))) TI Sees Chain Reaction in RFID

Rick Morgan
December 26, 2003

"I feel like the RFID industry has been pushing a snowball uphill, and Wal-Mart and the DoD have come along and helped us push it over the top of the mountain," said Bill Allen, marketing manager, Texas Instruments RFid Systems (TI). "Now the snowball is rolling down the other side, picking up speed and getting larger by the day. This is the biggest and best thing to ever happen to the RFID industry."

Allen's reaction is fairly typical among RFID vendors and IC (integrated circuit) manufacturers. But, that makes it no less noteworthy, and the two giant users will continue to create a stir in the press. The supply chain is the Holy Grail for RFID applications, and Allen believes that, as RFID becomes a powerful tracking solution for retail suppliers, other markets for the technology will grow as well.

"We've seen opportunities come and go," said Allen. "Baggage tracking was always touted as a giant opportunity for RFID vendors. It never materialized as well as expected, but it could take off now as the supply chain begins to serve as a testimonial to the technology."

Clearly the other major driver for RFID has been the development of the Electronic Product Code (EPC) and, in turn, the creation of EPCglobal. EPCglobal, a joint venture between the Uniform Code Council (UCC) and EAN International, is as powerful a force as any we have seen in recent years. An RFID vendor that doesn't belong to EPCglobal, really doesn't have a grasp on the situation. TI was a holdout during the days of the Auto-ID Center, but has now-like many other vendors-become a member of EPCglobal.

"TI has always been active in standards development," Allen told SCAN/DCR. "We believe EPCglobal, under the control of the UCC and EAN, provides yet another forum for TI to push its standards agenda."

One thing Allen particularly likes about the current EPCglobal initiative is that it addresses multiple technologies. "No one technology will do it all," said Allen. "If you drop a low frequency tag in a gallon of milk, you can still read it. The same cannot be said for a UHF tag. On the other hand, a UHF tag may have a read range of 20 to 30 feet. That's a very alluring benefit you can't get with lower frequency tags.

"Access control is another app that is touted as a potential market for RFID. But, humans are 80% water, so like the milk analogy, UHF tags are not good for that market. My real point is that all frequencies will play a role in the total RFID market."

TI is now developing its own UHF product. "The focus in the UHF sector has been on a 5-cent tag," said Allen, "and that's been unfair. We now believe the market is ready to accept more reasonable expectations. And, we believe new apps will emerge as RFID becomes more credible."