RFID CCTV Airport Security Speeds Flow ...

Optag is an RFID system integrated with closed-circuit CCTV television that enables passenger monitoring and security, while speeding the flow of passenger traffic. ...

... "This project will deploy networks of enhanced Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems coupled to local, direction based, and passenger tracking system using a far-field Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The system will facilitate real-time location of individual passenger within the airport, the analysis of both mass traffic & individual behaviours, and, where appropriate, the semi-automatic control of CCTV based vision systems to observe and record suspicious or unauthorised activity. " ...

Via AeroScratch: RFID Projects ...

RFID Secure US Passports: Order Placed ...

Infineon receives RFID-enabled electronic-Passport order from US government, as all new passports will require the technology by end of this year. Infineon has experience with a number of countries and their e-passport implementations. ...

... "Infineon Technologies AG announced that it received a multi-million piece purchase order from the United States government to supply its highly-secure integrated circuit technology for the new electronic passport. Designed to facilitate international travel by allowing automatic identity verification, faster immigration inspections and greater border protection and security, the new passports include a computer chip in the back cover that securely stores the same information that is printed on the document. The US began issuing electronic passports to diplomats and other government workers in late 2005, and is now expanding the program to include the widely issued tourist passport used by private citizens. By the end of this year, the government expects that all new US passports will be issued as electronic passports.

Infineon supplies its secure identification chips to more than 20 countries that have begun to use electronic passports or have begun to test this technology, including Germany, Hong Kong, Norway and Sweden. In addition, Infineon provides the secure chips inside electronic identity documents used in such countries as Italy, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Belgium, and also for Hong Kong, as well as the chips used for secure identification cards issued by the US Department of Defense. As a security measure, the US Congress passed legislation requiring that countries participating in the US Visa Waiver Program must issue passports with secure chip technology by October 2006. Concurrently, the US adopted this technology to conform to specifications for electronic passports developed by the international standards body for travel documents, the International Civil Aviation Organization. " ...

RFID Secure US Passports: Order Placed: Via Infineon Technologies: New US Passports Contain Secure Identification Chips ...

RFID Vending: Tobacco Cards ...

Tobacco Institute of Japan plans launch of RFID-enabled age-verification system for cigarette vending machines. ...

... "The institute announced that a total of 620,000 tobacco vending machines nationwide will be switched during 2008 to types that can read tobacco cards with integrated circuit chips bought by adult smokers. " ...

RFID Vending: Tobacco Cards: Via Wireless Watch Japan: RFID Cigarette Vending Machines

RFID Reader Integrated Circuit: Reference Toolkit ...

EM Micro bring RFID IC to market. ...

... "EM Microelectronic, a company of the Electronic Systems group of the Swatch Group, introduces the EM4094, an analog front-end integrated circuit for 13.56MHz RFID readers. This highly versatile IC accommodates a wide range of microcontrollers, supports multiple communication protocols and is well suited for low cost or hand held reader solutions. In addition to the IC, EM Microelectronic also introduces the EM4094 13.56MHz RFID Demonstration Reader thought as a reference design and development tool kit. " ...

RFID Reader Integrated Circuit: Reference Toolkit: Via EM Microelectronic: Introduction of new, versatile RFID Reader IC ...

RFID For Spying in China ...

If political dissention must be monitored and tracked, RFID technology could be used for human applications. Frederick Stakelbeck, Jr. explores the use of RFID for supply chain management and spying in China to monitor and track dissention. ...

RFID For Spying in China: Via Global Politician: Asia's Spying Eyes ...

... "reports were surfacing that China was considering the introduction of a new weapon to curtail dissent: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. About the size of a grain of rice, RFID tags are relatively simple devices comprised of an integrated circuit and antenna that transmits information to a receiver called a reader. " ...

Sub10Cent RFID Inlays

RFID tag and inlay manufacturer, UPM Rafsec, will ship UHF Gen 1 and Gen 2 inlays at sub-10 U.S. cent pricing in minimum order quantities of 50,000 pieces. Sub 10cent RFID inlays lay the foundation for the cheap and ubiquitous use of RFID technology ....

