TI Tag-it HF-1 Standard Card

For developers of identification systems, the Tag-it family of RFID components offers the advantages of an industry-leading technology that provides cost-effective solutions for many applications. Features, such as simultaneous identification, make Tag-it ideal for RFID innovations in a wide variety of markets. Exciting new uses are now possible, such as tracking goods throughout their assembly and distribution cycles. High-volume applications that can benefit from the technology include rapid parcel delivery, airline baggage tracking, and access control. In addition, since counterfeiters find replication of these devices difficult, smart labels can aid in helping purchasers identify genuine merchandise. Tag-it identification integrates seamlessly with existing information management systems and can coexist with other forms of data capture such as barcode. Read/write modules are compact and can communicate with Tag-it transponders without contact, simplifying the automation process. TI’s strength in chip design, digital technology, and volume manufacturing benefits Tag-it products and customers. End users can rely on TI strategic partnerships for the delivery of customized products, as well as turnkey solutions through systems integrators.

Reliable, cost-effective and informative, proven RFID technology provides the dependability needed for high-volume scanning applications and eliminates the need for manual sorting, recording, and checking. Labor and error costs are reduced. Throughput is increased. Managers gain the ability to make better decisions based upon complete and up-to-date information.

Integrators have a wide choice of options in designing automatic data collection systems based on Tag-it technology. The Series 6000 Reader System includes several models that support high performance and long read range capability. These readers can be used in fixed configurations, for example, to scan items moving along conveyors at high speeds. Reader products can be purchased as boards or as fully housed units. The S6000 Reader System communicates with Tag-it smart labels and passes that data through standard interfaces to a host computer, programmable logic controller, or other intelligent device for processing.

For ease of development, TI offers a development kit that includes the two components of a housed reader and housed antenna. Along with the Navigator software, this kit provides a powerful tool to immediately use the Tag-it technology. Demonstrations and feasibility projects can be created with little effort. Due to differences in radio frequency approval limits in the US and Europe, developer kits are available with different power settings respectively.

RFID technology can connect all phases of the supply chain, from resourcing and manufacturing to inventory control and distribution. Today, advanced data management systems are in use around the world, improving these and a variety of other vital business functions. RFID provides the ideal enhancement to these systems, adding a new level of sophistication to the speed and reliability of data capture. Tag-it can provide an economical method of tracking individual items without contact, through all stages of manufacture, distribution, and after sales support — even disposal and recycling. It simplifies warehousing, provides flexibility for mixed consignments, and assists in accountability transfers.

The airline industry constantly struggles to successfully deliver each bag to each traveler’s destination. In spite of the use of modern technology, last year millions of bags were lost, or delivered late,—costing the industry billions of dollars. Problems like this have encouraged airlines to look for new solutions, such as smart labels, to make dramatic improvements in baggage deliveries. As Tag-it labeled suitcases pass through an airport’s baggage handling system, the sorting and tracking computers read each bag’s information and flight details with almost 100% accuracy, regardless of the orientation of the bags or the speed of the conveyor. Extreme environmental conditions have no adverse effects on Tag-it smart labels. They can tolerate complete immersion in water and continue to function with the same high degree of accuracy. Smart labels also make it feasible to offer home baggage check-in, collection from railways, and dynamic baggage rerouting. Fast, dependable baggage sorting, fewer delays, reduced insurance claims — it’s a low-cost way of increasing customer satisfaction while improving profitability.

For express parcel delivery firms, Tag-it helps automate the sizable task of real-time record keeping. Leading label converters who serve this industry have integrated smart labels into standard label stock. When the parcel label is created in a printer, the smart label is programmed with pertinent information such as tracking number, sender/receiver, and final destination. It also carries a bar code and human-readable information. As the package travels through the delivery process, stationary or handheld scanners can track it. Labels can be updated at any point; parcels can be rerouted while in transit; and multiple packages can be read at conveyor speeds of up to two meters per second. The ability of RFID to reliably read multiple parcels simultaneously results in unprecedented throughput while dramatically cutting handling costs.

As trade expands worldwide, counterfeiting, diversion,organized fraud, and tax avoidance are on the increase. With web marketplaces exploding and the expansion of business-to-business e-commerce, the problem will get worse. Combating these problems effectively requires identification technology that is cost-effective to use, yet prohibitively expensive to copy. Smart labels are used in the manufacturing of expensive branded merchandise, where they are embedded directly into products such as clothing and designer goods. Once a smart label is included in an item, it not only provides absolute authentication from manufacturing to retail, but can also be updated with shipping and sales information and other useful data. Smart labels are also embedded in items like printer ink cartridges to ensure that only the correct consumable replacements are used in equipment.

RFID technology is answering the challenge of providing high-level security and access control, while minimizing inconvenience for authorized personnel. Companies in the security field are incorporating Texas Instruments RFID into systems for perimeter protection and control at entries and exits. Transponders can be laminated into employee badges with readers mounted at doors or inside of walls. Doors and gates unlock only in response to a valid authorization number.

Ski resorts are using smart label technology in lift tickets and passes. They not only authenticate the ticket as genuine and valid for that date and time, but also increase the traffic-flow rate on the lifts since passes can be read on the fly. The reader signals if there is a problem with a particular ticket. Skiers pass quickly through lift gates without having to remove their gloves to swipe a card, making their experience more pleasurable.