IT Home reported on April 30 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued the "Interim Regulations on the Radio Management of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Equipment" and the "900MHz Band Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Equipment Radio Management Regulations", which adjusted the relevant frequency bands of the regulations, and the main contents of the IT Home are as follows:
What's new in UWB
In recent years, with the continuous development of 5G/6G, mid-band spectrum resources have become a scarce "golden resource" for 5G/6G systems. Continental is the first in the world to allocate the 6425-7125MHz frequency band for 5G/6G systems in the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Radio Frequency Allocation (2023 Edition).
Since it is difficult to achieve co-band compatibility between newly introduced 5G/6G systems and existing UWB equipment, it is necessary to coordinate the development of related radio applications such as 5G/6G and UWB, adjust the frequency of UWB equipment accordingly, and plan more frequency resources for future 5G/6G development.
In addition, Announcement No. 52 of 2019 issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology updated the catalog of micropower short-range radio transmission equipment, and did not include UWB equipment in the category of micropower equipment, and it is necessary to further clarify the attributes and management mode of UWB equipment. The formulation of new regulations is also in line with the needs of industrial development and helps to form industrial expectations as soon as possible.
The "Provisions" mainly adjust the original provisions in terms of management policies and technical requirements, as follows:
In terms of management policy. The first is to clarify that UWB equipment needs to obtain a radio transmission equipment type approval certificate (hereinafter referred to as type approval) to strengthen the management of UWB equipment from the source. The second is to clarify that UWB equipment does not need to obtain a radio station license, but it must not cause harmful interference to other legal radio stations (stations), nor shall it put forward protection requirements from harmful interference. Third, in order to protect radio services such as radio astronomy and aeronautical radio navigation in adjacent frequencies, UWB equipment is prohibited from being used within 1 km of radio astronomy observatories and on aircraft (including unmanned aerial vehicles).
In terms of technical requirements. First, with reference to the relevant definitions of the International Telecommunication Union, it is clarified that UWB equipment refers to radio transmitting equipment with a transmitting signal bandwidth (-10dB bandwidth) of not less than 500MHz. Second, considering the channel frequency configuration of UWB equipment and the requirements of the industry for using three continuous channels to achieve high-precision networking, it is clarified that the working frequency of UWB equipment is 7163-8812MHz.
The Provisions will come into force on August 1, 2025. That is, before August 1, 2025, for equipment that meets the original provisions but does not meet the technical requirements listed in the new "Regulations", it can still apply for type approval or extension in accordance with the original provisions; from August 1, 2025, UWB equipment must meet the relevant technical requirements of the new "Regulations", and the national radio regulatory agency will no longer accept and approve applications for model approval of UWB equipment that do not meet the technical requirements listed in the "Regulations", and UWB equipment that has obtained the type approval certificate can continue to be sold and used until it is scrapped.
900MHz RFID New Regulations
In 2007, the former Ministry of Information Industry issued the Regulations on the Application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology in the 800/900MHz Frequency Band (Trial) (No. 205 [2007] of the Ministry of Information Technology), which clarified the attributes and technical requirements of RFID equipment and played a positive role in promoting the development of the RFID equipment industry.
In recent years, with the development and large-scale application of RFID equipment technology, the above provisions can no longer fully meet the needs of RFID equipment management. First, the 900MHz frequency band can meet the needs of the RFID equipment industry, and the 800MHz frequency band is basically no longer used by RFID equipment at home and abroad, and the 800MHz frequency band can be re-planned and used after being vacated, which is conducive to the reasonable and effective use of spectrum resources.
Second, Announcement No. 52 of 2019 issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology updated the catalog of micro-power short-range radio transmission equipment, and did not include RFID equipment in the category of micro-power equipment, and it is necessary to further clarify the attributes and management mode of RFID equipment.
The "Provisions" mainly adjust the original provisions in terms of management policies and technical requirements, as follows:
In terms of management policy. First, taking into account the development trend of the RFID industry and the use of frequencies, this revision no longer retains the 840-845MHz frequency band in the original regulations, and clarifies that the working frequency of RFID equipment is 920-925MHz. Second, it is clarified that RFID equipment is managed with reference to ground public mobile communication terminals, and a radio transmission equipment type approval (hereinafter referred to as model approval) certificate is required, but a radio station license is not required. RFID equipment must not cause harmful interference to other legitimate radio stations (stations), nor shall it put forward protection requirements from harmful interference. The third is to increase the protection of the special frequency of adjacent frequency railways, that is, when setting up RFID equipment in the 920-925MHz frequency band within 33 meters from the shortest horizontal distance from the center line of the railway track, the consent of the National Railway Administration or the regional railway supervision and administration shall be obtained.
In terms of technical requirements. First, considering the development of international mobile telecommunications (IMT) technology and the protection needs of radio and television services, the spurious emission limits of relevant frequency bands have been adjusted. The second is to add a new receiver blocking limit to improve the anti-interference ability of RFID devices.
Considering that the 800MHz band RFID equipment has been basically withdrawn from the market, the relevant technical requirements for the 900MHz band RFID equipment in the "Regulations" have not been greatly adjusted compared with the original regulations, and the impact on the existing industry is small, after full communication with the industry, the "Regulations" will come into force on November 1, 2024, and the original provisions will be repealed at the same time.
That is, before November 1, 2024, for equipment that meets the original provisions but does not meet the technical requirements listed in the new "provisions", it can still apply for model approval or extension in accordance with the original provisions; from November 1, 2024, RFID equipment must meet the relevant technical requirements of the new "provisions", and the application for model approval of RFID equipment that does not meet the technical requirements listed in the new "provisions" will no longer be accepted and approved, and the RFID equipment that has obtained the type approval certificate can continue to be sold and used until it is scrapped.
![It is suspected that three models of the Huawei P70 series have passed the radio approval certification, and it is reported that they will be released in the near future[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)