Reference Library
Antiope Associates maintains an online reference library of radio system standards and regulatory documents.
In the United States, the Federal Communication Commission's technical requirements for radio devices are given in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 15 (47 CFR 15).
For short range, unlicensed devices and RFID type applications, the most relevant sections are 15.215 through 15.257, which specify emisssion limits and other requirements by frequency band.
Frequently referenced sections broken apart for quick download:
Use of the 13.553 - 13.567 MHz band, commonly used by high frequency (HF) RFID tags:
Operation of field disturbance sensors in the 902 - 928 MHz, 2435 - 2465 MHz and higher frequency bands:
Use of the Industry, Science and Medical (ISM) bands at 902 - 928 MHz, 2400 - 2483.5 MHz and 5725 - 5850 MHz by spread spectrum technology:
Other uses of the 902 - 928 MHz, 2400 - 2483.5 MHz and 5725 - 5850 MHz bands:
The complete text of Part 15, current as of 4 May 2007:
Regulations in Europe vary from country to country, but are gradually being harmonised under recommendations of the Electronics Communcations Committee (ECC) of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT). The ECC is the successor to the European Radiocommunications Committee, which had been established to develop radio communication policy and coordinate frequency allocations and other regulatory matters.
The European Radiocommunications Office (ERO) of the ECC is the permanently staffed organization dealing specifically with radio matters.
Technical standards are developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
ERO Recommendations for short range devices such as RFID readers and wireless LANs, including the country by country status of frequency allocations:
ERC Recommendation 70-03 (407 kB pdf file).
ETSI standards giving the technical requirements for the operation of short range devices:
Devices operating between 25 and 1000 MHz, with output power up to 500 mW:
ETSI EN 300 220-1 v2.1.1 (655 kB pdf file).
Devices operating between 1 and 40 GHz:
ETSI EN 300 440-1 v1.3.1 (270 kB pdf file).
Special requirements for the UHF RFID band between 865 and 868 MHz, with output power up to 2 W:
ETSI EN 302 208-1 v1.1.2 (570 kB pdf file).