Jul 29, 2010Impinj, a provider of passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification technology, today announced the introduction of its Indy R500 UHF RFID reader chip. The chip, which combines many of the electronic components used in UHF interrogators on a single silicon microchip, is designed for applications that do not require a long read range or the ability to read many tags quickly. According to Impinj, the new chip will cost 25 percent to 30 percent less than its midrange reader chip, the Indy R1000, which the company began selling in July 2008 (see Impinj Acquires Intel's UHF RFID Reader Chip Operation). Like the other models in the firm's roster of Indy chips, the R500 supports the EPCglobal Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C specifications, as well as the full 840 to 960 MHz UHF RFID band.
"The R500 fleshes out our product line offering for Indy reader chips," says Bill Colleran, Impinj's president and CEO. "We are seeing a significant pickup in volume in embedded applications and handhelds that don't have huge performance requirements, so we decided to go back down in performance to address those applications where price might be more important than performance."
According to Colleran, the R500 employs the same programming interface as the R1000 and the R2000, which the firm unveiled in April 2009 (see Impinj Adds New Products, Agreements to Its Portfolio), so reader manufacturers that have developed products based on either of the company's existing reader chips will be able to quickly and cost-effectively transfer their product-development knowledge to the R500. He adds that having a high-, medium- and low-end chip with the same programming interface lowers development costs, while also enabling reader manufacturers to create a suite of products to meet their customers' needs.
Impinj is seeing strong growth in sales of the R1000 and R2000 reader chips, Colleran says—about double the annualized run rate seen late last year. "This is fertile ground for us," he states. "Our customers were asking us for a cheaper version of the R1000 that could be used for applications where performance isn't critical, so we decided to extend the line."
In addition, Impinj foresees the emergence of a new class of handheld devices that don't require the long read range of industrial RFID handhelds. The units could be utilized, for instance, to scan file folders or price tags.
Impinj does not plan to use the R500 in its own line of Speedway interrogators, Colleran indicates, in order to avoid making readers that compete directly with those manufactured by companies that buy Impinj's Indy chips. Instead, Impinj will sell the chips to partners. It hopes the R500 will compete on price with existing reader chips on the market, such as Phychips' PR9000 reader chip and the AS3990 from Austriamicrosystems.
Sample chips will be available starting on Aug. 16, 2010, as will the R500 Indy development platform (IDP), for a suggested price of $1,500. The IDP, intended to enable reader designers to begin work immediately, includes a development board, a reader module, a reference design, software and documentation.
Impinj expects production quantities of chips to be available in the fourth quarter of this year. Colleran declines to provide pricing, noting that the unit cost will depend on volume, and on which distributor a customer purchases the chips from. The R500 is anticipated to be incorporated in new UHF readers sometime next year, the company reports.
