Boeing Selects Chipmaker for Parts Tags

The exact form factors these inlays and nameplates will have will depend on the parts to which they will be attached. Some will be rigid, others flexible, depending on their applications. They will come in different sizes, as well, but none will be smaller than 1 inch by 1 inch. The tag makers or converters that produce the final nameplates will also need to incorporate the human-readable data and bar codes currently printed on the part identifiers, or nameplates. Parts suppliers are likely to request that the RFID nameplates have the same footprint as the nameplates currently in use, so that the parts won't require any redesign to accommodate them. Boeing is requiring that the tagged parts be readable from a distance of 10 feet, using a handheld interrogator, says Palliparambil.

"Sixty-four kilobits does have some limitations," says Porad. Therefore, the Air Transport Association (ATA) working group focused on setting RFID usage standards is in the process of identifying the data most important to the participating stakeholders: the companies that will supply the Dreamliner parts, the airlines that will purchase the planes and the maintenance crews that will repair them. It's important that the ATA decide how this memory will be used, he says, because it is setting standards for all RFID-tagged airline parts, no matter if they are used in a Boeing plane or one made by another manufacturer, such as Airbus.

"We've identified and agreed to 19 data elements that [parts suppliers] must write to the tag prior to a part's delivery. Things like part number, serial number, date of manufacturer, lot number, weight and the part's name in English," says Porad.

The amount of additional memory, however—which will be used for maintenance history—will be much more limited in the 64-kilobit tag, compared with the originally proposed 64-kilobyte tag. "They will have to use that memory economically," says Porad.

The ATA is still conducting a threat and risk analysis to determine its RFID tag security protocol, so whether the data written to the tag will be encrypted or not, Porad says, has yet to be determined. The tags will support password protection, says Palliparambil, because the Intelleflex chips support passwords.