The following are news announcements made during the past week.
UPM RFID Launches Inlays, Teams With NXP on NFC
UPM RFID has introduced several new ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) inlays, and has also announced a new collaboration with NXP Semiconductors regarding Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID tags and inlays. The company has announced its MiniWeb and Web inlays, both based on NXP’s Ucode G2iL UHF RFID chip. Both models have been designed especially for apparel applications, the company reports. The MiniWeb design is suitable for smaller label sizes, as well as for close-coupling applications. Both products can be converted into small hangtags and other apparel labels, and can work with products that are stacked very closely. In addition, the firm has introduced a new UPM Belt inlay based on the latest Monza 5 UHF RFID chip from Impinj (see Impinj Launches Products to Speed Item-Level Encoding). The Monza 5 chip, designed to support an encoding rate of up to 3,000 tags per minute, comes with a 48-bit serialized tag identifier (TID) memory. According to UPM RFID, the Belt Monza 5, which supports 128-bit Electronic Product Code (EPC) memory, offers improved performance and quality over the company’s established Belt tags and inlays. The Belt is designed for item-level, logistics and supply chain applications, the firm reports, and meets the requirements of retail apparel applications, due to a compact 3-inch form factor and special design that take into account RF requirements for close coupling, which occurs when RFID-tagged items are stacked in close proximity to each other. UPM RFID says it has been working with renowned independent test facilities, major retail end users and RFID hardware providers to test, qualify and approve UPM Belt tags and inlays, and that it has recently been included in the approved inlay list for boxed electronics by the University of Arkansas’ RFID Research Center, a facility aimed at conducting research in technology deployment, data analytics and business cases for deploying radio frequency identification. In January 2011, the center opened its Arkansas Radio Compliance (ARC) Center to measure how well passive UHF Gen 2 RFID inlays can be read when applied on or around different materials in various environments for item-level tracking purposes (see Arkansas Radio Compliance Center Aims to Avert Clashing Requirements). High-volume production of the UPM Belt is slated to begin next month. The products were launched at this week’s RFID Journal LIVE! 2011 conference and exhibition, held in Orlando, Fla. Finally, UPM and NXP are collaborating on NFC technology; as part of the agreement, NXP will provide NFC ICs, while UPM RFID will design and manufacture NFC tags and inlays. UPM RFID already offers several NFC tag products based on NXP’s technology, and the new collaboration will enable it to roll out high-volume NFC tags and inlays. “To better support growing demand for easy access NFC tags, we’re also creating a global network of partners who provide Web-based online printing services for customized NFC tags,” said Marcus Vaenerberg, UPM RFID’s senior VP, in a prepared statement. “Ordering NFC tags will soon be as easy as ordering any other office supplies via the Web.”
Jamison RFID Intros UHF Portal
Jamison RFID, a manufacturer of RFID portals, has unveiled a new ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) portal designed for capturing data from tags on assets, personnel and supply chain materials that require read-points inside smaller openings. The RFID Hawk, introduced at this week’s RFID Journal LIVE! 2011 conference and exhibition, held in Orlando, Fla., is designed to read all EPC Gen 2 RFID tags at a distance of between several inches and 8 feet. It uses Power-Over-Ethernet (POE) to collect tag data, and includes an RFID reader and four high-gain RFID antennas. Designed to provide out-of-the-box capabilities, the RFID Hawk is currently sold with many major brands of RFID readers, including Motorola‘s FX-7400, Impinj‘s Speedway Revolution, the recently introduced M-6 from ThingMagic (a division of Trimble), and Intermec‘s IF2 Network readers. The antennas can be slightly angled to 15 degrees left or right, the company reports, and the entire unit can be mounted perpendicular to an opening on a wall or door frame. The Hawk unit offers alternative 15-degree antenna positioning, using a supplemental antenna bracket, enabling users to position antennas facing slightly inward or outward, depending on a particular application, the unique read requirements, and the direction of travel. According to the company, the unit—which is 39 inches tall and weighs 14 pounds—utilizes an 18-gauge powder-coated steel chassis with white or black ABS covers, and is suitable for use in retail areas, data centers, storage rooms, entrance and exit areas, and office environments.
Confidex Expands Industrial Tag Family
Confidex a Finnish tag manufacturer, has announced the expansion of its ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) Ironside family of EPC Gen 2 RFID tags, designed for industrial applications. According to the company, the new Ironside Slim is designed and tuned to provide good on-metal functionality, combined with a slim structure. The tag is enclosed in a durable outdoor-resistant encapsulation, and enables a relatively wide radiation pattern—which, according to Confidex, provides a higher level of flexibility and reliability in various reader setups, both with fixed and handheld readers. This, in turn, enables more efficient and streamlined warehouse and logistics processes, the company indicates. In addition, Confidex has announced a new worldwide version of its most widely implemented Ironside UHF EPC Gen 2 tag. This global Ironside tag, as well as the Ironside Slim, offers read ranges of up to 8 to 9 meters (26 to 29.5 feet), making them suitable for various industrial-asset and returnable transit item (RTI) management applications, such as tracking train wagons, industrial metal pallets, stillages and intermediate bulk containers. The new products are available in volumes through the worldwide Confidex partner network.
