The following are news announcements made during the past week by the following organizations: British Airways; Designworks; KoamTac; Winnix Technologies; Neology; 3M; Star Systems International; Haldor Advanced Technologies; Kathrein RFID; Cisper Electronics; Texas Instruments.
British Airways Tests NFC-enabled Bag Tags
British Airways is kicking off a three-month trial this month to test baggage tags containing Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID inlays, in conjunction with an app for smartphones and tablets that is designed to streamline the check-in process for passengers. Partnering with Designworks, a product design consultancy with offices in the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong, British Airways has developed an electronic bag tag designed to eliminate the use of paper tags attached to luggage. Instead, travelers will be able to use their NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets to scan the unique ID on the electronic bag tag using the phone’s NFC capability and the British Airways application to match their luggage with their itinerary and contact information. The electronic bag tag then displays a unique bar code that can be scanned via existing bag-handling equipment at airports worldwide. When travelers scan the tags, Designworks explains, the app provides their flight details and an easy-to-see view of their bag’s destination. Personnel at the airports can also scan the electronic bag tag upon check-in, in order to update their systems automatically. The tag is designed to be reusable, and is expected to reduce the amount of time required at check-in, since travelers will not have to wait for a traditional paper tag to be printed and attached, according to Designworks. The initial trial is taking place at London’s Heathrow Airport, says Michael Johnson, a public relations manager with the British Airways press office. The trial does not involve paying customers, but British Airways plans to expand the trial later this year, and will include travel routes on the airline’s shuttle services and domestic long-haul and short-haul services. The airline may opt to replace the NFC chips in the tags with a battery-powered Bluetooth version, Johnson reports, because all smartphones currently support Bluetooth but not necessarily NFC. British Airways expects to go to market with a commercial tag in 2014, he says.
KoamTac Adds RFID to Its Lineup of Scanners
KoamTac has announced that it has added RFID capability to its suite of linear and 2-D image-based bar-code scanners and card readers made for smartphones and tablets. The KDC450 model can read tags compliant with the ISO 14443 (A or B) or ISO 15693 standard, or can operate as a Near Field Communication (NFC) device running in card-emulation mode or in peer-to-peer mode (as per the ISO 18092 and ISO 21481 standards), according to KoamTac. It is the company’s sixth model in the KDC400 line of smart sleds designed to work with easy-to-change smartphone and tablet cases; to use the RFID reader, a customer adds the smart mobile device and pairs the interrogator and smart device via a Bluetooth connection, thereby creating a complete data-collection system. The KDC450 comes standard with a charging cradle and features a custom case for smartphones, as well as support for 1D and 2D bar codes, a built-in 1,200-mAh rechargeable battery that can be used as an external power source for smartphones, an optional secondary Bluetooth port that provides seamless connectivity to mobile printers or other Bluetooth peripherals, KTSync keyboard-wedging software and software development kits for Android, BlackBerry, Apple iOS (iPhone, iPod touch or iPad) and Microsoft Windows.
Winnix Technologies Unveils New UHF RFID Reader
Winnix Technologies, a China-based provider of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) and high-frequency (HF) RFID products, along with technology services, including labels, tags, antennas, cards, readers and other customized services, has released a new UHF RFID reader, model HYR830, that the company claims is suitable for such applications as logistics, clothing and asset management. The reader features Impinj‘s Indy R2000 EPC Gen 2 interrogator chip, first unveiled in 2009 (see Impinj Adds New Products, Agreements to Its Portfolio). The Indy R2000 is designed for use with high-end interrogators in such challenging applications as item-level and near-field tracking. It features carrier-cancellation technology, enabling the chip to mute the echo of a reader’s own transmitted signal when listening for tags. This technology is designed to improve the performance for item-level tracking. The HYR830 has a maximum power output of 31 dbm, four RP TNC ports, and a reading distance of up to 10 meters (32.8 feet) when used with an 8dbi circular polarized antenna, according to the company. The interrogator can read up to 400 tags per second, Winnix reports, and has eight light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a real-time display that illustrates working status, and multiple external ports, including RS232, GPIO, RS485, Wiegand, USB and Wi-Fi interfaces, in order to meet different clients’ requirements. The device measures 190 millimeters by 145 millimeters by 30 millimeters (7.5 inches by 5.7 inches by 1.2 inches) and weighs 300 grams (10.6 ounces).
