The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Norsat International Launches RFID Product Line
Broadband communications solutions provider Norsat International has announced that its Microwave Business Unit will offer RFID on-metal tags and readers as part of its microwave components product line. The Norsat RFID tag, which employs the ISO-18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) protocol, can be read when attached to metal surfaces, the company reports, and offers a compact, lightweight and economical method for tracking and monitoring assets, such as vehicles, baggage, products and inventory. According to Norsat, the tag offers 512 bits of memory and has a read range of 1.5 meters (5 feet) with a 100 percent read rate. The new RFID readers are compatible with the ISO-18000-6C (EPC Gen 2), ISO 18000-6B, UCode EPC 1.19 (256 bits) and EM IPX protocols, and are designed to provide an automated solution for ensuring product security and managing inventory and product warranty. The readers operate at 902 to 928 MHz, and feature a RS-232 (baud rate 9600 to 115000) or USB interface. The RFID reader is available in a desktop option, as well as a bay-door variety to provide maximum flexibility to users. The desktop model is available in a rugged 5-by-3-inch package for portable use within a facility, while the bay-door version is available in a 16-inch round package, and can be mounted by a warehouse bay door to track all tagged products entering or exiting a facility.
Airtag Raises €4 Million
Airtag, a contactless solutions supplier located in France, has announced its completion of a fundraising effort worth €4 million ($5.4 million)—its second since the company’s formation in mid-2006—in an effort to accelerate the deployment of its AIRFID platform, launched 18 months ago, with major retail companies (fast-food outlets, supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations), and the first international rollouts of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The AIRFID platform includes a loyalty-card program that Airtag developed working with Gedenim, a French clothing retail chain specializing in jeans, which employed Airtag’s cards containing passive 13.56 MHz RFID chips to attract shoppers to its stores (see French Jean Boutique Adopts RFID to Boost Loyalty). In June 2010, Airtag participated in an NFC RFID initiative known as Cityzi, in which hundreds of Nice residents used NFC-enabled Samsung phones to function as bus and light-rail tickets, and employed NFC-enabled cards or phones to gain loyalty points when shopping at participating stores (see Cityzi Seeks to Spur Adoption of NFC RFID Technology). The round of fundraising was led by CM-CIC Capital Privé and Airtag’s traditional investor, Seventure Partners. Airtag says it is accelerating the mass production of its solutions by setting up a production and support center to cover large-scale deployments in France and elsewhere. “We are speeding up our deployment and R&D capacity to consolidate our commercial positions in France,” said Jérémie Leroyer, Airtag’s cofounder and CEO, in a prepared statement, “and support the initial launch of NFC technology in various target regions, mainly Europe and the United States.”
KeyTone, Arviem Team Up to Deliver Trade-Monitoring and -Management Services
KeyTone Technologies, a provider of RFID and other sensor-based solutions, has partnered with Arviem to deliver in-transit trade-monitoring and -management services. The services leverage RFID technology (used to track individual pallets) and GPS/satellite-communications technology (used to track the real-time location of the container carrying the RFID-tagged pallets). The services employ a combination of active 433 MHz and passive EPC Gen 2 tags, and come with all of the components of the solution, including hardware and a new software platform designed to enable Web-based monitoring, analytics and reporting. “Our focus as a company is ‘ensuring visibility and delivering results,'” said Edwin Winder, KeyTone’s executive VP, in a prepared statement. “Tracking cargo while in-transit and ensuring visibility through to its destination is of critical importance in successfully managing the supply chain. Our relationship with Arviem will open new opportunities for KeyTone in this valuable market. This service is now available to all who want its benefits and the information can easily be integrated to existing supply chain systems of record.”
Ascendent ID Unveils Its Smallest Tag for Automatic Vehicle Identification
Ascendent ID, a provider of long-range RFID equipment and software, has announced the addition of a new tag to its family of long-range RFID tags for automatic vehicle identification (AVI). The CompacTag 2032 is the company’s smallest tag ever, measuring 2.05 inches by 1.31 inches by 0.32 inch, according to Doug Crane, Ascendent ID’s president. Its small design means it occupies minimal space on the windshield, the company reports, and does not detract from the interior of even the most luxurious vehicles. The proprietary tag operates at 2.45 GHz and includes 256 bytes of rewritable memory, a programmable 20-digit Tag Identification number and a read range of up to 40 feet. “We have received resounding market feedback regarding the importance of aesthetics and a compact footprint when it comes to AVI tags,” Crane said in a prepared statement. “The tag essentially becomes part of the vehicle, so we invested considerable time to develop a refined and streamlined design in a minimized footprint.” The CompacTag 2032 is compatible with every model of Ascendent ID’s readers, which have an adjustable read range to enable the tag to be read from just a few feet up to 30 feet away. As with all of the company’s tags, customers can specify the facility-code and tag-identification numbers at the time of order, in order to simplify tag management. Ascendent ID’s AVI tags are mounted on the inside of a vehicle’s windshield using double-sided tape or, for applications requiring a transferable or removable mount, using hook-and-loop fasteners. The company’s long-range AVI systems are compatible with virtually every manufacturer of vehicle access control systems, the company indicates, and can be used as a long-range drop-in upgrade for proximity readers and tags. Every Ascendent ID reader ships with both RS232 and Wiegand interfaces standard. All readers and tags support the firm’s advanced reader-to-tag protocol for precise control of gate triggering and the elimination of false reads. Tags made with the firm’s optional security feature prevent unauthorized use in the event that a tag is stolen from a vehicle’s windshield.
