Philips and TI Push "Smart Label" Standards

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 1/1/1999

Two key vendors of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology have reached an agreement to support a common communications standard for the new "smart" labels. Philips Semiconductors of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Texas Instruments of Dallas have submitted a standards proposal to the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Smart labels incorporate RFID-type transponders that are small enough to be laminated between layers of paper or plastic to produce low-cost labels. These labels, which are able to store 256 bits of data, have several potential distribution-related applications--identifying packages or shipments, for example. Some industry experts have forecast that the smart-label market could reach one billion units by the year 2003.

Despite the labels' potential, industry observers have contended that the lack of a standard for communications has hindered widespread deployment of this technology. The proposal by TI and Philips, if adopted, would solve that. "A common protocol guarantees complete interoperability of each of our products," says Dick Dane, a general manager at the RFID business unit of Texas Instruments, "and [agreement on a standard would be] a huge step in the full-scale deployment of smart labels."

Texas Instruments and Philips Semiconductors have proposed 13.56 megahertz (MHz) as the common frequency for smart labels. The ISO, an international body that sets world standards for technology, is expected to meet this year to decide whether to adopt that proposed standard.