RFID Interrogators Grow Up

Omron is another company that is taking steps to improve the quality of the data read by its interrogators. Last fall, the Tokyo-based company announced that it had developed the technology to measure the distance between EPC-compliant RFID tags and its V750 UHF readers, based on time-delay calculations. Omron's intent is to cut down on unwanted tag reads by allowing its customers to set limits on the distance at which tags should be read, says Masa Kameyama, U.S. division manager for Omron.

According to Omron, the crowded environments in warehouses and manufacturing sites have made it difficult to implement UHF RFID systems. That's because the long read range of the interrogators can lead to unintentional tag reading, which can compromise the quality of the data. Setting the parameters for tag reads should help eliminate unwanted reads on goods stacked near interrogators that are mounted on gates or in areas where tagged products are traveling on multiple conveyor belts, the company says.

Omron calculates the distance between the tag and the reader's antenna based on the time lapse of the electromagnetic waves used in communication between readers and tags. The company says this time-delay calculation used in combination with its electronic-control scan-antenna technology, which debuted in late 2006, will allow users to specify where they want the tags to be read. The scan antenna, which has a very narrow directivity and moves horizontally, will set the lateral dimensions, and the distance measurement technology will control the depth to define the area for tag reads.

Omron's efforts are a few steps away from being market-ready. The company says it has not yet started beta-testing the time-delay calculation feature with customers. Its goal is to make the technology available sometime in 2008, and it will probably be provided as firmware.

Impinj and Omron are expected to have increased competition from other RFID vendors in the coming months. The fact that manufacturers are looking to incorporate new features such as tag direction detection into their interrogators demonstrates that RFID technology is quickly maturing, Ouzillou says: "It's a staggering amount of progress in a short amount of time."

Rush agrees: "Twelve months ago I would have said this was physically impossible. It's a significant step forward for the RFID industry."

Who's Who in Advanced RFID Interrogators
• Impinj
www.impinj.com

• Omron
www.omron.com