Presented here are news announcements made during the past week by the following organizations:
Avery Dennison, Smartrac;
Confidex;
Semtech, Helium;
Zebra Technologies, Portable Technology Solutions; and
Insight SiP.
Avery Dennison Acquires Smartrac RFID Business, Intros RFID Blocking Material
Avery Dennison has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Smartrac‘s transponder business, for the purchase price of €225 million ($251 million), subject to customary adjustments. Smartrac develops and manufactures RFID inlays, and is now an Avery Dennison company (see Avery Dennison to Buy Smartrac’s Transponder Businessand Avery Dennison Doubles Down on RFID).
The firm recently announced that its ShieldSense RFID Blocking Material, a lightweight aluminum foil material that allows RFID-enabled inventory systems to increase effectiveness by isolating waves within specific environments, is now Classified as UL 723 (ASTM E84) to meet building and fire-safety codes for surface-burning characteristics. This certification allows ShieldSense to be installed in new construction buildings that incorporate RFID. According to the company, ShieldSense can perform well in the presence of flame spread and smoke, and is available directly from Avery Dennison.
ShieldSense, when applied to surfaces such as walls and doors, creates a barrier that restricts RFID waves from traveling beyond its perimeters, such as stockrooms. By preventing RFID waves from traveling area to area, retailers can gain a clear picture of inventory location within a specific environment. Many municipalities’ laws, codes and regulations require that interior building products be tested, classified and/or labeled before they can be installed. UL 723 classification is intended to provide confidence to code officials, building owners and managers, contractors and others that a product was properly evaluated as referenced in model codes, regulations and specifications.
“The UL Classification Mark on the ShieldSense product is our way to show that it can be used in new construction, ensuring both inventory accuracy as well as the safety of building occupants and property in the event of a fire,” said Chris Blackwell, Avery Dennison Performance Tapes North America’s product manager for print and packaging, in a prepared statement. “ShieldSense has gained tremendous acceptance in many different applications, as more end users see the value of RFID and plan to incorporate it into new facilities. Key feedback we get from customers is around being able to install without extra nails, fasteners, or attachments as well as the long-term durability of the product post install.”
Confidex Unveils RFID Labels for High-Volume Logistics
Confidex, a designer and supplier of short-range wireless identification solutions, has announced the release of its Confidex Go family of RFID labels for high-volume logistics and other applications.
According to the company, the Confidex Go is targeted at industries that require a high volume of labels. The product line includes a variety of industry- and application-specific labels.
Crosswave Classic provides 360-degree readability and a modular size. It is a dual-dipole label for logistics applications and provides a strong reading performance and radiation pattern, according to the company. Casey is a disposable, high-performance label for supply chain and logistics applications. The label is waterproof and works well with high-liquid-content goods. Leaf is a paper-based, sustainable label for short-term logistics applications. The eco-friendly label is plastic-free, includes a printed antenna and water-soluble adhesive, and is suitable for indirect contact with food.
eKanban GTL is designed for global transport label (GTL) applications. This plug-in label for transport packaging units or plastic load carriers is compliant with VDA recommendations 4994 and 5501. eKanban SLC is a single label designed for small load carrier (SLC) applications. It is a plug-in label for plastic and ESD load carriers, and complies with VDA recommendations 4994 and 5501.
Ferrowave Classic is built for high-volume packaging and component-tracking applications that require on-metal RFID labels in non-harsh industrial environments. Designed for tagging automotive components and consumer packages, the Ferrowave is suitable for metallic foils and liquid containers that have historically presented challenges to RFID labels, Confidex reports.
Confidex Go labels are designed to perform on a range of materials, including metal, plastics, paper and cardboard. The Casey, Crosswave and eKanban labels can be provided in customer-specific sizes, depending on how much information needs to be printed on the face of the label
“Confidex is known globally for manufacturing rugged industrial RFID tags and very high volumes of RFID tickets for transport,” said Timo Lindström, Confidex’s CEO, in a prepared statement. “With Confidex Go we combine our experience of both best-in-class RF design and optimized end-to-end high volume production. The Confidex Go labels provide industrial level of reliability in challenging environments, but in a more flexible and affordable format for emerging high-volume applications across the supply chain. The Confidex Go labels enable end-to-end visibility in a wide variety of industries, and in a format that can be easily customized for each organization’s unique needs.”
Semtech Creates LoRaWAN IoT Network With Helium, Offers New LoRa IoT Solutions
Semtech, a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and algorithms, is collaborating with Helium, the creator of a peer-to-peer wireless network, to develop one of the largest LoRa-based networks in North America. The Helium network is now compatible with the LoRaWAN protocol and is available to the LoRa community of more than 8,000 active software developers.
“We are thrilled to work with Semtech and integrate the LoRaWAN protocol into our LongFi architecture to extend the reach of the Helium network,” said Amir Haleem, Helium’s CEO and co-founder, in a prepared statement. “The combination of our technologies and platforms provides the LoRa developer community with new opportunities to create new IoT solutions for both businesses and consumers.”
The Helium Hotspot is a new hardware device that enables users to own and operate a wireless network for the Internet of Things (IoT). With Helium’s open-sourced blockchain technology, individuals can deploy Helium Hotspots, which simultaneously mine cryptocurrency and provide LoRaWAN network coverage for hundreds of square miles. Helium’s network, introduced in 2019, is available in more than 745 U.S. cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami and Austin.
