| UWB Active Tag | Ultra-Wideband ranging using time-of-flight or time-difference-of-arrival. Often supports IEEE 802.15.4z security features. | Typically about 10–30 cm in a well-designed installation. Performance depends on anchor geometry, line of sight, multipath, and calibration. | Requires UWB anchors or gateways using a compatible channel plan, ranging method, antenna design, and location engine. A tag is not automatically compatible with every UWB network. | Common UWB allocations are within the 3.1–10.6 GHz regulatory range, but permitted channels and power limits vary by country. | Usually rechargeable or replaceable lithium battery. Typical field life is approximately 6–24 months, depending on update rate, motion detection, transmit power, and temperature. | Industrial automation, tool tracking, worker safety, warehouse vehicle tracking, healthcare asset location, and high-value equipment monitoring. | CE / RED FCC UKCA RoHS REACH UN 38.3 for lithium batteries | Confirm country-specific UWB channels, indoor-only restrictions where applicable, transmit-power limits, antenna configuration, cybersecurity controls, and battery transport documentation. |
| Bluetooth Low Energy Tag | Bluetooth Low Energy advertising packets, with optional Bluetooth direction finding, angle-of-arrival, or angle-of-departure support. | Approximately 1–5 m with well-calibrated RSSI systems. Direction-finding installations can provide better accuracy, but require compatible antenna arrays and software. | Compatible with BLE gateways, smartphones, tablets, and standard Bluetooth scanners. Advanced direction finding requires support in both tags and infrastructure. | 2.4 GHz ISM band, using Bluetooth LE channels defined by the Bluetooth specification. | Coin-cell, replaceable, or rechargeable battery. Typical battery life ranges from several months to multiple years, depending on advertising interval, sensor use, and transmission power. | Indoor asset tracking, retail, hospitals, visitor management, cold-chain monitoring, proximity alerts, and low-cost deployments across multiple countries. | Bluetooth SIG qualification CE / RED FCC UKCA RoHS REACH UN 38.3 where applicable | Check Bluetooth qualification status, regional radio approvals, privacy settings, gateway density, coexistence with Wi-Fi, and compatibility with the selected cloud or location platform. |
| Active RFID Tag | Battery-powered radio identification tag, commonly using proprietary or standards-based active RFID communication. | Commonly about 1–5 m in zone-based systems. Accuracy varies substantially with antenna layout, radio protocol, and site conditions. | Requires readers and antennas using the same active RFID protocol and frequency. Interoperability is often lower than with Bluetooth or passive RFID. | Common implementations use sub-GHz or 2.4 GHz radio bands. Exact frequency and channel plan must be verified for the destination country. | Replaceable or sealed battery. Typical service life is approximately 1–5 years, depending on beacon interval, sensor activity, and operating temperature. | Manufacturing plants, returnable transport items, vehicle identification, personnel safety, and long-range zone monitoring. | CE / RED FCC UKCA RoHS REACH Battery transport compliance | Verify the exact radio protocol, channel allocation, antenna gain, duty-cycle limits, reader interoperability, and availability of replacement batteries. |
| Passive UHF RFID Label or Hard Tag | Passive backscatter technology based on EPCglobal Class 1 Gen 2 / ISO 18000-63 in compatible systems. | Primarily provides portal, shelf, doorway, or zone identification rather than continuous precise coordinates. Read distance is often several meters and depends on reader power, antenna design, tag orientation, and material. | Requires UHF RFID readers and antennas supporting the applicable EPC / ISO air interface. Regional frequency profiles must match the reader configuration. | Regional UHF RFID operation generally falls within approximately 860–960 MHz, with different sub-bands and power limits across jurisdictions. | Battery-free. Tag life is normally limited by mechanical durability, adhesive performance, environmental exposure, and application conditions. | Inventory control, supply-chain visibility, asset check-in and check-out, pallet tracking, warehouse portals, and retail item identification. | EPC Class 1 Gen 2 ISO 18000-63 CE / RED for readers FCC for readers RoHS REACH | Select the correct regional UHF frequency profile, validate performance on metal and liquids, confirm reader power limits, test portal read rates, and check label adhesive or enclosure durability. |
