Auto ID firms team up to create radio-frequency standard

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2000

Three well-known automatic identification companies have formed a strategic alliance to develop an ultra high frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for supply chain logistics applications. Texas Instruments Inc., Zebra Technologies Corp., and Symbol Technologies Corp. will work together to market a UHF RFID technology that can be used in such areas as warehouse management.

The three companies believe that UHF RFID technology, which operates in the 862- to 928-megahertz range, offers the long read range that's needed for warehouse environments. Read range refers to the distance between the transponder that emits a signal for identification and the reader that decodes the data. A long read range would make it easier to identify and track individual pallets and containers in a warehouse.

Symbol and Zebra Technologies intend to incorporate Texas Instruments' UHF technology into their product offerings. Texas Instruments will supply inlays and high-powered reader and antenna systems for reading so-called "smart labels," which incorporate a passive RFID transponder into a traditional thermal bar-code label. Printer maker Zebra Technologies plans to develop a smart-label printer for the new UHF RFID transponders. Symbol says it will integrate the UHF RFID reader technology into its portable terminals and scanners.