RFID Asset Visibility in Harsh and Metallic Environments with Two New Low Frequency Products

Logistics Insight Asia - Technology & Market Trends, 22/7/2008

Multi-usage wedge transponder and 24 mm LF circular inlay designed for industrial applications with TI’s half-duplex technology.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) has announced two additions to its LF product family: the 12 mm Multi-Usage Wedge Transponder and 24 mm LF Circular Inlay. The 12 mm Multi-Usage Wedge Transponder offers improvements in chip circuitry that enable direct-on-metal mounting. The 24 mm LF Circular Inlay, manufactured using TI’s patented tuning process, provides improved consistency in read and write performance in applications such as waste management and industrial production.

The tags incorporate a number of TI’s patented RFID technology and quality innovations including half-duplex (HDX) radio communication. HDX boosts read range by 50 percent compared with full-duplex (FDX) LF and offers a stronger RF signal because the HDX reader shuts down during the HDX tag’s response. This allows the HDX reader to concentrate on receiving the signal thereby obtaining an accurate read as compared to FDX. In FDX systems, the reader signal remains on and may create RF interference as it attempts to read the FDX tag. HDX also features frequency shift keying technology which makes TI’s tags more immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and other ambient environmental noise, allowing the reader to effectively read and differentiate tags that are close together.

TI’s new tags are designed for rugged applications like container tracking in waste management, vehicle identification and access control, as well as other applications in highly metallic environments, such as oil refineries, oil drilling and tool production. The tags can also be applied to carbon fiber products, including aerospace, automotive and bicycle parts, and are developed to withstand the high temperatures of the manufacturing process.

In addition to being able to be directly mounted on metal, TI’s 12 mm Multi-Usage Wedge Transponder also features 208 bits of flexible, user programmable memory and a password protected write capability that enables users to build a level of security into their application. For example, a company can have one portion of the tag’s memory programmed with a factory-locked number, such as a manufacturer’s ID code, while some of the other data sections can be freely used to record status, maintenance, or location updates over the life of an asset. Security can be imposed with a password that allows data updates only by authorized parties.

Texas Instruments, www.ti.com