Jan 31, 2013The following are news announcements made during the past week.
German Senior Citizens Home Implements Ekahau Wi-Fi RTLS
Ekahau, a provider of Wi-Fi-based real-time location system (RTLS) solutions, and German IT systems integrator Adams & Weber GmbH have announced that they installed a wireless local-area network (WLAN)-based locating and emergency call system at Josef-Ecker-Stift, a senior-citizens home and nursing facility located in Neuwied, Germany. According to Ekahau, the system—which leverages Ekahau's Wi-Fi-based RTLS technology, including battery-powered Wi-Fi RFID tags and software—is designed to monitor the movements of the home's residents and, whenever danger threatens, enable the care staff to quickly intervene and thus prevent accidents. Residents wear Ekahau's Wi-Fi wristbands, which are waterproof and include two-color LEDs for signaling events, as well as call buttons that can be used to request help, among other features. A tag's location is determined by monitoring the signal strengths between Wi-Fi access points and the tag. Josef-Ecker-Stift is utilizing the system around-the-clock to alert staff members of every resident's location. The solution enables the nursing home to offer its residents—even those with dementia or limited mobility—greater freedom to move independently throughout the building, Ekahau reports. In addition to residents wearing the wristband tags, workers are equipped with Ekahau B4 Wi-Fi pagers, which they can use to transmit an alarm from any location throughout the entire facility. Previously, alarms could be triggered only via individual immobile emergency switches. The new pagers allow employees to trigger an alarm and summon a colleague without having to abandon a resident and locate an emergency switch installed elsewhere.
Smartrac Builds Out PVC UHF Prelaminate Product Range
Smartrac has announced that it has added to its range of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) line of prelaminated PVC cards. The new offerings, the company reports, are in response to the increasing demand for UHF PVC cards for access-control applications. Constructed with Impinj's Monza 4 circuit (IC) passive RFID chip family (the Monza 4D and Monza 4QT models, in particular), the prelaminates are designed to offer a reading distance of more than 5 meters (16.4 feet), Smartrac reports, thereby enabling hands-free access to secured areas, gated communities, ski lifts and other locations. The cards are produced in a multilayered PVC construction without polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers. The UHF antenna is printed with silver ink and connected to the IC using flip-chip technology, in which the electrodes are coated with adhesive, and the chip is then turned over and pressed onto the antenna. During a final production step, the company indicates, all PVC layers are collated and fused together under pressure and at high temperature, in order to create a monobloc PVC prelaminate. The Smartrac PVC UHF prelaminate product family with Impinj Monza 4 ICs comprises the PVC Thinlam, with a thickness of 300 micrometers (0.012 inch); the PVC PRELAM, with a thickness of 400 micrometers (0.016 inch); and the PVC Clearlam, made of transparent PVC, with a thickness of either 300 micrometers or 400 micrometers. According to Smartrac, the PVC Clearlam version provides optional security features, such as one-color logos or security marks, to be added during the antenna layer's printing process. All models are available now, and are supplied in conventional card industry sheet formats. Customized programming of the UHF chip with optional memory locking is also offered for this product family.
Canada's Translink Adopts NXP's Mifare for Vancouver's Public Transport System
NXP Semiconductors has announced that Canada's South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, TransLink, has adopted NXP's Mifare technology platform for Vancouver's public transport system. NXP's Mifare family of RFID chips comply with the ISO 14443-A standard, widely used in contactless smart cards. According to NXP, the Mifare technology is part of an overall initiative by Vancouver to address urban challenges and optimize transportation over a 30-year period. For its part, NXP reports, Translink hopes to achieve a goal of accomplishing 50 percent of all trips by foot, bicycle or public transportation, and thus asked systems integrator Cubic Corp. to create an efficient, secure and future-proof transit system leveraging the Mifare technology. As part of that effort, TransLink is adopting Cubic's Compass Card, a contactless smart card incorporating the Mifare DESFire EV1 RFID chip, which passengers can use on city buses, sky trains and ferries, via a single contactless smart card. In addition, passengers can add travel products or values to their Compass Card at vending machines, either online, by telephone or at a walk-in customer service center. Cubic's Compass Card is a reusable, reloadable transit pass that riders can tap on an electronic validator (RFID reader) during boarding to access transit. The card works with Cubic's Nextfare contactless smart-card payment system. Several U.S. cities have implemented Cubic's smart-card technology, including Miami (see RFID News Roundup: Miami Expands Use of Smart-Card System on Its Metrorail to the Airport) and Chicago (see RFID News Roundup: Chicago Bus Operator Pace Selects Cubic for Payment System).
