Jun 16, 2011The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Avery Dennison Intros New Line of NFC Inlays
Avery Dennison RFID, a provider of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID inlays, has introduced its N-Zone line of Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID inlays, which the company says will support the proliferation of innovative, high-performance NFC applications across the globe, as NFC-enabled smartphones become widespread. The first products in the N-Zone line of NFC inlays utilize NXP Semiconductors' Icode chips. According to the company, Avery Dennison's N-Zone tags can be used to transform ordinary product labels and store environments into powerful media for branding, as well as for new customer experiences. The N-Zone inlays are ISO 15693/IEC 18000-3-compliant and designed for library media management, health-care and biological sample tracking, and NFC-enabled product packaging and promotional smart posters. Avery Dennison has introduced five models. The AD-709x antenna measures 1.85 inches by 1.85 inches, and is designed for managing media, particularly books and documents. The AD-714x, also designed for media management, has an antenna measuring 1.77 inches by 3 inches, with an optimized read range that fits into an ISO card form factor. The AD-720x has an antenna diameter of 1.42 inches, and can be applied to the center ring of a CD or DVD for media-management applications. The AD-730X has an antenna dimension of 0.551 inch by 1.221 inches, and is designed for such health-care applications as wristbands, asset tagging, medical labels and pharmaceuticals. Due to its small size, the company notes, the AD-730X may also be applied in markets outside of health care, such as secure entry devices (key fobs, for example). Finally, the AD-770X is the smallest form factor in the lineup, with an antenna measuring 0.591 inch by 0.591 inch. According to Avery Dennison, this model is suitable for health care, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and liquids, event ticketing, preferred customer cards and secure entry devices. NXP and Avery Dennison are both members of the NFC Forum, an industry standards group promoting the adoption of NFC technologies.
German Hospital Deploys Wi-Fi Badges for Staff Safety and Tags for Asset Tracking
Wi-Fi based real-time location system (RTLS) provider Ekahau has announced that German hospital Westküstenklinikum Heide (WKK) is using its Wi-Fi-based tracking technology to assure the safety of its psychiatric and night-duty staff, and to track the locations of wheelchairs. WKK ranks among northern Germany's largest and most modern clinics, according to Ekahau, with a total capacity of 800 beds and a staff of approximately 2,200 workers. Ekahau's RTLS, which consists of the Ekahau Positioning Engine and Vision software, coupled with a variety of Wi-Fi-based RFID tags and sensors, works with any generation or brand of Wi-Fi network. At WKK, Ekahau's T301BD pager badges are worn by members of the psychiatric and night-duty staff, who can use their badges to trigger an alarm in the event of an emergency situation. When an alarm sounds, the Ekahau Wi-Fi badges utilize the hospital's existing wireless network to identify the sender's identity and exact location. In addition, Ekahau's T301 asset tags are used for logistics management, to locate available wheelchairs throughout the facility. "We repeatedly experienced shortages of urgently needed wheelchairs, so we sought a simple solution to the problem," said Humayaun Kabir, WKK's CIO, in a prepared statement. "Ekahau's tags convinced us because they're easy to integrate into our Wi-Fi network, and now we always know exactly where critical assets are located." The Ekahau tags automatically transmit a signal whenever a wheelchair leaves its assigned territory, so that it can be retrieved immediately. Hospital personnel can also analyze historical usage patterns so that assets can be deployed where they are typically needed most.
