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SAMSys Offers Gen 2 Starter Kit
SAMSys Technologies, a Durham, N.C., provider of RFID hardware, has launched the Gen 2 RFID Pilot Express program. This RFID hardware and software package is designed to enable companies to launch, in 30 days or less, a pilot RFID program using tags based on the EPCglobal Gen 2 protocol. The kit includes the SAMSys MP9320 v2.8 UHF reader (interrogator), which reads tags based on the EPC Gen 2, first-generation EPC and ISO 18000-6 A and B standards. It also includes two reader antennas, a light stack (which can be used to verify tag reads), sample Gen 2 tags manufactured by Texas Instruments, and the RFID Application Programming Interface for Developers. This product was designed to help developers network groups of readers by using Java and Microsoft .NET programming environments to write interfaces between the readers and their RFID middleware or custom applications for controlling reader functions. For a limited time, the RFID Gen 2 Pilot Express package is available for $1,999, which SAMSys says is roughly half the cost of purchasing the components separately. SAMSys has been showcasing the kit at the EPCglobal US Conference in Atlanta, held from Sept. 13 to 15.
ConnecTerra Releases Enterprise Server
RFID software company ConnecTerra has announced the Enterprise Server, part of its family of RFTagAware products, which includes the Edge Server for device management and RFID tagging compliance solutions. The Enterprise Server centralizes EPC management and consists of an EPC commissioning tool; an EPC Information System (IS) repository service, for storing EPCs; EPC IS query and capture interfaces that provide EPC look-up services; a location service for identifying where a user's fixed readers are located; and the ability to create reports based on the RFID read events. By linking ConnecTerra's Edge Server to the Enterprise Server with the company’s EPC IS, users can feed data into the Enterprise Server. ConnecTerra's EPC IS, part of the Enterprise Server offering, is the EPCglobal standard candidate protocol. The specification is expected to advance to a last-call working draft by the end of October, according to Ken Traub, ConnecTerra CTO and member of the EPCglobal Architecture Review Committee, which oversees all EPCglobal technical specifications. The Enterprise Server is available now; pricing information has not yet been released.
UPM Rafsec Gen 2 OneTenna Inlay Available
UPM Rafsec, a Finnish designer and manufacturer of RFID inlays, says its OneTenna EPC Gen 2 inlay is now commercially available. The inlay sports a newly designed antenna, the OneTenna, which the company said in June will replace four of its existing designs (see Rafsec Set to Produce Gen 2 Inlays). The OneTenna design accommodates five different chip placements, enabling its creation for use in the 868-870 MHz band allocated for Europe, the United States' 902-928 MHz band or the 950-956 MHz band in Japan. The company says the remaining two IC placement positions on the antenna allow the finished inlay to combat the detuning effect resulting from embedding the inlay in plastic in either the European or U.S. market. Rafsec is using the Gen 2 Monza chip made by Seattle-based manufacturer Impinj in its OneTenna inlay, but is also testing ICs from other manufacturers. The firm has been shipping samples of the inlay to its customers and partners since June and will increase its production capacity to a few million per month, starting in October, it says. Rafsec will also continue to manufacture its EPC Gen 1 Class 1 tags, as it says there is still a strong demand for these tags, especially in North America. The company has not divulged pricing information for its Gen 2 inlay.
Avery Dennison Starts Gen 2 Tag Production
Avery Dennison RFID, located in Clinton, S.C., says it has started commercial production of its AD-220 UHF EPC Gen 2 Class 1 tag, available now. The AD-220 uses the Monza Gen 2 chip manufactured by Seattle-based Impinj in the AD-220 but, the firm says it is also testing Gen 2 chips from other chip manufacturers, including Philips and Texas Instruments. The company will also continue to offer its AD-410 and AD-210 EPC Gen 1 Class 1 UHF tags. The AD-410 tag is designed for use in carton, tray and pallet applications, while the AD-210 is designed for use with various case contents.
