NYC-Area Nursing Homes to Get UWB RFID Systems

For its previous RTLS suite, Parco used tags and readers licensed from Multispectral Solutions, a UWB specialist based in Germantown, Md. Those readers included 18 to 20 subcomponents, most of which were low cost and needed only a short lead time for manufacturing, while a few required a much longer manufacturing lead time and were more expensive. By moving to silicon, Parco was able to eliminate all but a few subcomponents, reducing complexity and shortening lead times. In addition, a tag now costs about $19, compared with $48 for a tag based on the previous system.

The tag antenna used in Parco's suite has also been changed, Cohen says. The older design incorporated what Cohen called a peg antenna, a small brass antenna post sitting perpendicular on a ground plane, which made the tag's height 1 inch. But customers prefer smaller tags that are less obtrusive and lighter in weight, so Précis uses a so-called patch antenna that allows for tags a half inch in height.

The new Précis readers can be mounted on ceilings, and each tag can be read at a maximum range of 300 feet if used in an open area, or about 60 feet if read through four standard (drywall) walls. Once per second, the tags transmit a signal consisting of a unique ID number, and readers within the read range compute the tag's radius. That device then passes the data to the Parco RTLS Manager, which utilizes the radius information from at least three readers and algorithms to compute the tag's location. The location is then sent via middleware to a database that can be accessed by third-party software. The software can be integrated with the Précis suite via Parco's Software Developer's Kit (SDK), which contains application programming interfaces (APIs) enabling the sharing of data among Parco's products and the third-party application.

Already, Précis is netting new business opportunities for Parco. Late last month, Parco announced a $4 million deal with Sysgen Data, a maker of RFID tracking software. Sysgen's Web-based tracking software is designed to help nursing homes track the exact location and status of caregivers, high-value assets and patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's. The two companies will develop and deploy a tracking system that includes Précis, integrated with Sysgen's software, at more than 75 long-term care facilities in the New York City tristate area. Cohen declined to comment as to which facilities were included, citing confidentiality agreements.