Savi Unveils Developer Tools Program, System on Chip, to Spur Growth

Savi Technology has also unveiled a new tag module known as an RFID System on a Chip (SoC), Krakow says, which is scheduled for release in fall 2010. The new module is also part of the Developers Tools program, and can be ordered now. The SoC module, which combines all of the primary capabilities of Savi's other RFID tags and contains an ultra-low-power 32-bit ARM core processing chip, measures 9 millimeters by 9 millimeters (0.4 inch by 0.4 inch).

Years ago, other firms were already working with Savi to integrate an active RFID system into their existing technology, and some of that work has resulted in the kit that is available today. One example is Comtech Mobile Datacom, which manufactures Movement Tracking System (MTS) devices used by the U.S. Army. The MTS units incorporate GPS and satellite telecommunications technologies for military combat service support vehicles carrying cargo, similar to the OnStar system used by civilian vehicles.

Eddie Coleman, Comtech Mobile Datacom's program manager

In 2004, when the DOD issued a mandate requiring that active RFID tags be placed on many items being shipped overseas, the Army requested that Comtech Mobile Datacom integrate an active RFID reader into its MTS devices, says Eddie Coleman, Comtech's program manager. This would change the device from a strictly satellite-tracking and communications system for the vehicle to which it was attached, to a solution that could also capture RFID tags within 300 feet of that vehicle, and send those tags' location information to the Army's In-transit Visibility Server. There, the data is stored and provided to Army personnel, to help them track their assets' locations.

After two years of development, during which it worked closely with Savi Technology, Comtech created a system that included the 18000-7 RFID reader built into its existing MTS product, as well as incorporating a military-quality GPS system (which is higher quality than commercial versions). The new RFID-enabled MTS units were put to use by the DOD in summer 2005. To RFID-enable its MTS device, Comtech needed a circuit board that it designed itself (for routing electrical signals from the multiple devices built into the transceiver), as well as a Savi RFID circuit board, one of Savi's application program interfaces (API) and Savi software to integrate the reader data with Comtech's own software. Had Comtech had the Developer Tools kit, Coleman says, "We think we would have been able to do that in a third of the time."

To date, Comtech has fitted more than 25,000 U.S. military vehicles (which now include Humvees) with its RFID-enabled MTS systems. Since 2005, Coleman says, when the company introduced its MTS system with RFID, higher-quality GPS and satellite technologies, the U.S. military's usage of the MTS RFID readers has grown exponentially—in part, because there are more tags in use, and also because the device's users in the Armed Forces are getting more comfortable with the technology and, therefore, use it more often.

Savi hosted an RFID Journal webinar on June 30, regarding the new developer's tools. Since then, Krakow says he's received follow-up calls from both DOD contractors and other individuals with commercial applications who are interested in utilizing the tools. In the past few years, he notes, the use of RFID has expanded to a variety of vertical markets in which the technology has not previously had a presence. With that in mind, he says, businesses with less experience in RFID technology could benefit from Savi's offering to develop their own RFID-based systems. "We want companies to take advantage of what we've learned, and to leapfrog over the painful getting-it-right stage directly to a profitable solution," he states. "We want to see this get beyond the traditional space, and make it work for companies that aren't specialty [RFID] shops."