Nov 10, 2011The following are news announcements made during the past week.
Zebra Technologies Announces Upgraded RTLS Sensor, New UWB Reader
An upgraded real-time location systems (RTLS) sensor (RFID reader) and a new ultra-wideband (UWB) RTLS reader are now available from Zebra Technologies. The WhereLAN III is the company's third-generation RTLS sensor, which Zebra says provides 1-meter (3.3-foot) accuracy and addresses the requirements of a wide range of industries. For example, automobile manufacturers can achieve parking-spot-level accuracy for vehicle tracking, and factory personnel can pinpoint the location of racks and containers at all times, thereby minimizing factory-floor inventory. The WhereLAN III is the locating and messaging hub of Zebra's RTLS offering, based on the ISO 24730-2 RTLS standard. The sensor receives low-power signals emitted by Zebra's active RFID tags, known as WhereTags, up to a distance of 1,750 meters (5,741 feet). It employs advanced signal processing to determine the time-of-arrival of a WhereTag signal to sub-nanosecond resolution, which the company says results in up to 1-meter location accuracy. WhereLAN III delivers location and tag data to Zebra's Visibility Server Software (VSS) stack, which computes the location of tagged assets, and also provides tools for integrating RTLS data with customer and third-party applications. WhereLAN III features an IP 55 cast-aluminum enclosure, and can automatically configure and dynamically adjust to changing radio-frequency environments, while maintaining wireless time synchronization. The updated sensor includes a software-defined radio with digital signal processing and "Snap Shot" technology that, according to Zebra Technologies, more than doubles the location accuracy of previous sensor generations. Using optional Wi-Fi and revolutionary wireless time synchronization, WhereLAN III enables cable-free installations for both indoor and outdoor applications. The company engineered its WhereLAN III to be fully backward-compatible with previous generation of location sensors, thus allowing customers to use both generations together, the company reports. According to Zebra, Navis—a Zebra partner that supplies Zebra's WhereNet product family to the marine container-terminal industry—recently completed a terminal-wide installation of WhereLAN III as a beta-test at the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT), in California, to track container movement across the terminal. WhereLAN III is available in the United States, Canada, Europe, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.
Zebra has also announced the availability of its Dart Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Vision Reader, an addition to the company's Dart UWB RTLS, designed for the location tracking of personnel and equipment in indoor and outdoor environments. This reader utilizes short-pulse UWB technology, and provides software-enabled attenuation, which the company says allows for the creation of localized presence zones and provides read ranges from inches to hundreds of feet with clear line of sight. The Dart Vision Reader portfolio offers three standard integrated antenna models (High-Gain, which has the longest read range, as well as Mid-Gain and Omni), each of which can simultaneously receive thousands of signals emitted by Zebra's active UWB DartTags. The Dart Vision Reader can be used either as a standalone solution or as a complement to the Dart UWB RTLS; it is fully weatherproof (IP67-rated), and has an operational temperature range of -40 degrees to +55 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees to +131 degrees Fahrenheit). The reader is powered by standard IEEE 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), and supports the transport of the received DartTag messages via Ethernet or integrated 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi client capability (Wi-Fi antennas are sold separately). A Dart Vision Reader also has the capability to be daisy-chained to another Vision Reader (or another two readers with additional POE injection), thereby providing data via a single Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection. According to Zebra, this capability is suitable for applications in which multiple readers would improve reading robustness, or extend the range of presence detection capability without the need to expand a company's IT network. The Dart Vision Reader is available in the United States, Canada, Europe and select Asia-Pacific countries.
