ead implementation of UHF RFID is lack of globally accepted standards and regulations. Different frequency designations and power and safety regulations are in place in different regions of the world. In North America, UHF operates at 902MHz to 928MHz; in Europe, it works in the 860MHz to 868MHz range; and in Japan, it operates at 950MHz to 956MHz. EPCglobal (www.epcglobalinc.org) worked through 2004 to pave the way for ratification of the UHF Generation 2 Air Interface Protocol (commonly referred to as the Gen2 standard) by driving regulatory agencies-from the ETSI to Japan's Ministry Post and Telecom-to open bandwidth in the UHF spectrum SO RFID could operate seamlessly through supply chains across continents. Gen2, which was ratified as an EPCglobal standard in December 2004, has been accepted by the ISO. Some of the requirements for this standard include convergence to one global, interoperable standard; increased speed and ease of global adoption; increased functionality and performance; and increased production and competition. Gen2 is heralded as the first UHF RFID open architecture designed by a com- mittee. Many supply-chain benefits depend on Gen2: global interoperability, inter- national vendor support, multiple read and write capabilities that could potentially change the economic climate by delivering a quicker return on investment, and increased data communication speeds more than double those of the tags available today. The read rate for Gen2 tags in the United States under a simulated environ- ment is 1,500 per second, versus roughly 100 tags per second for tags available today. (The read rate for Gen2 tags in Europe, however, is only 500 to 600 tags per second because U.S. regulations allow for wider frequency bandwidth.) As the industry switches to Gen2, many companies will face huge conversion costs. On the other hand, because Gen2 establishes interoperability and bandwidth technolo- gies, it is anticipated that Gen2 will boost adoption of RFID. Microwave RFID Microwave RFID tags are used in l