Ambient offers ‘third generation’ active RFID
18 December, 2008
category: RFID
Dutch firm Ambient Systems has launched its Product Series 3000, billing the solution as a “third generation” RFID innovation. The new system offers three functions simultaneously: the ability to check a tagged item’s condition, track it through a series of fixed checkpoints and trace its progression through a system all in real time.
The new solution’s focal point is an intelligent RFID tag called a SmartPoint, which has integrated sensors and self-locating ability. The SmartPoints are able to store relevant product data to create a sort of digital passport for the tagged item, and are programmable by the user to identify critical “business events,” such as fluctuations in temperature.
The SmartPoint tags integrate into Ambient’s wireless mesh network. The network is self-organizing and self-healing, and does not need additional localization software, as the SmartPoints are enabled to determine their own locations using Ambient’s self-localization and self-calibration algorithms.
Product Series 3000 is designed for a range of uses in distribution, transport and industry. Among its suggested applications are safeguarding the condition of perishable goods during transport, locating assets in hospitals, or protecting and monitoring valuable assets in remote warehouses.