Trimble has announced an upgrade to its ThingMagic Mercury6 (M6) RFID reader, a four-port RFID interrogator designed for both indoor and outdoor applications that was first introduced in March 2011 (see RFID News Roundup: Trimble Introduces ThingMagic Mercury6 RFID Reader). The new firmware upgrade features support for EPCglobal's Low-Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) v 1.0.1, which was ratified on Aug. 13, 2007. LLRP provides a flexible and extensible industry-standard interface for operating network-connected RFID readers. With support for LLRP v 1.0.1, the ThingMagic M6 can interface with a wide range of popular enterprise infrastructures and business systems, offer increased scalability, and lower the cost and technical barriers associated with RFID adoption, according to Trimble. The upgrade also features custom LLRP extensions and reader-hosted applications. Last year, EPCglobal ratified an updated version, v 1.1, of the LLRP specification. According to Ken Lynch, the director of marketing for Trimble's ThingMagic division, the upgrade to the M6 does support several LLRP v1.1 features, via custom commands. "We continue to evaluate interest in the full set of LLRP v1.1 features, and will consider implementing them when customer demand and benefits outweigh the burden of upgrading middleware and device firmware," Lynch explains. "In addition, the state and quality of existing open-source libraries available for testing LLRP v1.1 are lacking. This is an indication that, while the standard has been ratified for some time, the organizations supporting vendor implementation are not fully aligned. This support infrastructure may be something for the standards organizations to address." Also included in the upgrade is a Linux-based operating system capable of hosting on-reader applications. This feature enables the M6 reader to independently perform application-specific actions, the company reports, thereby providing solution developers the opportunity to differentiate their offerings to the enterprise market. The firmware upgrade is expected to be available beginning Nov. 15, 2011. Existing ThingMagic M6 customers with a current support contract can acquire the upgrade at no additional cost. According to the company, the M6 can deliver a read rate of up to 400 EPC Gen 2 (ISO 18000-6C) tags per second, and a read range of more than 30 feet with a 6-dBi antenna, with support for dense-reader mode (transmit and receive). The device measures 7.5 inches (19 centimeters) long, 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) wide and 1.3 inches (3.3 centimeters) high, and has an IP52 rating, providing dust ingress protection and water resistance for industrial, outdoor and rugged service requirements. It can operate at 5 to 31.5 dBm in both AC and Power over Ethernet (POE) options, and includes an integrated Wi-Fi network option, so it can be integrated with existing enterprise Wi-Fi networks and Wi-Fi security standards.
Alien Technology Closes $15 Million Financing Deal
In a new round of equity financing, Alien Technology has raised $15 million that the company says will be used to expand its operations. The new investment round was led by Advanced Equities Inc., an Advanced Equities Financial Corp. company, and by existing shareholders. "As a comprehensive RFID solution provider with customers in many RFID vertical markets, it is important for Alien to continue to invest in developing leadership products and solutions while aggressively addressing growth opportunities in emerging markets," says Mike Frieswyk, Alien Technology's senior VP of sales and marketing, adding that the company is positioning itself "at strategic regional and technology areas of growth in order to best capitalize on industry and RFID market growth." Alien has also been revamping its operations, which includes the closing of its plant in North Dakota, used to manufacture tags. The company is now outsourcing much of its manufacturing to China. The latest round of funding is likely to be the Alien's last, the company reports. Since its inception in 1994, Alien Technology has raised more than $300 million, according to various reports, and has gone through several ups and downs. It was an early favorite in the RFID market, and by 2003 had raised up to $125 million in venture capital (see Alien Gets $38 Million in Funding). In April 2006, the company filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicating its intention to launch an initial public offering involving up to $138 million in common stock (see Alien Technology Files for IPO). But six month later, it withdrew its IPO registration statement (see Alien Cancels IPO Plans). After that, the company laid off a number of its employees (see Layoffs at Alien Technology). Today, the firm is now being led by former Intel executive Peter Green, who was appointed as Alien's CEO in late 2010. When interviewed by RFID Journal in April 2011, Green said he plans to introduce Alien products and services that cater to specific vertical applications (see Alien Technology Announces New IC, Handheld Readers and Inlays).