NXP Launches Global Partner Program
NXP Semiconductors has launched its Global RFID Innovation Partner Program, which the company says is designed to encourage the development of RFID solutions. With a focus on systems integrators and solutions providers, as well as reader and software companies, the program aims to create a community that can share skills and expertise in order to drive RFID innovation, NXP reports. To date, the following companies have joined the NXP Global RFID Innovation Partner Program: Brazil’s Acura Global; Austria’s austriamicrosystems and RF-iT Solutions; India’s CopperSpiral RFID; France’s IER; Finland’s Vilant; and the United States’ Franwell, InSync Software and Thinkify. RFID systems integrators and solutions providers from around the world can also participate in the program, with the aim of sharing important technical, market and business-related information about RFID for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and electronics with a worldwide community, thereby minimizing the technological risk and cost involved in developing RFID technology, exchanging skills and experience regarding successful RFID implementations with a worldwide community, decreasing time to market and driving adoption.GuardRFID Unveils Active Staff Tag for RTLS
Vancouver, Canada-based GuardRFID Solutions, a developer of active RFID solutions, has announced its 433 MHz active RFID Staff Tag. Designed for real-time location system (RTLS) applications in health care, enterprise security and industrial environments, the tag offers configurable buttons, two-way communications, on-tag annunciation and fall-detection in a thin ID-badge form factor. The Staff Tag, the company reports, leverages a proprietary protocol, can be worn like a standard ID badge and can be adhered to a proximity card without degradation of performance. The batteries last for up to 12 months, and can be easily replaced by users. What’s more, users can specify their own custom functions for the two configurable buttons, two separate LED indicators and audible alert. The two-way communication offers a tag wearer the ability to send and receive commands to and from the active RFID RTLS network, GuardRFID explains, and to have the indicators provide feedback. The RFID Staff Tag can work with GuardRFID’s RFID-enabled applications, such as the AllGuard RTLS and Security. The Staff Tag will also be available in the form of a low-profile article tag, for securing laptop computers and other assets. To facilitate equipment maintenance, GuardRFID’s active RFID RTLS can be used to locate an article tag, after which the two-way communication and indicators will quickly help to identify the specific piece of equipment requiring service.
OATSystems, CSC Partner on Part-Marking Package for Airbus
OATSystems, a division of RFID vendor Checkpoint Systems, has announced—at this week’s RFID Journal LIVE! 2011 conference and exhibition, held in Orlando, Fla.—that Airbus has approved its ATA Spec 2000 RFID solution for tracking and tracing A350 XWB aircraft components across their full lifecycle. OAT and its partner, CSC, are jointly taking the part-marking package to market, are and offering it to A350 XWB suppliers to help them meet Airbus’ RFID part-marking requirements for that type of aircraft. Multiple tier-one global suppliers have already licensed the solution for tagging and tracking major components and subassemblies, according to OAT. Airbus has recently given its official approval to the package, which includes products and services, and the partnership is aimed at providing parts suppliers with an easy-to-use option for fulfilling Airbus’ component-tagging mandate. The packaged solution covers such use cases as creating birth records and updating repair maintenance histories; includes RFID software, readers, training and support; and offers multiple deployment options for Airbus A350 XWB suppliers, based on component type, production volume and enterprise systems. Mobile packages include handheld readers (such as those from Motorola Solutions), with additional options for fixed portals or smart tables. Airbus already employs OAT’s software suite as part of its Value Chain Visibility (VCV) program, designed to create visibility, via automatic-identification technologies, such as RFID, across the full Airbus value chain—from suppliers to Airbus, covering the full spectrum of industrial processes between its global manufacturing sites and on to its airline customers and in-service partners. As part of that effort, all of Airbus’ new A350 XWB wide-body aircraft are being built with most flyable parts tagged with high-memory EPC Gen 2 RFID tags for maintenance-tracking purposes (see A Flurry of High-Memory Tags Take Flight). Each A350 is expected to have 3,000 tagged parts, the company reports, 2,000 of which will be fitted with high-memory tags. The planes are expected to be put into service in 2013.
Orbiter Unveils RFID Power-Control Board
Orbiter, based in Tacoma, Wash., has unveiled a power-control board and recharger that, according to the company, effectively turns a fixed ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2 RFID portal into a mobile one that can operate on battery power for up to eight hours. The board works with absorbed glass matt (AGM) high-amp hour batteries, generally available worldwide and typically used with such assets as electronic wheelchairs. “Portable RFID readers typically operate on 12 volts and don’t have the performance of fixed readers,” says Gregory Stewart, Orbiter’s manager. “This board enables the combination of two 12-volt batteries to create a 24-volt battery,” thereby providing the reader with capability of operating at full power. The power-control board, batteries, reader and reader antenna can all be mounted on a cart, Stewart explains, and rolled around various areas, such as a store’s back room. Orbiter’s RFID power board automatically recharges the batteries, and three-color LED lights provide an indication of battery life. According to Stewart, the firm has already sold the Orbiter RFID power board, integrated with portal readers, to the U.S. military. The mobile portals are now being used at Naval Station Great Lakes, in Illinois, Edwards Air Force Base, in California, Andrews Air Force Base, in Maryland, and elsewhere.