RFID-Radar Technology Invented

Johannesburg, South Africa -- Trolley Scan Ltd., a developer of RFID technologies, announced the development of a new RFID technology that they have trademarked "RFID-radar". In the past RFID readers were limited to identify tags that were in the reader zone. Based around a major discovery made by Trolley Scan, RFID-radar based readers will now be able to identify, locate and track those same multiple tags in the reader zone.

Said Mike Marsh, Managing Director of Trolley Scan, "The breakthrough with RFID-radar is the ability to measure the distance travelled by a signal from a transponder to a reader accurately, over long distances, using minimal radio spectrum to minimise effects on other users, and with very low cost transponders and readers. This measurement allows us to identify, locate accurately and track the movement of tens of transponders in front of a reader at the same time."

"In older generation RFID systems, operating ranges were a few centimeters, so location information was not important as the transponder was always close to the reader. In modern systems we have increased the operating range to tens of meters and will soon reach the one hundred meter range mark with passive tags" Marsh explained. "Here location information together with the identity information becomes essential as so many transponders can be located in such a large area."

Marsh also stated "In the past it was not possible to measure the range of a transponder from a reader. The practicalities of UHF RFID mean that traditional approaches such as signal strength variation cannot be applied for range measurements. Our newly invented technique allows us to measure the range of a transponder to an accuracy of 0,5 meters and a pointing direction of just 1 degree, for transponders as far away as 100 meters, with up to 100 transponders in the zone at a time. This development is revolutionary, in that instead of needing expensive transponders and readers, our development allows this technique to be applied to the "US$five cent" transponder and the "US$100" reader. We make the measurements from a single reader site, making the equipment suitable for use in mobile applications such as when the reader is fitted to a forklift truck."

The new technology will result in the development of an entire new set of applications for computer based equipment. Applicatiions could include the location of goods in a warehouse; tracking of individual animals in a herd; the monitoring of the movement of assets in a building; the location of parcels and airline luggage in a warehouse; the monitoring of children in a creche; or the monitoring of security zones to ensure secure areas are avoided.

SOURCE: Trolley Scan Ltd.