EPCglobal US Conference News
SAMSys Offers Gen 2 Starter Kit
SAMSys Technologies, a Durham, N.C., provider of RFID hardware, has launched the Gen 2 RFID Pilot Express program. This RFID hardware and software package is designed to enable companies to launch, in 30 days or less, a pilot RFID program using tags based on the EPCglobal Gen 2 protocol. The kit includes the SAMSys MP9320 v2.8 UHF reader (interrogator), which reads tags based on the EPC Gen 2, first-generation EPC and ISO 18000-6 A and B standards. It also includes two reader antennas, a light stack (which can be used to verify tag reads), sample Gen 2 tags manufactured by Texas Instruments, and the RFID Application Programming Interface for Developers. This product was designed to help developers network groups of readers by using Java and Microsoft .NET programming environments to write interfaces between the readers and their RFID middleware or custom applications for controlling reader functions. For a limited time, the RFID Gen 2 Pilot Express package is available for $1,999, which SAMSys says is roughly half the cost of purchasing the components separately. SAMSys has been showcasing the kit at the EPCglobal US Conference in Atlanta, held from Sept. 13 to 15.
ConnecTerra Releases Enterprise Server
RFID software company ConnecTerra has announced the Enterprise Server, part of its family of RFTagAware products, which includes the Edge Server for device management and RFID tagging compliance solutions. The Enterprise Server centralizes EPC management and consists of an EPC commissioning tool; an EPC Information System (IS) repository service, for storing EPCs; EPC IS query and capture interfaces that provide EPC look-up services; a location service for identifying where a user's fixed readers are located; and the ability to create reports based on the RFID read events. By linking ConnecTerra's Edge Server to the Enterprise Server with the company’s EPC IS, users can feed data into the Enterprise Server. ConnecTerra's EPC IS, part of the Enterprise Server offering, is the EPCglobal standard candidate protocol. The specification is expected to advance to a last-call working draft by the end of October, according to Ken Traub, ConnecTerra CTO and member of the EPCglobal Architecture Review Committee, which oversees all EPCglobal technical specifications. The Enterprise Server is available now; pricing information has not yet been released.
UPM Rafsec Gen 2 OneTenna Inlay Available
UPM Rafsec, a Finnish designer and manufacturer of RFID inlays, says its OneTenna EPC Gen 2 inlay is now commercially available. The inlay sports a newly designed antenna, the OneTenna, which the company said in June will replace four of its existing designs (see Rafsec Set to Produce Gen 2 Inlays). The OneTenna design accommodates five different chip placements, enabling its creation for use in the 868-870 MHz band allocated for Europe, the United States' 902-928 MHz band or the 950-956 MHz band in Japan. The company says the remaining two IC placement positions on the antenna allow the finished inlay to combat the detuning effect resulting from embedding the inlay in plastic in either the European or U.S. market. Rafsec is using the Gen 2 Monza chip made by Seattle-based manufacturer Impinj in its OneTenna inlay, but is also testing ICs from other manufacturers. The firm has been shipping samples of the inlay to its customers and partners since June and will increase its production capacity to a few million per month, starting in October, it says. Rafsec will also continue to manufacture its EPC Gen 1 Class 1 tags, as it says there is still a strong demand for these tags, especially in North America. The company has not divulged pricing information for its Gen 2 inlay.
Avery Dennison Starts Gen 2 Tag Production
Avery Dennison RFID, located in Clinton, S.C., says it has started commercial production of its AD-220 UHF EPC Gen 2 Class 1 tag, available now. The AD-220 uses the Monza Gen 2 chip manufactured by Seattle-based Impinj in the AD-220 but, the firm says it is also testing Gen 2 chips from other chip manufacturers, including Philips and Texas Instruments. The company will also continue to offer its AD-410 and AD-210 EPC Gen 1 Class 1 UHF tags. The AD-410 tag is designed for use in carton, tray and pallet applications, while the AD-210 is designed for use with various case contents.