Sub10Cent RFID Inlays: UPM RAFSEC KNOCKING DOWN UHF RFID ADOPTION BARRIERS WITH SUB-10 CENT INLAYS ...

... "This UPM Rafsec offer includes dry and wet delivery formats of the OneTenna™ short dipole which are compatible with existing converting technology for the insertion of inlays into smart labels and other substrates. UPM Rafsec UHF products have already been tested, approved and used by a large number of leading RFID adopters. The inlays are manufactured at UPM Rafsec's production facility in Fletcher, North Carolina (USA), with innovative technology for the volume production of EPC (Electronic Product Code) -compliant UHF tags and inlays. The unparalleled yields of this new, high volume production technology give UPM Rafsec competitive advantages and provide customers significantly lower applied tag costs. The patent pending process is cost-efficient, scalable and enables UPM Rafsec to rapidly increase its capacity according to market demand. " ...

References on inexpensive RFID inlays:

... "Via SATO: RFID Thermal Labels: SATO RFID labels can be made with any type of RFID inlay. Some examples of the other inlay types available include Ucode, UHF 868-928MHz ISO 18000, and Class 0 and 0+. RFID labels can be pre-printed, flood coated or laminated and can be converted in most popular finishing styles. " ...

... "Via Avery Dennison: INNOVATIVE AVERY DENNISON MANUFACTURING PROCESS BOOSTS RFID TAG PRODUCTION CAPACITY: Inlay is the term used for the electronic core of an RFID label. It typically consists of a metal pattern on a sheet of plastic film that functions as an antenna, onto which an integrated circuit (semiconductor chip) is attached. The inlay is then sandwiched between a paper facestock and an adhesive layer to form a self-stick RFID label. " ...

... "Via SmartCode: SmartCode Corp. beats any price for EPC Gen 2 Inlays for orders of 1 million - SmartCode prices EPC Gen 2 Inlays at 7.5 cents for quantities of 1 million and 7.2 cents for orders exceeding 10 million: The EPC Gen 2 Quickstart™ Program aims to accelerate the mass adoption of EPC Gen 2 solutions. Under the EPC Gen 2 Quickstart™ Program, SmartCode Corp. will offer the lowest cost EPC Gen 2 inlays at a price of 7.5 cents in orders of 1 million inlays or more and 7.2 cents in orders of 10 million or more. SmartCode Corp. EPC Gen 2 Quickstart™ Program is available for orders received until the 1st of January 2006. The delivery schedule can span throughout 2006. " ...

New EPC Gen2 RFID Chips ...

New EPC Gen2 RFID Chips: Via ST: New EPC Gen2 RFID Chips from STMicroelectronics Ready to Facilitate Supply Chain Management ...

STMicro introduces new UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) RFID chip, compliant with Gen2 Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) specifications ...

... "ST's new UHF chip is a full-featured, low-cost integrated circuit designed for use in RFID tags, or electronic labels, operating at a range of UHF frequencies from 860 to 960MHz. This frequency agility ensures the same tag can be applied and read at any place in the world, regardless of the geographically varying wireless regulations. The universal appeal of EPC Generation 2 products is set to stimulate unprecedented economies of scale for RFID product manufacturers. Widespread adoption of RFID systems depends on their robustness and reliability. The XRAG2 features a fast and flexible anti-collision mechanism that allows the reader to detect and correctly identify all tags in its operating range. Designed for the noisy and unpredictable radio conditions typical of RFID applications, ST devices use a reliable tag-unique selection based on a 16-bit random handle. " ...

STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets.

RFID Information Protection: Bill Analysis

SB 682 Senate Bill - Bill Analysis

... "Department of Homeland Security adopted the term contactless integrated circuit when it integrated radio frequency identification (RFID) tags into its own employee IDs. Contactless integrated circuits are described as having faster processors and more storage capacity than typical RFID tags, and are engineered to transmit data only when a reader is very close, three or four inches away. The circuits' faster processing makes functions like data encryption possible. " ...

RFID Information Protection Act ...

