Long-life, long-lived RFID chip market

Assa Abloy Identification Technology is one of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of RFID and identification products. It recently announced the launch of the new Sokymat IN Tag F-Mem 16kbit RFID tag, designed specifically for use in harsh industrial environments. This new IN Tag F-Mem tag is manufactured using a unique ferroelectric material process [FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory)] and has a long read/write life. This random-access random access memory is particularly suitable for use in industrial and automated production environments, and only FRAM can meet the requirements of such a harsh production environment.

The function of this tag is a bit like a small database that can record every move of a tracked object. In the production line of the manufacturing industry, the memory content of the tag will be partially updated every time the tracking object passes through a process. Depending on the length of the product's manufacturing cycle and the number of processes, the number of data stored per day can easily reach hundreds of times, reaching several million times a year. This frequent read and write times can only be tolerated by the FRAM process.

The original RFID tag uses a common EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and has a write life of about 100,000 times. With IN Tag F-Mem 16kbit, the number of writes can be increased by 100,000 times, reaching a read/write life of ten billions.

The IN Tag F-Mem has a large storage capacity and can store approximately 2`000 characters at a time. It is also compatible with the ISO15693/ISO18000-3 standard and operates at 13.56 MHz.

The IN Tag F-Mem tag is a supplement to ITG's current IN Tag product line and features a high-capacity RFID chip using the FRAM process. The IN Tag product line is available in a variety of sizes (20, 30, 50mm) for different reading distances and environmental applications. Due to its robust structure, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, this label is particularly suitable for use in automated production environments.

The FRAM process has other advantages compared to EEPROM, such as lower power consumption during write operations, only one thousandth of EEPROM; and the increase in write performance, read and write performance is equally good. The FRAM process is insensitive to gamma rays, so the IN Tag F-Mem chip can be used to track items in certain environments, such as in a hospital where gamma ray sterilization is used.

Philippe Held, Director of ITG's Industrial and Logistics Business Unit, said: "The FRAM process integrates RFID on a small circuit board and can naturally be used in industrial and automatic applications. IN Tag F-Mem 16kbits can make integrators in automation and OEM customers can achieve billions of write lifetimes easily, cost-effectively and reliably.The IN Tag F-Mem 16kbits RFID chip has become the preferred choice for OEMs in some well-known automation industries."

Reprinted from: Shengying Science and Technology