Kovio Raises $15 Million With Lead Investor Tyco Retail Solutions
Kovio, a Silicon Valley company focused on developing low-cost RFID tags using printable silicon electronics and thin-film technology, has announced that it has raised $15 million in new equity financing led by Tyco Retail Solutions, a unit of Tyco International focused on retail solutions and services, including RFID solutions. The funding, according to Kovio and Tyco Retail Solutions, will enable the two companies to deliver solutions that take advantage of the emerging infrastructure of Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled devices and printed silicon capabilities. Current investors Kleiner Perkins, Caufield & Byers, DAG Ventures, Northgate Capital, Harris & Harris, Flagship Ventures and Pangaea Ventures also participated in the round. This funding follows other investment rounds; in July 2009, Kovio announced that it had raised $20 million (see RFID News Roundup: Kovio Lands Additional Funding to Print Silicon RFID Tags). Kovio unveiled its tag, which it refers to as an RF bar code, in late 2008. The tag, which contains a printed chip that complies with the ISO 14443A standard, can contain 128 bits of data, encoded permanently onto the chip as part of the printing process (rather than encoded later via RF), and can transmit that information at a rate of 106 kilobits per second. "By integrating our products with the offerings from Tyco Retail Solutions, we are enabling new opportunities for retailers and brand owners," said Amir Mashkoori, Kovio's CEO, in a prepared statement. Used in conjunction with NFC-enabled mobile phones and devices, the company reports, Kovio's "RF bar codes" will support mobile marketing and advertising, by enabling brand owners and retailers to engage directly with individual consumers. "Kovio has developed a groundbreaking technology, and we are pleased to partner with them to accelerate its introduction to the market," said Scott Clements, Tyco Retail Solutions' president, in the statement.
RF Monolithics, a provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless technology, has introduced two additions to its RFM2M brand of M2M wireless sensor network (WSN) platform: the SN2430R420 wireless sensor node and the LG2430E Wireless Ethernet gateway. Multiple SN2430R420s and an LG2430E can be deployed to create a sensor data collection platform for application developers and system integrators looking to provide a complete WSN or M2M solution. M2M applications allow for wireless data communication between machines and devices, and interconnected M2M networks and products can be used with, for example, machinery that works on building cars, monitoring systems such as utility meters, or updating digital billboards. Wireless sensor networks are made up of groups of small devices such as sensors that have three jobs: sense, compute and communicate. To achieve these functions, each device contains a battery, a radio transceiver (for communication), one or more sensors (to measure such things as temperature, humidity or light) and a microprocessor (to store data and control the sensor or sensors attached to the apparatus). The SN2430R420, a Wi-Fi-based sensor modem that supports a variety of sensors, provides up to 10 years of battery life. The LG2430E is the RFM2M family's gateway for 802.15.4-based remote nodes. On the wireless side, the LG2430E has a 100mW 802.15.4 radio to provide extended range. On the wired side, the LG2430E provides a 10/100Base-T interface to connect to virtually any Ethernet network. The LG2430E supports a variety of protocols to connect to databases or legacy applications. Included in the list are Amazon Web Services' SimpleDB, Pachube, HTTP Posts, and Modbus/TCP. The gateway has the ability to store sensor data in the event that network or Internet connectivity is lost. Development of an LG2430 gateway with cellular connectivity is currently nearing completion. The SN2430R420 is designed as a "peel-and-stick" product. M2M peel-and-stick products are typically characterized as not requiring mains power and data cables in their operation, and are designed to possess data-collection or sensor-monitoring capabilities integrated with wireless data transmission. Therefore, the company reports, no electrician or IT specialist is necessary to run power or IT cables. Likewise, the SN240R420 does not require mains power or data cables, and integrates sensor monitoring with 802.15.4 radio technology. Tim Cutler, RFM's director of business development for M2M business, says the demand for peel-and-stick products like the RFM2M WSN platform has increased, and that RFM has an aggressive product roadmap to address this demand. Using a modular design approach, both the SN2430R420 and the LG2430E can be easily customized for specific applications, as well as easily configured for different RF technologies, such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee, WirelessHART and RFM's proprietary FHSS. The SN2430R240 is easily modified to accept current transformers, humidity sensors, pressure sensors, strain sensors, and many other sensor types. As long as the same RF technology is used, the SN2430R240 with different sensor inputs can be combined in a single network. The LG2430E gateway can also be used with OEM products incorporating RFM's LPR2430 family of 802.15.4 modules. According to Cutler, RFM is currently working with several customers on applications in three general areas: energy management, oil-field applications, and asset monitoring. Pricing, which varies depending on configuration and volume, is approximately $150 for the SN2430R420 and about $299 for the LG2430E.
