Mar 31, 2011The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Omni-ID, Extronics Sign RFID Global Partnership Agreement
Tag maker Omni-ID has announced a partnership agreement with Extronics Ltd., a designer and manufacturer of intrinsically safe and explosion-proof equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, Extronics will certify Omni-ID's entire range of products for ATEX in Europe (ATEX is part of an EU directive describing the equipment and work environment allowed in an setting containing an explosive atmosphere), as well as for Class 1 Div 1 in the United States, and IECEx worldwide. Previously, only some of Omni-ID's tags were ATEX-certified. In addition, the firm will resell Omni-ID tags cobranded with its name. "Recently, we have experienced a dramatic upsurge in inquiries from leading companies seeking effective tracking solutions for hazardous areas," said John Hartley, Extronics' managing director, in a prepared statement. "Omni-ID offers the value and high quality we required to add lower-cost, passive UHF RFID tags to our active RFID solutions and to provide the safest, wireless infrastructures for mining, petrochemical, process manufacturing and similar dangerous work." The first products to be produced under this agreement will be unveiled during the Hannover Messe 2011 trade show, being held next week in Germany.
RF Code Announces Wireless Air-Pressure Sensor
RFID firm and IT asset-management solutions provider RF Code has announced a new wireless sensor designed to measure differential air pressure, which the company says is a key monitoring metric used to optimize airflow and provide insights into a data center's overall thermal characteristics. The R160 Air Pressure Sensor, RF Code reports, enables data-center operators to monitor changes in air pressure in order to determine optimal cooling strategies, including proper perforated (perf) tile placement, and provides readings as precise as HVAC handheld pressure monitors, while eliminating the need to manually troubleshoot suspected airflow-related problems. The new sensor monitors and reports the differential air-pressure between two points (e.g., above versus below a raised floor). The sensor's built-in 433 MHz active RFID tag periodically reports its unique ID, along with the air-pressure data, and is designed for use in conjunction with an RF Code fixed reader infrastructure. The R160 sensor is housed in an impact-resistant, flame-retardant ABS plastic enclosure that can be mounted on the back of the case via a strong adhesive, screws or zip-ties. Powered by three CR2032 replaceable batteries, the R160 wireless sensor is designed with a battery life that exceeds 5 years in most deployment environments. It features a low-battery alert, and will continue to report pressure data for at least three months following the initial alert. After that, the company indicates, the tag will broadcast its unique ID and a low-battery indication with each beacon, but will not report pressure data until the batteries are replaced. The information collected from the sensor is then input into RF Code's Sensor Manager software, which features trending, reporting and alerting capabilities.
Terso Solutions Launches New RFID-Enabled Fridge
Terso Solutions, a Madison, Wisc., RFID solutions provider for the health-care industry, has added an upgraded refrigerator to its line of products that incorporate RFID readers compliant with the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2 air-interface standard. According to the company, the new refrigerator makes better use of space, reduces energy consumption and lowers maintenance costs, while also protecting high-value products, such as reagents, cardiovascular products, tissue samples and orthopedic supplies. The new fridge has a temperature range of 36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 degrees to 7.8 degrees Celsius), and provides 5.5 cubic feet of storage space. In addition, it features a revamped LCD display on the front of the unit, which the company says improves customer interaction with the system, as well as ease of use, and provides more flexible internal configuration and spacing options designed to improve the range of materials that can be stored within. The RFID technology enables the refrigerator to take inventory of items, which are fitted with passive EPC Gen 2 RFID tags, and to capture transactions at the item level by user, thereby leading to greater accountability. In addition, the fridge monitors temperature and expiration dates, and can also trigger alarms when doors are left open. In October 2010, Terso announced a larger-capacity freezer that has a temperature range of -20 degrees to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees to -40 degrees Celsius), and provides 9.7 cubic feet of storage space (see RFID News Roundup: Terso Intros Larger RFID-enabled Freezer for Health Care). The new refrigerator is available now. Terso's RFID storage solutions offer cabinet rental, hosted data services and 24-7 support for one monthly fee.
Micro-ID Intros Glass RFID Tag for Animal Tracking
Micro-ID Ltd., based in West Sussex, United Kingdom, has introduced what it describes as the smallest implantable RFID tag on the market. The passive glass-encased tag chip, designed for automatically tracking animals, was unveiled at the British Small Animal Veterinary Congress (BSAVA), being held this weekend in Birmingham. The Micro-ID STO4 measures 1.4 millimeters by 8 millimeters (0.06 inch by 0.3 inch), weighs 0.52 gram (0.02 inch), contains an EM Microelectronic EM4205 chip that operates at 134.2 kHz and is compliant with the ISO 11784 and 11785 standards. The tag has an IP68 rating, which means it is waterproof and dustproof, and offers a read range of approximately 70 millimeters (2.8 inches). Micro-ID uses the same microchip technology in all of its products, but offers them in different formats, including nails, pegs, discs and others for identification and registration for both security and proof of ownership. The company also offers a range of RFID interrogators for reading the unique number stored in the chip, as well as more sophisticated reader/data loggers linked via GPS to main databases to interrogate, for example, a horse at an event to ascertain its history in terms of proof of progeny, as well as ensure its medical records are up to date.
