News | December 14, 2004

M/A-Com To Manufacture RFID Readers For ThingMagic

Source: Cobham

Cambridge, MA -- ThingMagic, a developer of RFID, sensing, and embedded computing technologies, today announced that it has awarded a manufacturing contract for its complete line of Mercury4 RFID readers to Cobham. Established to satisfy the needs of its OEM partners and resellers, the M/A-COM production line adds a third manufacturing source for Mercury4 readers, which are already manufactured by Tyco's Sensormatic business unit and Japan's Omron Corp.

ThingMagic's Mercury4 RFID readers are the only RFID readers available that support both multiple protocols and multiple antennas, allowing for full, remote upgrades as industry standards and technology evolve. To meet customer demand, M/A-COM is manufacturing quantities of each Mercury4 reader, including:

  • ThingMagic's Mercury4, ThingMagic's fourth generation fixed agile reader, which was launched in June;
  • ThingMagic's Mercury4e, launched in September, an embedded version of the fixed Mercury4 reader designed to provide high-powered, agile RFID capability to label printers, print and apply machines, and other systems that are required to read and write singulated RFID tags of any protocol at high speed;
  • ThingMagic's Mercury4h, a handheld RFID reader designed for handheld devices including portable data terminals (PDTs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable scanners, and other wireless data equipment that require the ability to read RFID tags at the highest speeds and at the longest read ranges.

"Though mass adoption of RFID remains a few years out, near term RFID-ready deadlines are spiking demand for RFID readers. Given this demand, now is the right time to enlist M/A-COM to manufacture Mercury4 readers for resellers and systems integrators," said Tom Grant, chairman and CEO of ThingMagic. "More and more consumer product vendors have begun RFID pilot projects, and are working through their particular RFID issues. Working with M/A-COM, a company with an international reputation for innovative and quality RF technology, ensures that ThingMagic readers will be available to those who require the most agile, 'future-proofed' RFID readers."

"We are excited to work with ThingMagic, a leader in the emerging RFID space, on the manufacturing of their Mercury4 RFID readers," said Joe Thomas, VP, M/A-COM. "M/A-COM's extensive expertise and pedigree in the design, manufacture and distribution of advanced RF technologies enables us to fully support ThingMagic's product line, and allows both companies to achieve goals that will make our respective RFID business efforts a success."

ThingMagic's Mercury4 RFID reader technology supports both multiple protocols and multiple antennas, and uses advanced software-defined radio technology to read any tag, including all variants of EPC Class 1 and 0, as well as Matrics 0+, ISO 18000-6B and Philips UCODE 1.19. The readers' software architecture also allows remote software upgrades for new protocols, including the forthcoming EPC Generation 2.

Source: M/A-COM