Neology, 3M Resolve Patent Litigation
Smartrac and 3M have announced an agreement between the two companies and Smartrac’s subsidiary, Neology, a provider of RFID-based applications, including border control, vehicle registration, high-value pharmaceutical control, electronic toll collection, supply chain, passports and security. The agreement resolves patent infringement litigation that Neology initiated against 3M and Federal Signal Corp. relating to businesses purchased by 3M from Federal Signal in September 2012, according to the companies. Under the terms of agreement, Neology, Smartrac and 3M will have access to each other’s RFID products in the transportation market. Specifically, Neology will have access to 3M’s multi-protocol readers, while 3M will gain access to Smartrac’s and Neology’s tags and technology in the transportation market. This positions the firms as suppliers of ISO 18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID technologies for toll-collection applications. The agreement also includes a confidential financial arrangement, the companies report. In a prepared statement, Francisco Martinez de Velasco, Neology’s CEO, said his company is excited and happy with the agreement, adding that “our patented cutting edge technologies allow us to manufacture superior products and provide excellent integration services tailored to our customers’ needs. We are confident we will become a valuable supplier to 3M and its subsidiaries and look forward to advancing the 6C standard.” Dan McGurran, 3M Motor Vehicle Systems and Services’ business director, added in the statement that “3M is pleased to have reached an agreement that will allow both companies to solve the transportation market’s pressing need for interoperability via the ISO 18000 6C technology. This will improve the efficiency of tolling and enhance the motorist experience.”
Former Sirit and Federal Signal Technologies Execs Launch Star Systems International, a New RFID Company
Former executives from Federal Signal, a provider of environmental, safety and transportation solutions, and Sirit, which Federal Signal acquired in 2010 (see RFID News Roundup: Federal Signal Buys Sirit to Bolster Intelligent Transport and Safety Offerings) have joined to launch Star Systems International, a new Hong Kong-based RFID hardware provider specializing in security, access-control, electronic tolling and logistics applications. According to Bob Karr, Star Systems’ managing director, the company’s founders have extensive real-world experience implementing RFID applications, with focused expertise on such vehicle applications as electronic tolling, parking and secure access control. The founding team co-developed and deployed the eTag tolling system currently being used island-wide in Taiwan, and also has experience in Thailand, Turkey, India, Vietnam and the United States with vehicle-identification systems. The company has obtained international distribution rights for products from Star-RFID, a Thailand-based RFID tag manufacturer. According to Star Systems, Star-RFID is one of only two manufacturers in the world licensed to make vehicle tags using Kollakorn‘s patented tamper-evident/break-on-removal technology, which Star Systems says is widely used in secure vehicle-identification applications, such as secure access control, vehicle registration and e-tolling. The company’s Scorpio and Venus UHF Windshield Tags, as well as the Aries UHF Vehicle Headlamp Tag, leverage the Kollakorn technology for these secure applications, and Star Systems also offers the Taurus UHF Inlay, which is suitable for supply chain, asset-tracking, inventory, and logistics applications. Star Systems has just announced that the Venus windshield tag by Star-RFID has received approval from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for use across India’s national highways. Meeting the requirements of the nation’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Resolution H-25011/4/2011-P&P (Toll) Vol. II, the Venus windshield tag is fit to be used with India’s United Electronic Toll Collection System across all toll plazas along the country’s national highways. The Venus tag is uniquely suited for electronic tolling that leverages ISO 18000-6C passive technology. In addition to the break-on-removal and tamper-evident technology to ensure physical tag security, Star Systems reports, the tag also features unique data security algorithms, is specifically tuned for vehicle and tolling applications, and is designed to withstand the harsh environmental conditions that a vehicle endures throughout its operating life. The need is growing for RFID-enabled windshield tags in India, the firm explains, as all Indian automobile manufacturers must comply with the Central Motor Vehicles Rules requiring the companies to fit RFID tags on the windshields of all motor vehicles starting in October 2013. In addition to offering tags, the company also designs, develops and distributes readers, custom tags, and custom antennas for all RFID applications, along with a range of handheld RFID readers and RF cable assemblies.
Haldor Advanced Technologies Updates ORLocate Surgical-Instrument Tracking Platform
Haldor Advanced Technologies, a provider of RFID-enabled surgical instrument tracking solutions, has announced that its ORLocate system now leverages passive RFID tags compliant with GS1‘s EPC Tag Data standard. ORLocate is designed to track and trace surgical sponges and instruments fitted with RFID tags, to help hospitals ensure that equipment and materials are not misplaced during surgery, either within a patient or in waste containers, and to track the use, maintenance and status of instruments in order to make sure they are properly handled, sterilized and used. Although the ORLocate tags now comply with GS1’s EPC Tag Data standard, ORLocate tags and readers still operate in the high-frequency (HF) 13.56 MHz band, according to the ISO 15693 RFID standard (see ORLocate RFID-enabled System for Surgical Sponges and Instruments Gets FDA Clearance). According to Haldor Advanced Technologies, the system helps increase staff productivity and accuracy by actively guiding and monitoring a technician’s entire workflow cycle to ensure compliance. It also improves patient safety and infection control, and prevents retained surgical items (RSI) by providing accurate instrument level data. Such information, the company explains, can also help the hospital to improve instrument utilization and better accommodate their inventory to the real surgical needs, while minimizing redundancies of surgical sets. According to Ram Alt, Haldor Advanced Technologies’ director of corporate sales, the ORLocate system data repository already supported the GS1 Tag Data Standard format, and the company decided to adopt an instrument ID tag that can be set by the tag owner (following GS1’s Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) protocol that defines a 96-bit Electronic Product Code [EPC] number), rather than by the manufacturer. Tagging can be accomplished either via RFID or 2D matrix, Alt says. The company expects to deploy the updated version of ORLocate supporting the GS1 EPC Tag Data Standard later this year, for testing within a hospital in the United Kingdom. The firm also has added support in ORLocate for the Unique Device Identification (UDI) rules as specified by the European Commission (EC). According to Alt, the EC’s UDI regulation is expected to be finalized later this year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a similar UDI specification that will require manufacturers of medical devices—ranging from tongue depressors and bedpans to prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing kits, cardiac stents and programmable pacemakers—to provide each item with a unique identifier in human-readable text, as well as some form of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology (see FDA Issues Proposed Rules for Unique Identification System for Medical Devices). Many U.K. hospitals have already adopted GS1’s standards, and the country’s National Audit Office (NAO) has made an explicit recommendation that the Department of Health should call for the adoption of GS1 Standard in the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS).