SB 682 Senate Bill - INTRODUCED

... "Contactless integrated circuit means a data carrying unit, such as an integrated circuit (RFID) or computer chip that can be read remotely.(b) Identity means any name, number, or data transmission that may be used alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual. " ...

RFID DMEA Investments: Rugged Antenna

RFID DMEA Investments: Rugged Antenna: Paratek Awarded $1.987 Million DMEA Contract for RFID ...

... "Paratek Microwave, Inc., a privately held company at the forefront of the next generation wireless devices, announced a $1.987 million contract award from the Defense MicroElectronics Activity (DMEA). This research and development award is to advance the state-of-the-art concepts for ruggedized military radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas. " ...

Paratek is uniquely able to address the solutions needed for the next generation wireless devices by combining its patented tunable RF and microwave dielectric materials technology with its highly integrated 3-D miniaturization circuit and module design. Resulting products are multi-band, multi-function radio frequency components and front ends with ultra wideband frequency agility for software defined radios, circuit agility for longer battery life, and real-time adaptive impedance matching for improved performance. Other products include electronically tunable RF filters, pre-selectors and phase shifters. Paratek has also developed a line of smart scanning and phased array antennas, which provide enhanced wireless network performance, flexibility, scalability, and are particularly well suited for RFID and communications on the move applications. Paratek is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with offices in Nashua, New Hampshire.

RFID Integrated Circuits MEMS Device ...

RFID Integrated Circuits MEMS Device: ANSYS Latest Release Features Integrated Flexibility and Performance: ANSYS 10.0 includes performance upgrade and superior coupled physics technology in fluid structure interaction ...

... "In the area of high-frequency electromagnetics a new modal port definition is available. This port enhancement greatly simplifies the model setup for transmission line ports needed for many types of Integrated Circuit (IC), Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) and Radio Frequency (RF) MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) device analysis. Benchmarks show typical reduction in model size resulting in a 30 to 50 percent reduction in solution times and memory requirements for a given model while still providing more accurate frequency-dependent results. " ...

ANSYS, Inc., founded in 1970, develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and technologies widely used by engineers and designers across a broad spectrum of industries. The Company focuses on the development of open and flexible solutions that enable users to analyze designs directly on the desktop, providing a common platform for fast, efficient and cost- conscious product development, from design concept to final-stage testing and validation. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., with more than 25 strategic sales locations throughout the world, ANSYS, Inc. employs approximately 600 people and distributes its products through a network of channel partners in over 40 countries.

Low Cost RFID Electronics ...

Sirenza Microdevices Reports First Quarter 2005 Results ...

... "Production release of medium-power discrete LDMOS products in low cost, "green" configured or environmentally responsible SOIC2 packaging for wireless infrastructure and RFID applications; these products use Sirenza's patented tungsten plug semiconductor technology to provide outstanding gain and linearity performance, along with internal ESD protection." ...

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., with design centers throughout the U.S., Sirenza Microdevices is a leading designer and an ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System and ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System certified (registered by QMI) supplier of high performance radio frequency (RF) components for the commercial communications and A&D equipment markets. Sirenza's integrated circuit (IC) and multi-chip module (MCM) product lines include amplifiers, power amplifiers, transceivers, tuners, discrete devices, RF signal processing components, signal source components, government and military specified components, and antennae and receivers for satellite radio.

RFID Network: Paratek Strengthens Commercial Business Development Team

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... array antennas, which provide enhanced wireless network performance, flexibility, scalability, and are particularly well suited for RFID and communications on ...

... Paratek Microwave, Inc., a privately held company at the forefront of the next generation wireless devices, today announced Greg Mendolia will lead its commercial sector as Vice President, Product Strategy and Business Development. Previously Executive Vice President at E-Tenna Corporation and Director of Ericsson's Mobile Phone Advanced Technology division, Mendolia leads Paratek's commercial product development and market entry strategies. ...

