RFID positioning paper on self-powered RFID tag technology.
Name of Company:
Luichart Technology Ltd.
Title: (of project / business plan)
High Performance Hybrid RFID tags and systems
Date:
9th October 2009
Authors, Contacts & Professional Advisors:
Dr Calvin Tan
Bob Corless
Nigel Standley
Overview: Luichart Technology has leveraged its IP and expertise in materials science
and energy management to develop a new self-powered high performance RFID tag
design which gives the best of both worlds of the passive and battery powered RFID
tagging system. Additionally the design will enable RFID tags to be networked and
provide ports for external sensors.
1.0 Executive Summary
The Luichart RFID-HP (High Performance) tag is a unique hybrid bringing the benefits
of active tags, such as extended operating range, with the ease of use and maintenance
afforded by passive tagging and yet avoiding the shortcomings of both.
Unique materials and proprietary energy scavenging and transformation technologies
combine to deliver a transducer capable of polling and drawing power from its
environment as well as having an enhanced energy transfer rate from the polling RF
signal. The unique energy transfer capability of the Luichart high performance tag is
achieved through high-efficiency antennas which can be designed and optimised for the
environment in which the tags are operating. The use of a purpose-designed decoupling
layer electrically insulates the tag from its environment, but is still provides heat energy
transference which is transformed and stored into electrical energy for use by the tag. As
a result the tag's survivability, range and performance are all increased.
The materials used in the Luichart high performance RFID tags enable them to survive in
extreme temperature conditions (-50°C to + 240°C) and are resistant to oils, acids and
chemicals. The low-profile tag allows for an unobtrusive installation to any surface using
a range of suitable adhesives, including Luichart's purpose-engineered adhesives.
These unique capabilities and ability for a RFID-HP tag to network with other tags in a
"cascading" fashion will combine to produce highly sensitive and responsive RFID
implementations increasing the accuracy and speed of scanning assets. An aspect that we
would like to explore further is the porting of sensors each of which can modify the tag’s
responder. This would give a number of advantages in field use, for example asset denial
to an incorrectly equipped operator or warning to an operator that the asset had moved
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outside of a safety envelope (too hot; too cold; impact damage; time expiry; immersion).
2.0 Market Analysis
The implementation of RFID systems fall into two major categories: passive and active.
Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. (See Table 1: Comparison of
capabilities, page 4)
Deployment of passive tags can be found in these typical industries:Drugs
Other Healthcare
Retail apparel
Consumer goods
Tires
Postal
Books
Manufacturing parts, tools
Archiving (documents/samples)
Military
Retail CPG Pallet/case
Smart cards/payment key fobs
Smart tickets
Air baggage
Conveyances/Roll-cages/Totes
Animals
Vehicles
People (excluding other sectors)
Passport page/secure documents
Deployment of active or battery assisted tags::Pharma/Healthcare
Cold retail supply chain
Consumer goods
Postal
Manufacturing parts, tools
Archiving (samples)
Military
Retail CPG Pallet/case
Shelf Edge Labels
Conveyances/Rollcages/ULD/Totes
Vehicles
People (excluding other sectors)
Car security fobs
It is expected a total of 2.35 billion tags will be sold in 2009, the majority of which will
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be low-cost passive tags.
In 2008 the following number of tags (millions) were sold into:
Air baggage
Animals
Archiving (documents/samples)
Apparel
Books
Car clickers
Cold retail supply chain
Consumer goods
Conveyances/Roll-cages/Totes
Drugs
Manufacturing parts, tools
Military
Other Healthcare
Passport page/secure documents
People (excluding other sectors)
Postal
Retail apparel
Retail CPG Pallet/case
Shelf Edge Labels
Smart cards/payment key fobs
Smart tickets
Vehicles
Other Applications
60
90
9
130
85
48
0.01
8
28
10
70
55
15
65
1.3
2
130
200
0.2
559
325
7
130
Total market value in 2009
In 2009 IDTechEx find that the value of the entire RFID market will be $5.56 billion, up
from $5.25 billion in 2008. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID
cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors. The majority of this spend is on RFID cards
and their associated services - totalling $2.99 billion. The market for RFID is growing
and a large amount of this value is due to government-led RFID schemes, such as those
for transportation, national ID (contactless cards and passports), military and animal
tagging.
