Airgate's solution is the GenuDOT product authentication system; it uses tags made with the Hitachi µ-chip, which has a proprietary air-interface protocol with data encryption. Sheriff says the protocols used to encode and read the tags are not published standards, so counterfeiters won't be able to clone the tags and attach them to fake goods. But end users already using EPC or ISO tags for product tracking will need to purchase and attach a second tag, and install a second RFID infrastructure. Sheriff believes the benefits of this system will outweigh the added cost for companies that can lose millions each year if their products are counterfeited.

Other vendors are taking different approaches to product authentication. Hyan Microelectronics, a Chinese maker of RFID antennas and tags, developed an anticounterfeiting smart label that's designed to prevent counterfeiters from removing RFID labels from authentic products and attaching them to fake ones. It uses an HF inlay compliant with either the ISO 14443A or ISO 15693 standard. The end user can encode product or other identifying data to the inlay, which uses an antenna made of Parelec's Parmod silver-based conductive ink. The antenna is printed onto the label's adhesive substrate so that when the label is removed from a product, the antenna breaks and the inlay is no longer readable.

SecureRF's Lightweight Multistream Encryption tag is designed for tracking perishable goods.

Texas Instruments and data security provider Certicom developed a system that protects the data encoded to HF ISO 15693 RFID tags. Manufacturers install a "signing appliance" to their interrogator infrastructure, which receives and encrypts the EPC. The encoded number is used in an advance shipment notice (ASN) sent to supply-chain partners. When they receive the tagged products, they can read the encrypted tag and compare it with the encrypted number in the ASN. Supply-chain partners could purchase the Certicom software needed to decrypt the numbers. But without the software, a counterfeiter would not be able to decrypt the numbers, access the EPCs and encode them to fake products.

SecureRF's Lightweight Multistream Encryption tag is a battery-assisted passive EPC Gen 2 tag designed for tracking perishable goods. It has an integrated temperature sensor and uses a proprietary data encryption scheme. Companies can encrypt non-EPC data to the tag's memory, such as temperature history and any codes they choose to use to authenticate products. Special software is needed to decrypt and read the data.

Who's Who in RFID Product Authentication
Airgate Technologies
www.airgatetech.com

Certicom
www.certicom.com

Hyan Microelectronics
www.hyanlabel.com.cn

Impinj
www.impinj.com

SecureRF
www.securerf.com

Texas Instruments
www.ti.com