Paratek Microwave, Inc., a privately held company, is uniquely able to address the solutions needed for the next generation wireless devices by combining its patented tunable RF and microwave dielectric materials technology with its highly integrated 3-D miniaturized circuit and module design. Resulting products are multi-band, multi-function radio frequency front ends and components with ultra wideband frequency agility for software defined radios, circuit agility for longer battery life, and real-time adaptive impedance matching for improved performance. Other products include electronically tunable RF filters, pre-selectors, and phase shifters. Paratek has also developed a line of smart scanning and phased array antennas, which provide enhanced wireless network performance, flexibility, scalability, and are particularly well suited for RFID and communications on the move applications. Paratek is headquartered in Columbia, MD, with offices in Nashua, NH.

Comments on the Smart Card Forum ...

From Consumer Privacy and Smart Cards — A Challenge and an Opportunity ...

... "The consumer should be educated about what a smart card is. A brief description of how smart cards work may be helpful in dealing with consumers. The following may be useful general information in doing that. There are two basic kinds of smart cards. An intelligent smart card contains a microprocessor that actually stores and secures information and makes decisions as required by the card issuer's specific application needs. New information can be added to these cards and processed by the microprocessing unit. Monetary value, for example, can be added or debited as required. The second type of card is better described as a memory card. These cards are primarily information storage cards that contain stored value which the consumer can spend in a pay phone, retail, vending or related transaction. Many of today's prepaid telephone cards are memory cards. In both types of cards, the integrated circuit chip allows the stored information to be protected from damage or theft. " ...

Navy Smart Cards ...

From Department of the Navy, CAPT Pete Hyers, USN, writes ...

... "Smart Card technology has improved dramatically since the cards were first introduced to the Department of the Navy (DON) in 1996. They are longer no longer simple plastic cards with magnetic stripes that contain static information. Today, Smart Cards have embedded integrated circuit computer chips for storing data and programs that can run when connected via a card reader to a PC or network. The magnetic stripe can hold personal, access and financial information. The strides made in Smart Card technology enable people to work more efficiently, improve information assurance and reduce costs of operation. Currently, Smart Cards are used at various commands throughout the Department. Every recruit entering the Navy receives a Smart Card upon arrival at the Recruit Training Center, Great lakes and uses the card for numerous functions throughout basic training. A similar implementation of Smart Card technology is underway at the Marine Corps Recruits Depot at Paris Island. Smart Cards are also in use in Hawaii, Pensacola, Dam Neck, Virginia; and two carrier battle groups. A number of applications are in use, including quarterdeck access, manifesting, weapons issuance, property accountability, food service, and medical and dental." ...

RFID Technology: Impinj pitches its chips for radio tags; retailers eager

From Seattle Times, WA ... Now, it has identified a market for its technology, called radio frequency identification (RFID), which has received considerable hype recently since retailers ...

Impinj's RFID products reduce inventory costs, improve out-of-stock conditions, minimize shrinkage and address counterfeiting issues. Impinj's series of RFID products deliver low cost, long range, field rewritable functionality that complies with a single, open, worldwide RFID standard in accordance with recent initiatives by the world's leading retailers, including Wal*Mart, DoD, Tesco and Metro Group. Impinj's advantages derive from its patented Self-Adaptive Silicon™, an integrated circuit design technique to produce nonvolatile memory and high performance analog functions, critical elements of RFID products.

RFID Company: Upstart tech snares $22M

From MSNBC ... one of the region's premier semiconductor companies, received $22 million in financing for the startup's attempts to break into the rapidly evolving RFID sector ...

Impinj, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company developing CMOS integrated circuit products and solutions using its exclusive Self-Adaptive Silicon™ technology. Impinj's RFID products are targeted to meet the requirements set by the consumer packaged goods industry and deliver low cost, long range, field-rewritable functionality. The company also licenses AEON™, the world's first truly nonvolatile memory fabricated in logic CMOS. Advanced development in analog and mixed-signal circuit design has been the core competency for the company since its inception in 2000. Self-Adaptive Silicon™, uses transistor physics in a fundamentally new way, enabling precision analog and wideband RF in low-cost, high-density digital CMOS. Impinj's breakthrough provides a true competitive advantage, enabling mixed-signal Systems-On-Chip (SoC) products.

GSA Smart Cards: GSA : More Than 18000 Smart Cards to be Issued as Part of Federal ...

