May 03, 2006ADT Security Services, a unit of Tyco Fire & Internet/ Security, has announced an agreement with RFID hardware provider Impinj under which ADT will resell Impinj's Speedway Gen 2 RFID interrogators in North America. This marks the first Speedway reseller agreement that Impinj—which does not sell directly to end users—has made in North America. Impinj announced a reseller and contract manufacturing agreement with NEC Tokin in Japan late last month (see NEC to Sell Gen 2 Readers in Japan).
"We see great opportunity in this agreement," says Randy Dunn, director of RFID for ADT North America, "especially given Impinj's market reach and understanding of RFID."
ADT will add its enhanced operating software (EOS) to the readers before selling them to end users. EOS provides users with tools they can use to filter and aggregate tag data and execute commands to the reader based on business logic.
EPCglobal has certified the Speedway reader for conformance to the Gen 2 air-interface protocol, though it is not compatible with Gen 1 tags.
"The Speedway needs application software to work," says Chris Diorio, chairman, founder and vice president of RFID engineering at Impinj. "Think of the Speedway as a computer and operating system. It won't work without the application software [such as EOS]."
"We're excited about the partnership," Diorio proclaims, adding, "ADT brings knowledge of integrating RFID into systems, so the partnership combines that knowledge with our expertise in RFID technology."
ADT will provide installation and maintenance support for the Speedway readers. ADT is accepting orders for the devices now, which it says will be deliverable in the third quarter of this year. Pricing is not yet available.
