OMRON Develops World's First Antenna Technology That Boosts UHF RFID Tag Read Performance.Tokyo, Japan, Mar 27, 2006 - (JCN JCN Japan Corporate News JCN Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience JCN Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing JCN Journal of Christian Nursing JCN Job Control Number JCN Journal of Child Neurology JCN joint communications network (US DoD) Newswire) - OMRON Corporation (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). : 6645, NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : OMRNY), a global leader in automation, sensing and control technologies, announced today that it has developed a new electronic control antenna technology. The technology is the first of its kind(*1) to be embedded in UHF-band RFID reader A transmitter/receiver that reads the contents of RFID tags in the vicinity. Also called an "RFID interrogator." The maximum distance between the reader's antenna and the tag vary, depending on application. that can improve RFID tag An electronic identification device that is made up of a chip and antenna. For reusable applications, it is typically embedded in a plastic housing, and for tracking shipments, it is usually part of a "smart" packaging label. reading performance. (Patent pending) UHF (Ultra High Frequency) The range of electromagnetic frequencies from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. In the U.S., analog television has used UHF channels 52 to 69 in the 700 MHz band. offers significantly greater communications range than other frequency bands. As a result, the use of UHF RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) A data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. systems for full traceability of products has seen tremendous growth in the retail and logistics industries, mainly in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. but also in other parts of the world. UHF tags, however, are subject to multipath interference Multipath interference is a phenomenon in the physics of waves whereby a wave from a source travels to a detector via two or more paths and, under the right condition, the two (or more) components of the wave interfere. (*2), an inherent problem of electromagnetic signals, which can make an RFID tag unreadable even if it is within the range of the reader. To solve this problem, OMRON developed a new type of antenna technology that can electronically control the electromagnetic field electromagnetic field Property of space caused by the motion of an electric charge. A stationary charge produces an electric field in the surrounding space. If the charge is moving, a magnetic field is also produced. A changing magnetic field also produces an electric field. emitted from the reader. By adopting this technology for UHF RFID systems, OMRON has succeeded in reducing reflections, thus minimizing the degradation of system performance due to multipath interference. While an electromagnetic wave See spectrum. Electromagnetic wave A disturbance, produced by the acceleration or oscillation of an electric charge, which has the characteristic time and spatial relations associated with progressive wave motion. from a conventional antenna propagates over a wide area as it travels in a given direction, OMRON's new antenna technology allows a wave with directivity to propagate in any specific direction, with the direction of the propagation controllable from the reader. This makes it possible to direct the wave's direction of propagation so as to avoid objects in the vicinity of the beam that may cause signal reflections. The result is reduced multipath interference, leading to significantly improved tag read performance of UHF RFID readers. End-user benefits delivered by this new technology include faster data transfer and more stable communications between the reader and RFID tag compared to conventional RFID systems. Moreover, it lessens the need for adjustment in varied system installation conditions and minimizes impediments to system performance. OMRON's development of new antenna technology is intended to solve issues encountered by UHF RFID systems. As such, OMRON plans to conduct experiments for verifying and evaluating the validity of the technology for various potential applications, with the goal of commercializing and implementing the technology into RFID readers by the latter half of fiscal 2006. Effects of electronic control antenna With a conventional patch antenna, there are numerous holes in the electromagnetic field. OMRON's new antenna technology proves effective in eliminating these holes, which can disable communications. The charts below show the communications signal distribution patterns perpendicular to the floor for the conventional antenna and the new electronic control antenna installed 1.5 meters above the floor. The directivity of the new antenna was controlled in the vertical direction. *1. First in the world to be embedded in UHF RFID readers, according to OMRON survey as of March 2006. *2. Multipath is a type of interference caused by multiple waves taking different paths, which creates spots in which waves attenuate To reduce the force or severity; to lessen a relationship or connection between two objects. In Criminal Procedure, the relationship between an illegal search and a confession may be sufficiently attenuated as to remove the confession from the protection afforded by the each other within a communications area. When reading UHF RFID tags, multipath interference often occurs when a radio signal from the reader is reflected off of nearby objects, such as the floor and walls, resulting in multiple reflected waves in addition to the wave that directly arrives at the RFID tag (Point "A"). About OMRON Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, OMRON Corporation is a global leader in the field of automation. Established in 1933 and headed by President Hisao Sakuta, OMRON has more than 25,000 employees in over 35 countries working to provide products and services to customers in a variety of fields including industrial automation, electronic components industries, and healthcare. The company is divided into five regions and head offices are in Japan (Kyoto), Asia Pacific (Singapore), China (Hong Kong), Europe (Amsterdam) and US (Chicago). The European organisation has its own development and manufacturing facilities, and provides local customer support in all European countries. For more information, visit OMRON's Web site at www.omron.com. Source: OMRON Contact: OMRON Corporation Corporate Brand Communications Department James Seddon (james_seddon@omron.co.jp) Takayuki Nakamura (takayuki_nakamura@omron.co.jp) Telephone: +81-3-3436-7202 Facsimile: +81-3-3436-7029 Copyright [c] 2006 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network K.K. |
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