From PR Newswire (press release) ... 18,000 Smart Cards will be issued to GSA associates and contractors in GSA owned and leased facilities as part of the federal Smart Card initiative, according ...

GSA is a centralized federal procurement and property management agency created by Congress to improve government efficiency and help federal agencies better serve the public. It acquires, on behalf of federal agencies, office space, equipment, telecommunications, information technology, supplies and services. GSA, comprised of 13,000 associates, provides services and solutions for the office operations of over 1 million federal workers located in more than 8,000 government-owned and leased buildings in 2,000 U.S. communities. GSA provides federal, civilian and military agencies with interoperable smart card solutions through its Smart Access Common ID contract. The contract provides a full range of services to customer agencies seeking to implement smart card programs. Smart cards contain integrated circuit chips that perform computer functions with the added features of portability and enhanced security. Smart cards can have multiple applications on a single card. Major uses include: Employee identification and authentication, Physical security, Building security, Storage of biometric information, Secure access to the Internet, and Secure transactions over the Internet...

GSA’s Center for Smart Card Solutions, provides assistance to federal agencies in implementing smart card projects. The Center has a group of smart card technical and program experts that can provide full service and assistance to federal civilian and military organizations.

Secure RFID Chips: EM Microelectronic announces 13.56 MHz transponder IC with crypto ...

From Contactless News (press release), VA ... EM Microelectronic, an electronic systems company of the Swatch Group and the world's largest supplier of RFID ICs, announces a family of RFID integrated ...

EM Microelectronic announces 13.56 MHz transponder IC with crypto for high security and 13.56MHz multi-standard reader IC... The new family of high frequency RFID ICs completes EM's UHF and 125kHz broad portfolio of products in order to serve the widest possible range of RFID applications.

EM Microelectronic is a semi- conductor manufacturer specialized in the design and production of ultra low power, low voltage integrated circuits for battery-operated and field-powered applications in consumer, automotive and industrial areas. EM Microelectronic has over 26 years of experience in the design of ICs processing analog and digital signals simultaneously. The product portfolio encompasses RFID circuits, smart cards, ultra-low power microcontrollers, power management, LCD drivers and displays, sensor and opto-electronic ICs, mixed-mode arrays and standard analog ICs. EM Microelectronic also offers module and bumping services and manufactures not only standard circuits and ASICs, but also system solutions and modules for applications such as access control, radio frequency identification, mobile phones, mass-market consumer appliances, alarm and security systems, utility and heating meters, sensor signal processing, controlling, car immobilization, electronic automotive subsystems and many more.

The EM4035 is a CMOS integrated circuit intended for use in contactless Read/Write transponders. The EM4035 is completely ISO15693 compliant and is a member of ISO 15693 standard passive Read/Write RF tags operating at 13.56MHz. The Chip contains an implementation of a crypto-algorithm with 96 bit of user configurable secret-Keys contained in EEPROM. The 3.2k bit EEPROM memory contained in the chip is organized in 50 words of 64 bits, each word can be irreversibly locked. The memory contains a unique 64-bit serial number (UID). An ISO 15693 anticollision algorithm allows operating more tags in the field simultaneously. The 64bits UID as defined in ISO15693 standard is factory programmed and locked. It includes a 6 bits chip type and a 10 bits customer code made specific on request. The resonant capacitor value is selected by metal mask.

Flexible RFID Reader: Texas Instruments’ Multi-Function Reader Answers Industry Need for True 13.56 MHz RFID Interoperability Across Multiple Standards

Reader Infrastructure Investments Today Not Obsolete with Future Standards

DALLAS, TX (April 21, 2004) – With the development of radio frequency identification (RFID) 13.56 MHz standards, end users for smart label, payment, transit, access control, logical access and other proximity communication applications expect that their RFID infrastructure be fully interoperable, allowing them to use tags or transponders from a range of providers. Texas Instruments, a leading integrated manufacturer of RFID technology, has responded to this end-user need with its S4100 Multi-Function Reader (MFR) Module. TI’s MFR module is a highly flexible device that accepts all ISO/IEC 14443 and ISO/IEC 15693 standards-compliant 13.56 MHz RFID transponders, while providing an easy migration path to support current tags not fully compliant to these standards.