ILP Becomes Exclusive Distributor of Surfaceslab Smart Surfaces in North America
Intelligent Loss Prevention (ILP), a provider of secure merchandising solutions, has added to its portfolio RFID-based item-level tracking solutions, through a partnership with Surfaceslab, a Portuguese technology firm that develops smart surfaces enabling objects to communicate via RFID. Surfaceslab's products are designed to help locate and identify products, monitor stock levels, protect against theft and increase customer interaction. Under the terms of the agreement, ILP is the exclusive North American distributor of Surfaceslab technology. Surfaceslab's product lineup of smart surfaces includes the Smart Panel, which leverages EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID technology and is designed to identify and quantify, in real time, hanging apparel placed within its reading area (see RFID News Roundup: Surfaceslab Intros RFID-enabled Smart Panel for Hanging Apparel). Each Smart Panel has an embedded antenna, and is connected to a UHF RFID reader (or to a multiplexer, and then to a reader). When tagged products are placed in or moved out of a Smart Panel's reading zone, the software updates the location information about each tag ID read and collected. Each panel's reading zone is well-defined; the reading area depends on the panel's dimensions, but the read distance out from the panel is 50 centimeters (20 inches). The tags—such as those from Alien Technology, Avery Dennison and UPM RFID—are normally placed on clothes. The Smart Panel also works with various fashion- and apparel-tagging approaches currently available on the market, such as RFID tags embedded in hangtags, care and textile labels, and hard tags. Through the partnership, ILP expanded Surfaceslab's RFID applications to include anti-theft capabilities. According to ILP, the addition of anti-theft capabilities enables the smart surfaces to send notifications to a smartphone, tablet or computer in the event of atypical product removal (such as a product sweep, when multiple items are removed). In the event of a potential theft, the immediate notifications can enable a store's staff to respond in a service-oriented manner. According to ILP, the notification parameters can be specified by the retailer.
Adoption of NFC RFID Continues to Grow at Hotels
Kaba, which provides Saflok and ILCO electronic locks, has announced a partnership with The Peninsula Hotels to replace all guestroom door locks at all Peninsula Hotel locations. Kaba will develop and implement a solution that will allow the Saflok RFID wireless online locking systems to play an integral role in The Peninsula Hotels' new door-locking systems for the future. Kaba's Saflok RFID systems leverage the ZigBee standard, based on the 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and allow Web-based monitoring of electronic door locks and keys. The implementation will begin with Peninsula Hotels' U.S. properties—The Peninsula Beverly Hills, New York and Chicago—and will extend across all hotel properties, according to Shane Izaks, the GM of IT at Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd.. Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd. is the parent company of The Peninsula Hotels. Another hotel operator that is adopting NFC RFID locks is Aloft Hotels, which recently announced the opening of Aloft New York Brooklyn. This follows Aloft's first implementation of its RFID-enabled Smart Check-In program, and its deployment of an RFID-enabled hotel-locking system at Aloft Lexington in Massachusetts, in 2010 (see RFID News Roundup: Aloft Opens Door to RFID-enabled Smart Check-In at More Hotels). The system—provided by VingCard Elsafe, a hospitality security provider and part of the ASSA Abloy Hospitality Group—includes contactless electronic door locks that leverage 13.56 MHz RFID technology and are compatible with the ISO 14443 A/B, ISO 15693 and Near Field Communication (NFC) standards. Featuring 176 loft-like guest rooms, Aloft New York Brooklyn is located in downtown Brooklyn, at 216 Duffield St. Meanwhile, ASSA Abloy, Nordic Choice Hotels, Giesecke & Devrient, TeliaSonera and VingCard Elsafe tested the use of NFC-enabled mobile phones in a joint pilot, in order to let guests check in and out of hotel rooms, thereby replacing room keys. A survey showed that all guests participating in the trial appreciated not having to wait in line at the hotel reception desk, ASSA Abloy reports, and almost all stated that they would use the mobile key solution if it were currently available. During the eight-month pilot at the Clarion Hotel Stockholm, in Sweden, about 30 hotel loyalty guests checked into the hotel via a mobile key application. After check-in was completed, the hotel key was sent directly to the mobile phone. Upon arrival, the guest could access the room directly, without the need to wait in line at the hotel reception desk. The check-out was also managed through the mobile-key service. "A broad majority of the guests claim that the service made their hotel stay more pleasant," said Daniel Berg, the VP and GM of ASSA Abloy Mobile Keys, in a prepared statement. "This shows that technology that helps people save time will be appreciated and used. The pilot also confirms that using mobile keys to open all kinds of doors will be one of the most popular NFC applications."