Source: IDTechEx.com
From 2007 to 2017, the Active RFID market is expected to double from its then 13%
share, to 26% (or $7bn).
The RFID market, and in particular the active RFID sector, appear to be following
Moore’s law for semi-conductor design and cost; i.e. a doubling of capability each two
years. The RFID technologies are quite mature, but with the onset of wireless
technologies in general (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc), RFID can become an intrinsic part of not
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only asset tracking and management, but also as a part of a sensor network.
Table 1: Comparison of capabilities
Luichart
Self-Powered
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Active
(Battery)
Passive
Extended Operating Range > 50m
Low Maintenance costs
Low tag cost
Highly survivable in hazardous conditions up to 240°C
Ease of installation
Adaptive wireless sensor network (porting of external sensors)
Compatible with existing RFID systems
Longevity of operation without intervention
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The Luichart tag will integrate with all existing systems and as a result there is a great
opportunity to license the design to one of the major hardware suppliers like Motorola or
Siemens. The Luichart tag would give them a huge competitive advantage over exisitng
active-tag designs.
It is unlikely that the current passive tag design will be usurped by the Luichart tag,
however, there are business out there, like the brewing industry, where the passive tag
does not give them operational excellence capabilities, and active tags are too expensive.
The same can be said for suppliers who supply compressed gasses in bottles, including
LPG. In the UK the brewing industry are considering the introduction of a deposit
scheme to combat losses through theft. Because such a scheme would require tracking of
everyone’s kegs and barrels, and provide transparency to all operators, the cost to
introduce the scheme is a major barrier, but al acknowledge they’d like to do that.
Discussions with Intellitap, a company dedicated to managing the assets of Scottish and
Newcastle in the UK, have given a clear indication that if the self powered tag was
available now and at the right price, they’d have no problem in deploying the tags as part
of their offering to Scottish and Newcastle. The major attraction will be the ability to set
up truck scanning portals where an entire load could be “read” on a drive through.
3.0 Technology Enablers
Luichart’s IP in the area of polymer modifications for thermal and electrical properties,
can be leveraged to allow existing RFID and energy scavenging technologies to be
merged onto a single polymer substrate giving significant benefits for the end user.
Each of the major components comprising the Luichart High Performance self-powered
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tag have been developed and proven in isolation from one other. A technology
demonstration program will provide an opportunity to engineer and fine the technologies
into a workable and cost effective solution.
Alongside the “hardware” technology is the “software” technology that will both control
the tags operation and that with its peers or external sensors or networks. Wireless mesh
networks are becoming more prevalent. The low cost, self powered design of the
Luichart tag would further enhance the capabilities and payback of these networks
through providing extended range of operation.
4.0 Costed Program
5.0 SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Unique technology enablers and IP to bring together proven technologies in an innovative
way.
Lower cost and superior capabilities to traditional active tag technologies.
Weaknesses
Integration issues not yet established, but it is not expected they will be “show stoppers”.
Software requirements are unknown in order to enable wireless mesh network
capabilities.
Opportunities
The RFID market is polarised between passive and active. The Luichart tag can bridge
the cost gap and bring active performance to a wider audience.
Current active-tag deployments would naturally look to a cheaper alternative on system
upgrades
Threats
The active tag design is improving each year, reducing costs (initial and maintenance)
and becoming a more attractive proposition.
If the Luichart design is not developed now, then there is less opportunity in the future to
keep or expand the price and operational capability “gap” with the active (battery
assisted) tag.
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