The MFR’s unique software architecture enables users to download firmware upgrades down to the ISO standard protocol level when specifications are adjusted or new standards are added, without changing the hardware residing in the finished reader. This capability allows end-users to make RFID reader infrastructure investments today without worrying about reader hardware obsolescence when new applications are introduced or ISO standards are modified or developed. With its flexible architecture and scalability to a variety of form factors, from circuit boards to embeddable modules, TI’s Multi-Function Reader provides systems integrators, reader manufacturers, distributors, and design engineers an adaptable reader technology for open RFID infrastructure implementations. Competing readers would have to be dismantled and reconfigured at the board level in order to make these adjustments...

...TI’s Multi-Function Reader Module is easy to integrate into existing infrastructures and supports multi-applications such as payment, loyalty and many smart label applications. The new reader features an open software platform so that a range of application and security architectures can be designed in depending on the specific needs of the application. The design is also highly scalable to support custom requirements from plug-in to fully packaged solutions.

For more information on TI’s RFID technology solutions, please visit the company’s Web site at www.ti-rfid.com or call 1-888-937-6536 (North America) or 1-972-575-4364 (International).

About Texas Instruments RFid Systems

Texas Instruments Radio Frequency Identification (TI-RFid™) Systems is an industry leader in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and the world’s largest integrated manufacturer of RFID tags, smart labels and reader systems. With more than 300 million tags manufactured, TI-RFid technology is used in a broad range of applications worldwide including access control, automotive, document tracking, livestock, product authentication, retail, sports timing, supply chain, ticketing and wireless payment. TI is an active member of many standards bodies, including EPCglobal, ISO, and IEC, working to drive the adoption of global standards for RFID. For more information, contact TI-RFid Systems at 1-888-937-6536 (North America) or +1 214-567-4364 (International), or visit the company’s Web site at www.ti-rfid.com.

RFID Technology: Passive RFID running on 200 microwatt RF

UsingRFID.com, UK ... The South African RFID technology developer, Trolley Scan, has announced the development of new materials that enable the production of transponders in volume ...

TROLLEYSCAN DELIVER PASSIVE UHF RFID TRANSPONDERS THAT OPERATE ON JUST 200 MICROWATTS OF RF POWER, JOHANNESBURG,SOUTH AFRICA

Trolley Scan announced in Johannesburg that they have crossed another major technical hurdle in the development of long range, efficent, low cost, passive RFID systems.

As part of leading the way in the development of passive UHF RFID, Trolley Scan have developed new materials that allow for the production of transponders in volume that need just 200uW of RF energy to operate. This represents a 42% improvement in the sensitivity of transponders supplied by Trolley Scan in the past. All credit card sized Ecochiptag(TM) transponders supplied by Trolley Scan will now need only 200uW of power to operate.

Said Mike Marsh, MD of Trolley Scan-"Improving transponder sensitivity is like improving fuel consumption for a car - you can never have enough!!!. Every time the sensitivity improves, it means that the transmitted power of the reader can be further reduced needing smaller transmitters to do the same job with longer battery life, -, or the operating range of the transponder system increases. The new production transponders can be read 8 meters from a reader radiating just 300 milliwatts of power, similar to the power radiated from a cell phone. In addition, due to the miniscual amount of power needed to operate the transponder, polarisation becomes less important and transponders can be read on almost any orientation even with linear polarised antennas. The 8 meter range is achievable even if the transponder is attached to metal."

In 1994 a state of the art transponder used in the original Supertag version developed by a team led by Mike Marsh, and shown to the world with a trolley(cart) of 38 items being scanned at the Pick n Pay hypermarket in Pretoria South Africa, needed 6000uW of RF power to operate. In 2001 Trolley Scan started delivering 1000uW versions with its evaluation systems. In December 2003, Trolley Scan delivered 350uW credit card sized versions, a major technical achievement as the previous systems all needed 160mm dipoles while the credit card sized version was only 80mm long - a size that is inherently inefficient at this operating frequency. Now the norm with the latest developments is 200uW in a credit card sized version.