Vail Resorts RFID-powered Social-media Program Hits Milestone
Vail Resorts‘ new RFID-powered social-media program, which lets visitors utilize social-media tools to connect with each other, as well as track their ski or snowboard metrics online, has hit a milestone: Pass holders have skied more than 25 billion vertical feet so far this season, and are being recorded with near-perfect accuracy, according to RFID systems integrator ODIN, which worked with Vail to deploy the resort’s RFID infrastructure, including ODIN’s EasyEdge RFID software. Vail Resorts has been leveraging RFID for some time. In 2008, the ski resort operator began incorporating RFID technology into its ticketing system, to make it easier for the company to check lift tickets at base-area chairlifts across its five areas (see Vail Picks New Line With UHF RFID-Powered Passes). That infrastructure is the basis for the RFID-powered social-media program, and the RFID data is culled and measured by ODIN RFID software, which integrates real-time physical-world data into a virtual experience known as EpicMix, which Vail Resorts launched in 2010 (see Vail Resorts Links RFID With Social Media). The system has full integration into Facebook, Twitter and SMS text-messaging platforms. ODIN’s EasyEdge software performs basic data filtering, functions as a middleware platform between readers and back-end software, and runs on readers at ski lifts. In addition, the company’s EasyMonitoring software can be used for reader monitoring and maintenance. Throughout the day, as a visitor returns to the same lift, or accesses another lift on the mountain, the ID in his or her pass will again be captured, and be sent to the back-end software. This enables the system to aggregate the number of vertical feet that the skier or snowboarder has traveled, based on the distances between chairs. “The relationship with ODIN has been how all partnerships should work” said Robert Urwiler, Vail Resorts’ CIO, in a prepared statement. “They responded to our needs, worked to our schedule and over-delivered a world-class, scalable solution. With ODIN’s help, we were able to deploy five mountains, hundreds of RFID readers, across thousands of miles fully integrated in just five months. The RFID operating system has performed flawlessly on readers deployed where temperatures dipped as low as -35 degrees Fahrenheit.”
UHF RFID in Growth Pattern, Thanks to Item-Level Tagging
RFID item-level tagging is being deployed very rapidly in apparel and footwear markets, according to recent reports published by ABI Research. Item-level passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags now make up an increasing share of the total world market for RFID tags, and the firm forecasts that more than three quarters of a billion RFID tags will be used in global apparel markets this year. “RFID systems allow apparel retailers to get a better handle on inventory, reducing costs and preventing out-of-stock situations that result in loss of sales,” said Bill Arnold, ABI Research’s principal analyst, in a prepared statement. “The growth in retail item-level tagging is huge, both in shipments and in total spending. The average growth rate is close to 60 percent for the next three years. In fact, the number of tags that will be used for retail ILT [item-level tagging] in apparel alone is likely to exceed the total number consumed over the past five years for all RFID markets combined.” ABI Research notes that the return on investment (ROI) of item-level tags is strong, adding that typical ROI times for such RFID deployments are only three to six months. The data is part of a new ABI Research study, entitled “The Retail Apparel RFID Item-Level Tagging Market,” which provides current analysis and a five-year forecast of item-level UHF adoption by the retail apparel sector. The firm also recently released a report that closely examined a number of ISO 18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) passive RFID chips on the market, evaluating them to provide organizations with comparative and analytical information on the various products and vendors’ positions. In this Passive UHF (ISO 18000-6C/Gen 2) RFID Transponder Integrated Circuit (IC) Vendor Matrix, as part of ABI Research’s ongoing RFID market analysis, the firm has ranked Impinj at the top, with Alien Technology and NXP Semiconductors claiming the second and third spots. The vendors were assessed on the parameters of “innovation” and “implementation” across several criteria unique to each vendor matrix, the firm says. In a prepared statement, ABI Research’s director, Michael Liard, said, “Backed by its flagship Monza 3 offering and 2010 launch of Monza 4, continued product development, IC manufacturing capacity expansion, ongoing IC cost and size reduction efforts, plus the majority share position of UHF RFID tag chips sold in 2010, Impinj secured the top spot.” He added that in-progress cost-reduction efforts and “proven success in configurable, feature-focused passive UHF tag application markets where Alien’s Higgs-3 ICs are utilized, help bolster Alien’s scores and placement. Meanwhile NXP has renewed its emphasis on the passive UHF IC market over the last few years, and also received strong scores in all Innovation and Implementation criteria.” In the matrix, under “innovation,” ABI Research examined the vendors’ product offering mixes and uniqueness, the products’ features, the vendors’ industry leadership, influence and knowledge transfer, and their design innovation/strength of engineering. Also in the mix were application innovation/enablement, and the vendors’ approaches to IC cost reduction. Under “implementation,” ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria for each vendor: manufacturing capabilities and strategy; overall market position, leadership and strength; volume and market share (for passive UHF RFID transponder/tag ICs only); their persistent market presence and experience; and their go-to-market strategies and approaches. Impinj ranked first in both the “innovation” and “implementation” categories. ABI Research’s report also noted that demand is increasing sharply for passive UHF inlays and tags (and, thus, ICs) to support a broad range of applications across vertical markets. Key applications for passive UHF in today’s RFID market include item-level tracking, asset management (such as IT assets, tools and parts), baggage handling, timing for marathons and other races, and supply chain management (case and pallet tagging). However, the volume opportunity associated with each application, as well as the size of each customer deployment and the technology requirements for each application, are as varied as the applications themselves.