“With Helium’s commitment to using Semtech’s LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN protocol, the massive deployment of a LoRaWAN-based network in the U.S. is becoming a reality,” said Marc Pegulu, the VP of IoT for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group, in the prepared statement. “Helium’s model is highly innovative and not only incentivizes consumers to own and operate a piece of the network, but also reinforces a commitment to open-source architecture using the LoRaWAN protocol designed to change the game for LoRa developers.”
In addition, Semtech has announced LoRa Edge, it’s low-power, software-defined LoRa-based platform designed to enable applications for indoor and outdoor asset management, targeting the industrial, building, home, agriculture, transportation and logistics markets. The first product from this portfolio, a geolocation solution for Internet of Things devices, is intended for asset-management applications, featuring low-power Wi-Fi and GNSS sniffing capabilities combined with LoRa cloud geolocation and device-management services, in order to reduce the cost and complexity of locating and monitoring IoT assets.
“Semtech continually delivers Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that simplify and accelerate the development of LPWAN applications,” said Pedro Pachuca, the director of IoT wireless in Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group, in a separate prepared statement. “LoRa Edge and LoRa Cloud geolocation services enable customers to develop ultra-low power applications for a variety of industries and will expand the mass adoption of LoRa in the IoT ecosystem.” The first LoRa Edge chipset targeted with geolocation (LR1110) is available now, and more products from this portfolio are expected to be released in the first half of this year.
Zebra Technologies Partners With Portable Technology Solutions
Portable Technology Solutions (PTS), a provider of barcode and RFID software and systems, has announced that it has been promoted to Premier Independent Software Vendors (ISV) Partner status in Zebra Technologies‘ PartnerConnect program. The program allows hardware resellers, ISVs and Zebra to communicate and manage potential customer opportunities. The ISV track in the program is primarily focused on adding value and generating new opportunities with partners that create and sell applications that can leverage Zebra’s hardware.
PTS has been a Zebra Technologies ISV partner for nearly two decades, and the company has had its TracerPlus mobile barcode and RFID solution and ClearStream fixed RFID solution validated on all Zebra hardware. “That gives resellers and the team at Zebra the assurance they need that PTS software works as advertised on all Zebra barcode and RFID equipment,” said Brad Horn, PTS’s CEO and co-founder, in a prepared statement. “This Premier ISV Partner designation is a reflection of our dedication to the automatic identification and data collection market, our dedication to working with best-in-class devices, and our wide array of customers and applications. We understand that our success is greatly influenced by the success of our partners at Zebra and are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with them.”
“In 2019, PTS was one of the ISV Partners that achieved the designation of Premier ISV, as they have been active in our partner community and helping influence opportunities in the RFID space,” added Scott Reyes, Zebra’s North American ISV manager for MT&L, in the prepared statement. “We would like to congratulate PTS for their achievement this year and look forward to continued growth in our ISV Program.”
Insight SiP Releases RF Module Combining UWB, BLE
Insight SiP, a provider of ultra-miniature RF modules, has announced its ISP3010 RF module, which combines smart ultra-wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capabilities with a microcontroller unit (MCU), each with its own antenna. Both antennas are integrated into the module. This highly miniaturized LGA module measures 14 millimeters by 14 millimeters by 1.5 millimeters (0.55 inch by 0.55 inch by 0.06 inch), making it a suitable standalone module solution for applications requiring precise real-time location systems and long-range wireless communication.
According to the company, the ISP3010 RF module enables wireless communication with precise localization, accurate to within 10 centimeters (3.4 inches) over a range of up to 50 meters (164 feet). For applications with ranges of upwards of 50 meters, the ISP3010 can be used in conjunction with external UWB antennas with the same precision, depending on antenna configuration. Alternatively, the ISP3010 can operate as a standalone tag with an onboard floating-point processor. It has digital interfaces allowing it to be integrated into larger, complex positioning solutions. The UWB communication is IEEE802.15.4-2011-compliant.
Managed through a user interface controlled wirelessly by a Bluetooth or serial peripheral interface, the ISP3010 is suitable for use in IoT-based healthcare, sport and wellness, consumer and industrial-ranging applications, the company reports. The ISP3010 is also suited to security bubble applications, access control and indoor positioning. The ISP3010 RF module is a second-generation Combo Smart module combining UWB and BLE with two antennas and an MCU integrated into the module using system-in-package technology.
The company’s miniature BLE module is based on DecaWave’s DW1000 single-chip UWB transceiver and Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52832 2.4 GHz wireless system-on-chip. The ISP3010 RF module includes a 32-bit ARM Cortex M4 CPU, 512 kB flash memory and 64 kB RAM, as well as analog and digital peripherals. It is equipped with decoupling capacitors, 38.4 MHz crystals for UWB, 32 MHz and 32.768 KHz crystals for BLE, DC-DC converters, RF matching circuits and two antennas, in addition to the wireless systems-on-chip.
“The ISP3010 is the perfect solution for customers wanting to integrate an ultra-miniature, high performance UWB module into their ranging applications,” said Nick Wood, the president of Insight SiP, in a prepared statement. “This module provides an unparalleled combination of size and performance, enabling wireless communication with highly precise localisation over a range of up to 50m and much further when coupled to external antennas. Just the type of module you need for applications using RTLS.”
Module prototypes are available now, with mass production expected to begin during the first quarter of 2020. Certification is pending. To support product developers, Insight SiP offers a development kit and sample software.