SimpleNFC Announces Availability of NFC 'Like' Stickers
SimpleNFC has announced the availability of its Near Field Communications (NFC) RFID "Like" stickers, which the company says work with a single touch of any NFC-enabled phone. The firm first introduced itself earlier this year, with an NFC solution enabling patrons to interact with restaurants using an NFC-enabled phone, via an application dubbed the Connected Restaurant (see NFC System to Aid Diners). This application, which has been deployed and tested, allows diners to utilize their mobile phones to request a table, order a drink and receive other services via their NFC-enabled phones. The new Like stickers are designed to enable customers to "like" a business using their NFC-enabled phone, in order to interact with an NFC Like sticker at that place of business. The NFC-enabled application allows users to like a tagged object, so that they can thus make a connection with businesses and organizations via their Facebook pages. In addition to the NFC Like stickers, SimpleNFC is also providing NFC analytics capabilities to customers that will enable them to see, on a daily basis, how many people have liked their business, by using the NFC stickers. "With more and more NFC handsets becoming available, adding NFC and mobile to your social media strategy is extremely valuable for retailers," said Fred Rego, SimpleNFC's CEO, in a prepared statement. The Like stickers, available now from SimpleNFC's Web site, feature UPM RFID inlays, adhesive backing, and options for custom artwork and encoding; each sticker costs $1.99. Also available is the NFC Starter Kit for Samsung's Nexus S mobile phone, which includes 10 NFC 1-kilobit tags, a native Android library, a SimpleNFC account, SimpleNFC application programming interface (API) access, and sample programs. The Starter Kit costs $34.95. In addition, the SimpleNFC Analytics package is available free with a purchase of the Like stickers or starter kit, and includes the ability to analyze tag usage, which tags are tapped and the timing of those taps, among other analytics.
Advanced Dual-Interface Memory from STMicroelectronics Uses Energy Harvesting
Semiconductor company STMicroelectronics (ST) has announced a new 16 kilobit RFID chip—the M24LR16E—that the company says can harvest enough energy to enable small electronic items using the chip to become completely battery-free electronic applications. Energy harvesting is a technique in which energy is captured from the surrounding environment (such as radio waves) and converted into electrical energy to power small systems. According to ST, this process saves designers from relying on sources such as batteries or an external power supply, which can increase costs, impose size and weight restrictions, or complicate installation. The company's dual-interface memories, including the new 16 kilobit chip, feature a low-power I2C interface, as well as a 13.56 MHz ISO 15693-compliant contactless RF interface. The M24LR16E's RF interface can harvest ambient radio waves emitted by RFID reader-writers, and convert those waves into a voltage output that may be used to power other electronic components, ST reports. The firm has demonstrated the M24LR16E energy-harvesting wireless memory by illuminating indicator LEDs, and also by powering ST's battery-less STM8L-based Discovery application development kit. Other potential applications, the company adds, include e-paper devices, such as electronic shelf labels, as well as industrial automation, sensing and monitoring systems, and personal health-care products. The M24LR16E features 16 kilobits of non-volatile Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) storage (a lower-density option alongside ST's established 64-kilobit dual-interface wireless memory, the M24LR64), 40 years of data retention and 1 million write-erase cycles, and a power-supply range of 1.8 volts to 5.5 volts. The electrical power available to drive external devices depends on various factors, such as a reader's RF power, the distance between the interrogator and the memory's connected antenna, and the relative sizes of the reader's and chip's antennas. Assuming adequate RF strength, an RFID device can be used to power multiple items of equipment placed within range. The EEPROM's energy-harvesting mode can be turned on or off, and the maximum output current set from 300µA to 6mA, by adjusting settings in an internal register. The M24LR16E is now in volume production, and is available in SO8, TSSOP8 or MLP8 surface-mount packages. For orders exceeding 1,000 pieces, prices are $0.60 in SO8 and TSSOP8 and $0.66 in MLP8. Alternative pricing options may be available for higher quantities. The device may also be supplied in wafer form, upon request. The evaluation board ROBOT-M24LR16E-A, demonstrating the energy-harvesting capabilities of the M24LR16E dual-interface EEPROM, is available from ST.