| Passive HF RFID Tag | Near-field inductive coupling, commonly compliant with ISO/IEC 15693 or ISO/IEC 14443 depending on the application. | Usually near-contact to approximately 1 m, depending on tag size, reader antenna, operating standard, and environmental conditions. | Requires an HF reader supporting the same ISO standard and memory or security features. NFC-compatible tags may work with supported mobile devices, but not every tag supports every NFC function. | 13.56 MHz ISM band. | Battery-free. Expected service life is determined mainly by materials, attachment method, and environmental durability. | Access control, equipment identification, library systems, ticketing, maintenance records, and close-range asset verification. | ISO/IEC 15693 or ISO/IEC 14443 NFC Forum requirements where applicable RoHS REACH | Confirm the exact HF protocol, smartphone compatibility, required memory capacity, encryption features, reader certification, and resistance to chemicals or sterilization processes. |
| LF RFID Animal or Industrial Tag | Low-frequency inductive RFID, commonly based on application-specific identification standards such as ISO 11784/11785 for animal identification. | Short-range identification, commonly from a few centimeters to approximately 1 m, depending on the reader coil, tag format, and installation. | Requires an LF reader using the same modulation, coding, and identification format. It is generally not interchangeable with HF or UHF RFID infrastructure. | Common LF systems operate around 125 kHz or 134.2 kHz. Exact permitted use and application requirements should be checked locally. | Usually battery-free for injectable, glass-encapsulated, or industrial tags. Durable versions can support long service periods when correctly installed. | Livestock identification, industrial component verification, access applications, and environments where metal or liquids limit higher-frequency performance. | ISO 11784/11785 where applicable RoHS REACH Local product and animal-health rules | Verify the destination market's animal-identification or industry requirements, reader format compatibility, encapsulation material, sterilization needs, and local import or veterinary documentation. |
| Cellular IoT GNSS Tag | GNSS positioning combined with LTE-M, NB-IoT, or other cellular data connectivity. | GNSS outdoor accuracy is commonly about 3–10 m under favorable conditions. Indoor performance may be unavailable or significantly degraded without supplementary sensors. | Requires support from destination-country cellular bands, carrier roaming or local SIM service, APN configuration, and a compatible cloud platform. | GNSS reception uses satellite navigation bands; cellular frequencies vary by LTE region and operator. | Rechargeable battery, often lasting weeks to several months depending on reporting interval, network coverage, motion detection, and GNSS usage. | Vehicle and container tracking, outdoor equipment, cross-border logistics, remote assets, and applications requiring wide-area connectivity. | CE / RED FCC UKCA PTCRB or operator acceptance where required RoHS REACH UN 38.3 | Confirm LTE band support, network shutdown plans, SIM and roaming terms, data privacy obligations, eSIM provisioning, GNSS antenna performance, and battery shipping documentation. |
| Hybrid Multi-Technology Tag | Combines two or more technologies, such as UWB plus Bluetooth LE, BLE plus NFC, or RFID plus sensor connectivity. | Can provide high-accuracy indoor positioning and lower-power or wide-area fallback. Actual performance depends on each integrated radio and the location platform. | Requires interoperability across all included readers, gateways, software interfaces, firmware versions, and device-management systems. | Uses the frequency bands of each integrated technology. Every radio must be approved for the destination market. | Usually rechargeable or replaceable battery. Battery life is governed by the most energy-intensive operating mode. | Global logistics, hospitals, smart factories, campus operations, high-value assets, and deployments requiring indoor and outdoor continuity. | CE / RED FCC UKCA Bluetooth SIG where applicable RoHS REACH UN 38.3 | Request a complete radio test report for every wireless function, verify simultaneous-transmission limits, confirm firmware update procedures, assess cybersecurity, and validate roaming or regional configuration before mass deployment. |