Comparing the performance to the original Supertag tests, the transmitter power needed now is only 3% of that needed for the original system, meaning smaller transmitters, longer battery life and portable readers. The operating range at the original power used for Supertag is 550% of the ranges then achieved.

Despite the benefits of long operating range and low transmitter power, the Trolley Scan has maintained all its important benefits such as wide operating bandwidth (50MHz for EU/GSM/US compatibility), up to 500 multiple transponders in the reading field, 3D scanning small antenna size and easy to produce.

Trolley Scan provide RFID systems to users in 32 countries. Complete systems can be ordered via their website.

About new generation RFID Transponder
Passive RFID works by the reader sending out a low power beam of energy which dissipates with distance travelled; part of which is collected by the transponder and converted to power to operate the transponder; the transponder using some of this energy to send back its identity data on the same frequency as the energising signal.

The reader has to be able to detect the data from the transponder while in the presence of the energising signal which is powering up the transponder. The two signals differ is strength by up to 1 billion times (90dB).

As the energy from the reader travels through the space between the reader and the transponder, it dissipates such that every time the distance doubles, the available energy to power up the transponder quarters. Therefore producing transponders that need lower power mean they can still operate at increased ranges.

About EcoTag technology
The Ecotag development achieves some major breakthroughs

The credit card sized version is a technology breakthrough allowing both very efficient transponder operation while allowing small transponder antenna sizes.

A typical efficient UHF antenna will be 160mm long. However the market wants shorter antennas that are closer to the sizing of goods being labelled. Shortening a 160 millimeter antenna to 80 millimeters results in only 3% of the efficiency being left. The impact of shortening antennas is of great concern to the UHF RFID producers as the challenge is to increase efficiency in order to get greater coverage and range. Trolley Scan have developed an 80mm by 37mm flat antenna that recovers this lost efficiency as well as increasing the performance of the chip, allowing a transponder that now needs only 200 uWatts of RF energy to operate, making it one of the most energy efficient transponders available in the world.

Despite its excellent performance, the credit card sized version is produced in a single plane and is ideal for production using conductive inks applied with a printing press. This is an important development as eventually for volume application of RFID, the antennae are going to be made directly on the packaging.

The new Ecotag credit sized version now can operate at ranges as far as 11 meters, even when attahed to metal.

EcoTag technology is protected by a series of patents granted in the US, Europe and other countries.

About Trolley Scan (Pty) Ltd
Trolley Scan have proven to be a major creative force in the development of UHF RFID technologies. These developments have been protected by patents which have been offered to the global manufacturing industry to impliment. Founded in 1995, the staff of Trolley Scan have a pedigree that goes back to 1990 when the first low cost RFID protocol was developed by the founder while working for a South African government research organisation, culminating in 1994 in the demonstration of a supermarket trolley containing 38 items being scanned automatically in a supermarket in Pretoria. In 1998, the founders of Trolley Scan developed an entirely new set of protocols for UHF RFID which they have been actively promoting. They also have addressed the situation of the 3 dimensional scanning of goods, and have developed a very low power RFID version which they commercialise under the EcoTag trademark. Trolley Scan are based in Johannesburg South Africa.

Trolley Scan licence their patents and technology to companies around the world who wish to produce this technology. Trolley Scan have already provided systems using this technology to users in 32 countries.

About UHF RFID
RFID systems comprise of a transponder that is attached to the goods to be identified and a reader that converts the information in those transponders to a computer compatible format for processing. The transponder can comprise of a simple antenna and a small integrated circuit that can be produced at low cost. Operating in the 860 to 930 MHz (UHF) band, the transponder can be identified meters away from the reader, can be identified in a group with up to 1000 other transponders when being read, and can be identified very quickly. In view of the system using radio waves for energy and information transfer, it is not necessary for the transponder and reader to be in line of sight.

Potential use of these systems is extensive, from herd animal tracking, library books, pallets, warehousing, bank and postal bags, asset tracking, airline luggage, vehicle monitoring (access and parking), to intelligent buildings (tracking files, documents and assets moving around an office to minimise finding time).

