency of 125KHz. In general, the typical low frequency band is 30 KHz to 300 KHz, and support the short reading range of 10cm at low frequencies. EM cards like EM 4100, TK 4100, HI Tag1, Hi Tag2, NU tags are Low Frequency cards with frequency of 125KHz. 125 kHz low frequency cards are wallet sized but are available in different sizes as well, are well suitable for access controls, time attendance and various low frequency projects. LF cards 125KHZ are covered by ISO/IEC 14443 and/or the ISO/IEC 15693 OR ISO/IEC 18000 standards.
UHF Cards 860~960MHz
UHF RFID Cards, are ISO/IEC-7810-2002 compliant with a very reliable quality of inlay design. All UHF RFID cards in NU series are passive hence does not need any sort of battery. The protocol support is EPC global® Gen 2 and ISO18000-6C with universally accepted frequency range of UHF RFID frequency bands (860-960 MHz), with approximate reading range of 5-15Meters based on the UHF RFID Reader. The memory allocations are 128 bits o(EPC), 512 bits (USER), 96 bits(read-only TID)
Selection of UHF RFID tag for the cars with tinted windscreen or tinted head lamp is very important as in certain cases the metal tint does not permit transfer of radiation hence is used as outdoor sticking with security protection against theft.
Combo cards UHF / LF 125KHz or UHF /HF
Some times the need arises to use one card for multiple applications that time we have the choice to use combo cards means the combination of
UHF card and HL or LF cards. viz.a.vz 860~960MHz+125KHz or 860~960MHz+13.56MHz