German RFID firm Tagitron is unveiling a series of new RFID readers, antennas, tags and inlays supporting a variety of RFID standards and applications. The company is announcing a new version of its IPRO BlackBox family of EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) readers. The BlackBox 50i reader, designed for industrial applications, features an integrated antenna and 24-volt I/O ports. The new BlackBox 50pos model, intended for point-of-sale (POS) applications, includes an integrated reader. Both devices and their respective enclosures come in two form factors: a standalone desktop model and one that can be affixed via screws under a desk. They can be connected to a cable via USB or Ethernet cable, and offer a read range with a standard transponder of up to 4 meters (13.1 feet). The new IPRO BlackBox 150X has four antenna connectors and can support various connections, such as Wi-Fi, GSM, Bluetooth, Ethernet and USB. It has an IP 68-rated enclosure, making it dustproof and waterproof. The read range with a standard antenna, depending on the particular transponder, is up to 10 meters (32.8 feet). According to Tagitron, the IPRO BlackBox 150X version also features integrated memory, an integrated display, the ability to connect to a keyboard, and a rechargeable battery so that the system can operate completely independently. The company has also announced new EPC Gen 2 UHF antennas, including the IPRO FloorPatch Thunderstorm antenna, an indoor-outdoor antenna measuring 1 meter by 1 meter (3.3 feet by 3.3 feet) and designed for tracking assets, particularly textiles and laundry. A smaller version, the IPRO FloorPatch Light, is a unique thin, flexible and inconspicuous carpet antenna designed for use on the ground, such as at the entrance of a shop floor. The new IPRO SkyPatch and SkyPatch Slim ceiling antennas, for indoor and outdoor use, can be installed, for example, into vertical RFID gates. The SkyPatch Slim measures only 8 millimeters (0.3 inch) in thickness, Tagitron reports, and can be used as a standard side antenna for horizontal gate solutions. New tags include the HardTag MOM transponder, a metal-on-metal tag designed for applications in the medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, biologistics and automotive industries. The IP 68-rated tag is composed of a compound material that is autoclavable, meaning it can be sterilized. The tag, available in a range of sizes, features a general read range of up to 6 meters (19.7 feet) on metal. It is available with RFID chipsets supplied by NXP Semiconductors, Impinj, Alien Technology, Fujitsu and Infineon. Tagitron has also introduced the PROtag No. 4 and No. 5 RFID EPC Gen 2 inlays, which are suitable for retail applications and can be used in labels. Both versions support chipsets from NXP, Impinj and Alien.
NXP, Exceet Card Group Deliver ITSO-compliant Smart-Card Solution for Scotland's National Entitlement Card
The Scottish government has announced plans to expand and update its use of contactless smart cards to provide citizens with more secure cards and better access to services. Many Scottish citizens already have a National Entitlement Card (NEC), which is part of a national program designed to modernize public services in Scotland (see RFID Helps Promote Healthy Pregnancies). The existing cards leverage NXP Semiconductors' Mifare Classic technology, to deliver a range of citizen applications focused on entitlement, access to public services, identification and account maintenance. The NEC scheme offers more than 30 services, including transport, financial and health-related services, all available through a multi-application smart card. Now, NXP and Exceet Card Group will provide a solution incorporating NXP's SmartMX microchip platform to councils across the nation. The solution hosts an applet provided by ESP Systex, and is compliant with the CMD2 specifications from the nonprofit Integrated Transport Smartcard Organization (ITSO), provided by ESP Systex. The CMD2, or Customer Media Device type 2, is a set of specifications for microprocessor-based smart cards. The applet delivers all ITSO certification requirements. The new solution is designed to provide a more flexible, cost-effective and secure multi-application smart card. "The need of a migration towards multi-application microprocessor-based cards in public transport with high levels of security challenged us to not conflict with the accessibility to non-transport applications based on Mifare Classic technology," said Andreas Gordes, Exceet Card Group's CSO, in a prepared statement. "The new solution will help to solve a key issue faced by local public authorities and transport operators in the UK." The NXP SmartMX platform features Common Criteria-certified EAL5+ hardware for increased security, as well as a Mifare Classic 1k and 4k emulation to ensure interoperability between new cards and legacy Mifare Classic infrastructure and applications.