Kathrein RFID and Cisper Electronics Sign Distributor Agreement
RFID distribution specialist Cisper Electronics, a Dutch RFID distributor, and German RFID firm Kathrein RFID have announced that they have signed an agreement for the distribution of Kathrein’s line of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID products. The agreement authorizes Cisper to offer Kathrein RFID readers and antennas to RFID solution providers in Europe. The partnership will allow Kathrein RFID to expand its reach to potential customers, says Thomas Brunner, Kathrein’s head of RFID sales. The company’s lineup includes antenna systems for indoor or outdoor applications in the 865 to 928 MHz range, as well as stationary reader systems for 865 to 928 MHz, and active antenna systems, according to the two partners. “Finding RFID partners who are leaders in today’s RFID market is key for our future growth and success,” said Leon de Ridder, one of Cisper’s co-owners, in a prepared statement. “With the Kathrein readers and antennas we have added high-performance UHF hardware and solutions to our RFID portfolio. The Kathrein technology and products enable us to offer our system integrating partners new possibilities to realize RFID solutions at their customers.”
TI Expands NFC Portfolio With New Transponders, Software
Texas Instruments has added new Near Field Communication (NFC) products to its portfolio of solutions that, according to the company, make entry to NFC development easier and lower-cost. TI’s dynamic NFC transponder RF430CL330H hardware incorporates an ISO 14443B-compliant RF interface, and is designed for wireless set-up, while the company’s NFCLink software is a standard NFC library for the TRF79xx NFC transceiver family, intended to ease NFC development on TI embedded processors. The new transponder is a low-cost solution priced at $.85 per 1,000 unit volumes, according to TI, and provides for a secure, simplified pairing process for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections to products, such as printers, speakers, headsets and remote controls, as well as wireless keyboards, mice, switches and sensors. The new product combines a wireless NFC interface and a wired SPI/I²C interface to connect the device to a host (classified as an NFC tag type-4 device). The data content is then shifted dynamically from the host into the RF430CL330H’s static random-access memory (SRAM), and can then be transferred over the NFC interface. The transponder integrates an SPI/I²C serial communication interface, allowing the reading and writing of NFC data exchange format (NDEF) messages stored in integrated SRAM, and supports data rates of up to 848 kilobytes per second for RF data transfer (over-the-air firmware updates). Design features, according to TI, include a low standby power current and host wakeup capability when in the NFC RF field, in order to maximize battery life. The NFCLink software firmware library, in partnership with Stollman E+V GmbH and Kronegger GmbH, enables developers to create NFC applications for TRF79xx NFC transceivers using TI’s ultra-low-power MSP430 microcontrollers (MCUs), Tiva C Series ARM MCUs and OMAP processors, according to TI. Additional TI embedded processor platforms will be supported in the future. NFC applications running on operating systems include point-of-service devices, routers, set-top boxes, automotive infotainment and other various consumer devices. It provides customers with modular firmware library stacks for a flexible solution that they can utilize to tailor their products to support the complete NFC Forum operation or only the necessary portions (for example, protocol or operating modes) and supports various operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 7, Linux and Android. The transponders are available now, and developers can begin evaluating their NFC designs using the dynamic NFC transponder interface RF430CL330H with the RF430CL330HTB target board for $19. A bundled evaluation solution, the dynamic NFC transponder valuation Kit, is available through TI’s e-store and contains the RF430CL330HTB target board and the MSP-EXP430FR5739 experimenter’s board, priced at $54. The NFCLink software can be downloaded now at www.ti.com/nfclink. When evaluating the software, designers can utilize the TRF7970ATB target board for $49; the target board—in combination with TI MSP430 MCU, Tiva C series MCU and OMAP processor development kits—provides a complete evaluation solution, the company reports. For creating MSP430-based solutions, customers can purchase a bundled solution, the NFCLink evaluation kit, containing the TRF7970ATB target board and the MSP-EXP430F5529 USB experimenter’s board for $224. For evaluation purposes, the complete NFC solution—with a dynamic NFC transponder interface, an NFC transceiver IC and NFCLink software—the all-in-one NFC evaluation kit containing the TRF7970ATB target board, the MSP-EXP430F5529 USB experimenter’s board, the RF430CL330HTB target board and the MSP-EXP430FR5739 experimenter’s board, is available for $278.