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Trolley Scan smashes UHF RFID barrier

Trolley Scan has announced that it has crossed another major technical hurdle in the development of long range, efficent, low cost, passive RFID systems.

Trolley Scan has developed and put into production the most sensitive passive single chip UHF RFID system ever developed. With this system, it is possible to read the credit card-sized Ecochiptag tag at an amazing 11 m range when the transponders are attached to metal objects.

Said Mike Marsh, MD of Trolley Scan, "The holy grail of RFID is to produce simple, small, efficient transponders that are easy to mass produce and offer good operating range. The most frequently asked question is how well will RFID systems work in the presence of metal? Well the answer now is 11 metres!"

The major advancement achieved in the past month has been the development of a new generation of super sensitive reader to match the requirements of the extremely low-power Ecochiptag transponders that are now available.

Says Marsh, "Trolley Scan has had to develop a new generation of reader that differs significantly from the standard backscatter receiver used for passive RFID in the past. With Ecochiptag RF power requirements dropping to less than 200 µW, the reflected backscatter signal from the transponder was becoming so weak that it was not detectable 10 m away in the presence of the energising signal at the same frequency using conventional backscatter receivers. Our new receiver will serve future generations of Ecochiptags for sensitivities between 200 µW and 50 µW which are under development. The new receiver is able to detect transponders from as close as 2 cm out to 11 m with no adjustment.

"This dynamic range and sensitivity allows us to develop portable readers that will need simpler antenna systems suitable for mobile use."

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