Savi, ODIN Offer New Active/Passive Integrated Software Suite

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as well as the aerospace industry and several large industrial companies, often use active RFID technology in conjunction with passive RFID systems. Pallets and boxes of goods, for instance, may have EPC Gen 2 UHF passive tags, while active tags (typically, 433 MHz active tags compliant with the ISO 18000-7 standard) may be attached to cargo containers used to transport the goods, or to large, often high-value items requiring a long read range or a very specific pinpointing of location. The hybrid software package could also be used with a shop-floor control system that employs 433 MHz active RFID tags compliant with the ISO 18000-7 standard, and the system could be integrated with an asset- or supply chain-tracking application utilizing passive EPC Gen 2 tags.

ODIN’s CEO, Patrick Sweeney, likened the package to having a Ferrari sports car and a Hummer SUV in the garage, each offering a different high-end performance.

"I think this is great for RFID," Stephens states. "The combination of Savi's management of supply chain experience with ODIN's expertise can provide customers and the market with a much better path to a return on their investment." The reason for the faster ROI, he explains, is that the ODIN-Savi system combines active and passive technologies that would work together immediately, rather than requiring costly integration services.

Savi's vision, Stephens says, is that "everything is going to be tracked automatically and wirelessly in the next three to seven years." The ODIN-Savi platform, he notes, "is one giant step toward making that a reality," by making it possible for businesses or agencies across a supply chain to link multiple RFID technologies, and thereby take full advantage of the data those systems provide. The combined solution, he says, makes the complex types of RFID implementations often seen in government installations easier and simpler to install.

Savi and ODIN are not the only companies seeking to integrate ISO 18000-7 and EPC Gen 2 RFID systems. Earlier this week, RFID hardware provider Evigia Systems unveiled its EV3-HHI-PAB, a handheld device that combines its reader module and software for active 433 MHz tags and Motorola's 9090-G EPC Gen 2 interrogator (see Evigia Announces Mobile All-in-One RFID Reader).