The ultimate goal is to use these transponders with their inbuilt anti-shoplifting features to replace the barcodes labelling goods in a retail store allowing filled supermarket trolleys to be scanned in seconds in unmanned self service checkout aisles.

Low-Cost RFID: Xerox hopes plastic ink leads to printed chips

From InfoWorld, CA ... has discovered a way to print plastic transistors using a semiconductive ink, paving the way for flexible displays and low-cost RFID (radio frequency ...

Xerox Research Results Bring Printed Plastic Transistors Closer to Commercial Reality

Complete plastic transistor circuit could be printed using new semiconductive ink

SAN FRANCISO, April 16, 2004 -- Semiconductive ink and new materials revealed today by Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) may make flexible roll-up television screens and computer displays one step closer to reality.
According to Xerox, it has developed a high-performance, semiconductive ink that can be used to print the semiconductor channels of transistors at low temperatures and in open air - a requirement for low-cost manufacturing. Most materials developed by researchers from other organizations have required processing at high temperatures and under inert atmospheres.

In addition to creating the semiconductive ink necessary to print the semiconductor component of a transistor circuit, Beng Ong, a Xerox fellow, reported today that his team at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada has also developed materials for printing the conductor and the dielectric components. Thus, all three elements necessary to make a plastic circuit - a semiconductor, a conductor and dielectric - may now be printed using inkjet techniques.

Companies worldwide have been competing to develop a low-cost alternative to silicon technology that could print flexible plastic transistors as easily as printing a newspaper. The technology could ultimately lead to inexpensive large-area devices like flat-panel and flexible displays and low-end microelectronics such as radio frequency identification tags.

The manufacturing dilemma
The Holy Grail for researchers who want to bring flexible plastic circuits to the masses is a low-cost manufacturing solution that has two key elements: one, materials that can be processed in ambient conditions, and two, compatible printing techniques. The research developments announced today could satisfy both these manufacturing requirements.

According to Ong, if progress continues on this research project as he expects, Xerox just may have found the missing elements that could enable commercialized applications of flexible printed transistors. Ong discussed these research findings in a presentation at the Materials Research Society spring conference here today.

"Having developed these three critical liquid-processable materials may make it possible to create low-cost, flexible plastic transistor circuits using common liquid-deposition techniques such as spin coating, screen or stencil printing, offset, or inkjet printing," Ong said. He believes that products based on these or similar materials will be available commercially in the near future.

Xerox's advances build on the unique polythiophene semiconductor previously designed by Ong's team at XRCC, as well as on the Palo Alto Research Center's method for creating a plastic semiconductor transistor array using inkjet printing, reported last fall. PARC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox.

The open air issue
Being able to print in open air is significant because the electrical properties of most liquid-processable organic semiconductors degrade when exposed to atmospheric oxygen. This makes it difficult to build functional transistors in air. However, the Xerox polythiophene semiconductor not only possesses better air stability, but also exhibits excellent self assembly behavior.

Its unique molecular characteristics allow it to be readily processed into novel, structurally ordered semiconductor nanoparticles. These nanoparticles, when dispersed in a liquid, form environmentally stable nanoparticle ink. The ink provides consistent properties and enables inkjet printing of high-performing organic transistor channel layers under ambient conditions for the first time.

Under a National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program grant, Xerox is working with Motorola Inc. and Dow Chemical Company in developing plastic integrated circuits for various electronic applications. Using XRCC's materials, PARC is inkjet printing active-matrix addressed arrays as backplane switching circuits for displays, while Motorola is fabricating plastic circuits for various applications using commercial printing technologies.

"Without the sharing of financial burden through the ATP grant, Xerox would not have been able to aggressively pursue this high-risk research endeavor," said Hervé Gallaire, president, Xerox Innovation Group, and the company's chief technology officer. "The ATP grant has dramatically accelerated the progress of this research, leading to our profound materials and process developments for this emerging technology."

Xerox Corporation operates research and technology centers in the United States, Canada and Europe that conduct work in color science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials and other disciplines connected to Xerox's expertise in printing and document management. The company consistently builds its inventions into business by embedding them in superior Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation of new businesses, or licensing or selling them to other entities. For more information, visit www.xerox.com/innovation.

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