The annual RFID World conference, held last week in Dallas, Texas, continues to draw a large crowd of vendors, developers and end-users interested in Radio Frequency Identification. The size of the show appeared to be marginally larger than last year, with more than 200 exhibitors and nine separate educational tracks focused on topics ranging from hardware advancements to real-time location tracking to security to mandate compliance.
Active RFID
While there were continued advancements in the EPC (Electronic Product Code passive RFID space (more on that later), the really interesting trend of the show was the increased presence of active RFID and sensor technologies. Gone are the days where people were impressed with being able read data from a simple tag and display it through an application. Today we are seeing some very innovative uses of sensors integrated into active tags that can wirelessly communicate the sensory data to backend systems.
For example, AXCESS Inc. was showing an active tag that incorporates a biometric fingerprint reader. This tag is used for high security environments where two-factor authentication is required for access control. When these tags are used, employees are no longer able to borrow a colleague's badge to enter a building as the tag is only "activated" by the fingerprint scanner.
Seeing this type of technology on a PDA impressed me several years ago. Seeing it on a tag not much larger than the size of a credit card truly shows how far sensor technologies have come.
Other interesting implementations of active RFID technologies included those combining temperature, light, and humidity sensors. The cost of active tags continues to decline as well, with tags projected to be as low as $5 to $25 -- depending on the capabilities -- making them a viable alternative to passive tags for certain applications.
Mobile and forklift RFID
Another trend is the continued focus on mobile and forklift devices. LXE announced two new certified software vendors for their RX2 vehicle-mounted terminal. The improved ability for these devices to work in disconnected mode, with on-device intelligence, is contributing to their increased usage in manufacturing, healthcare and related industries.
Going smaller was Wireless Dynamics' introduction of a low-frequency RFID Reader/Writer SD Card -- the SDiD 1210 -- that enables smartphones and PDAs to read and write low-frequency tags. Low-frequency tags are being used in several application types including animal identification, asset tagging and process compliance applications.
Passive RFID
On the passive RFID side there were several key announcements related to increased performance, lower costs and broader applicability of passive RFID technologies.
One of the announcements that caught my eye came from Alien Technology, which is making its LoadImage technology available for any UHF reader vendor. This technology will enable UHF readers to program and lock Alien's Gen2 tag in just 23 milliseconds -- up to ten times faster than the average time required to commission an RFID tag.
This may seem somewhat mundane, but being able to commission an RFID tag at production line speeds of up to 400 items per minute allows for item-level tagging of goods without impacting production levels.
Other items of interest related to passive RFID technology were its increased usage in asset location tracking. Vendors such as ThingMagic, Sybase iAnywhere (my company) and PDC all were demonstrating innovative technologies for asset tracking.
ThingMagic demonstrated the ability to use its Mercury line of RFID readers for asset tracking within a building, and incorporating this data into Google Maps. Sybase iAnywhere was showing how its software infrastructure, RFID Anywhere, can be used to incorporate multiple sensor technologies including passive RFID, active RFID, RTLS and environmental sensors to track mixed-value assets in a single system.
Finally, Precision Dynamics was demonstrating how its RFID wristbands can be used in amusement parks and other entertainment venues to provide a single solution for park admission, point-of-sale purchases (e.g., merchandise, arcade games, ride tickets, etc.), guest identification and even keyless entry into hotel rooms.
All three of these examples demonstrate how RFID solutions can provide real value to organizations outside of the mandates in the retail space.
More than just exhibitors
Outside of the exhibit hall, a number of keynotes, educational sessions, training opportunities, panel discussions and seminars provided the opportunity for attendees and vendors to learn about upcoming technology, real-world deployments, interesting RFID use-cases and other market trends and opinions.
Delivered by a variety of vendors, analysts, integrators, end users and other industry players, the educational component of RFID World 2007 jam-packed a lot of content into just a few days and had attendees of every type going away having learned a few new things.
It was truly impressive to learn about some of the innovative deployments of RFID technology such as the Spanish Postal Service's use of a system implemented by Sybase iAnywhere to audit and improve mail delivery and Kimberly-Clark Corporation's management of in-store product promotions by using mobile technology from ADASA.
The show was not without excitement outside of the technology spectrum. There were several marketing gimmicks that reminded me of the technology boom in the late 1990's, all meant to grab attention and draw people to the vendors' exhibit booths. These included promotions featuring Hooters girls (and chicken wings), Dallas Mavericks' cheerleaders and a chance to win tickets to the NCAA Basketball Final Four.
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