Appliance Maker, Logistics Providers Test Passive RFID Container Seal

The BIT seal currently supports only the IP-X air-interface protocol, Hoffman says, which is preferred by countries with limited spectrum availability. In the fourth quarter of this year, he notes, a new version will be available that will be able to support both IP-X and EPC Gen 2. The new version will be equipped to respond in either IP-X or EPC mode, depending on the type of interrogator addressing the tag. IP-X allows the reading of tags moving at higher speeds than is possible using EPC Gen 2, he explains, adding that many countries' limited spectrum makes the use of EPC Gen 2 impractical.

"This includes Europe and China," Hoffman says, "where EPC Gen 2 readers must be time-synchronized to operate many readers at one site." IP-X allows the use of UHF RFID in countries with less UHF spectrum available than in the United States. "Combining both technologies on the same product will enable the same seal to be read in China using IP-X, and in the U.S. using EPC."

Data related to the seal, its location and any effort to tamper with it could be transmitted to the user's back-end system. If the trip wire is broken, the RFID tag detects the change in the seal's status and communicates this to an RFID reader when the tag ID is read. Hoffman says end users can initially be expected to host their own data, which will be posted to a server as each transaction—sealing or inspection—is completed. IPICO's goal is to establish a centralized data vault operated by a third party, able to hold data about each shipment. Individual end users could use their data for their own purposes, while the third-party version could be utilized in the case of an audit if irregularities are suspected.

The seal's status can be confirmed by customs or border control using fixed overhead readers at port entrances. IPICO provides handheld and fixed readers compatible with these tags. If customs officials need to open a container, they can replace the BIT seal with another one and write the shipment-related data linked to it, along with the identity of the cargo's issuer. The read-write memory supports more than 200 additional characters, other than the seal's unique ID number—which, to prevent cloning, is encoded onto the tag at the point of its manufacture. The tag's memory will typically be used to store a summarized version of the trail of custody for the container, such as when and where it was sealed and by whom, as well as when, where and by whom it was inspected.

At high volumes (several million seals annually), pricing to end users will be below $3 each, Hoffman says. He expects the first commercial project to be driven by customs and port authorities. "Ports authorities will most likely start using the technology at the same time to better control operations at ports and border posts."

Once these systems are in place, Hoffman says he expects commercial players—cargo owners and logistics companies—to start using it for internal control purposes, to eliminate paperwork and streamline operations. This should enable them tosimultaneously improve security and efficiency.