SkyBitz, a provider of satellite-based asset-tracking and information-management services, has announced membership in the Dash7 Alliance, an industry group working to expand the use of active RFID technology based on the ISO 18000-7 standard (also known as Dash7). As a member of the Dash7 Alliance, SkyBitz will work with more than 50 member organizations worldwide to advance the development of the Dash7 standard, as well as integrate Dash7 technology into its latest global products. The company is actively developing the SkyBitz Galaxy Series GTP2000, which will include Dash7 technology. SkyBitz partnered with a provider of ISO 18000-7 technology that will enable the GTP2000 to be compliant with the Dash7 standard and also ensure interoperability with other Dash7 devices, according to company spokesman Chris Leach, who adds that his firm is unable to share the partner's name at this time. The Galaxy Series GTP2000, expected to become commercially available in the latter half of 2011, will be a global, two-way, remote asset-tracking and -monitoring solution, the company reports, combining satellite-based tracking and RFID-based local-area telematics. It is designed to help organizations maintain visibility in the global supply chain, or to keep track of any other remote unpowered assets, such as heavy equipment or ISO tank containers. Data from the RFID tags will be integrated with other location-based information through SkyBitz's InSight, a Web-based monitoring and information-management tool. If outside the range of RFID networks, the GTP2000 will transmit its data via Iridium's satellite constellation.
FIME to Deliver NFC Forum Certification
FIME, a provider of consulting and market-integration services for Near Field Communication (NFC) solutions, has announced that it has achieved authorization from the NFC Forum to conduct the required tests that will confirm a device's compliance to the organization's technical specifications, and attain certification from the industry body. The NFC Forum is an association promoting the adoption of NFC 13.56 MHz RFID technology. Late last year, it launched a certification program to support industry interoperability and provide device behavior assurances within the marketplace (see RFID News Roundup: NFC Forum Launches Certification Program, Publishes Four Specs). As an authorized NFC Forum Laboratory, FIME can now work with device manufacturers to enable them to achieve industry certification for their products, thereby allowing them to use and display the N-Mark—a stylized letter N designed to help consumers locate embedded NFC tags, and to indicate the spot at which an NFC device can read an NFC tag to establish a connection (see RFID News Roundup: NFC Forum Unveils N-Mark for Tags). Only companies with products that pass NFC Forum certification testing are able to display the N-Mark on their devices. FIME's ISO 17025 accredited laboratories in Asia and Europe have been approved by the NFC Forum to provide certification testing. Since November 2010, the organization has authorized 16 labs (including FIME). The group's certification program will advance as technical specifications evolve, FIME indicates, with the next phase expected to be released in 2012. In addition to becoming an authorized laboratory for current certification, FIME reports that it is actively contributing to the completion of the next phase, by delivering technical writing services.
TagMaster Collaborates With Siemens Mobility for Vehicle Detection
TagMaster, a Swedish manufacturer of RFID solutions for rail and transportation applications, has announced that Siemens Mobility, a provider of advanced design and technology to manage the increasing complexities of modern traffic, will use TagMaster's 2.45 GHz long-range RFID readers and ID tags as part of its solution for traffic management and selective vehicle detection (SVD). TagMaster's readers and semi-passive ID tags will be presented as part of the SVD solution, also referred to as a "green-flow" solution—a system designed to give selected vehicles priority during heavy traffic situations, and to work in conjunction with traffic signals, explains Bo Tiderman, TagMaster's CEO. The Seimens Mobility solution leverages TagMaster's readers mounted on poles at traffic stops, as well as ID tags that can be mounted on a vehicle's windshield; each semi-passive tag has a unique ID number associated with the equipped vehicle, and can be read an unlimited number of times, at a suitably long distance and at traffic speed. For example, when a police car with an ID tag responds to an emergency, that vehicle can be given a green light at RFID-enabled crossings in order to arrive at its destination quicker. Public transportation vehicles can also be given priority; when a tagged public bus arrives at a red light, a certain level of priority is introduced into the system to give the bus a green light quicker. "This is definitely a growing thing in many cities trying to handle a growing and more congested traffic situation, but it is also to minimize pollution," Tiderman states. "The good thing about using long-range RFID for this, as compared to today's solutions where detectors are installed under the surface in the traffic lane, is that the installation of RFID readers will all be aboveground, using existing poles. There will be no stopping of traffic for installation or maintenance while the road is being dug up." Large vehicle fleets can be equipped with TagMaster's RFID products as part of the Siemens SVD solution, the companies report, in order to provide a fleet owner with reliable, accurate and up-to-date information regarding the location of all vehicles within that fleet. The solution will be presented at the Traffex trade show, being held this week in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
