The EPCglobal Hardware Certification Mark assures the marketplace that the RFID product to which it is affixed has been rigorously tested against EPCglobal standards by MET Laboratories, which was chosen as EPCglobal's worldwide, third-party testing partner in 2004. The EPCglobal Hardware Certification Program tests and certifies RFID silicon chips, readers, reader modules, and printer/encoders with embedded reader modules.
Introduced in April 2005 and now in volume production, Monza is the first silicon chip to achieve certification. Monza interoperates with multiple Gen 2 readers, reader modules and printers which have received the EPCglobal Certification Mark. One of these readers, Impinj's Speedway, has been certified for operation in all modes of the Gen 2 standard, including the challenging "dense reader mode." The dense reader mode of Gen 2 was designed specifically for environments such as retail distribution centers and warehouses, to prevent a high number of readers from interfering with each other.
"Impinj is delighted to receive formal EPCglobal certification for our Monza chips and Speedway reader," said Dr. William Colleran, Impinj president and CEO. "Our customers can continue deploying our Gen 2 products with the assurance that they fully comply with the EPCglobal standard. With our Gen 2 products certified for tags and readers in dense reader mode, Impinj establishes a new milestone for the RFID industry."
"EPCglobal US commends the first recipients of the Hardware Certification Mark for their leadership and commitment to the shared benefits of the EPCglobal Network," said EPCglobal US president Mike Meranda. "It is indeed exciting to see the first, groundbreaking products hit the marketplace so quickly after the UHF Gen 2 standard was ratified in December 2004. As more and more certified products become available, the widespread adoption and implementation of the Electronic Product Code (EPC) and the EPCglobal Network will bring our vision of a world of connected commerce clearer and closer to reality."
About Monza™ Gen 2 Tag Chips
Monza chips, part of Impinj's GrandPrix™ solution for robust RFID systems, implement all mandatory features and several optional commands of the Gen 2 protocol delivering the many benefits promised by Gen 2, including superior tag throughput and compliance with global spectrum regulations. As demonstrated in several pilots currently underway, Monza chips establish new benchmarks for range, readability, and high-speed field rewriteability. Orientation insensitivity is an added benefit when Monza is used in Impinj's unique dual antenna configuration. In keeping with Impinj's high quality standards, Monza chips are 100% factory tested and exhibit excellent RF impedance and ESD protection characteristics, critical for ensuring superior inlay manufacturability at the highest assembly speeds.
About the Speedway™ RFID Dense-Mode Reader
The Speedway™ reader is the industry's first high-performance reader designed from the ground up to support the EPCglobal Gen 2 standard in its entirety. Speedway delivers unrivaled capabilities by eliminating ghost reads and supporting the most challenging operating modes of the Gen 2 protocol, dense-reader environment and 640 kbps tag-to-reader data rates. Empowered by Impinj's patented approach to noise immunity, the Speedway reader and its four duplexed antenna ports deliver outstanding range, read sensitivity and configuration flexibility. Speedway offers field-upgradeable software and support for customer application software.
About Impinj, Inc.
Impinj, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company whose patented Self-Adaptive Silicon® technology enables its two synergistic business lines: high performance RFID products and cost-effective semiconductor intellectual property (SIP). A leading contributor to the RFID standards for high volume supply-chain applications worldwide, Impinj leverages its technical expertise and industry partnerships to deliver the GrandPrix™ solution, comprising tags, readers, software and systems integration to offer RFID that just works™. Impinj's innovative SIP products, core to the company's RFID tags, are licensed to leading semiconductor companies worldwide, allowing them to cost-effectively integrate crucial nonvolatile memory (NVM) alongside analog and digital functionality on a single chip. Impinj's SIP products include the popular AEON™ memory, the world's first rewriteable NVM technology compatible with logic CMOS manufacturing, and AEFuse™, the world's first rewriteable fuse architecture. For more information, visit www.impinj.com.
Impinj, Self-Adaptive Silicon, GrandPrix, Monza, Speedway, "RFID that just works," AEON, and AEFuse are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Impinj, Inc.
Editorial Contacts: Jill West Impinj, Inc. 206-834-1110 Email Contact Lynda Kaye Mango Communications 650-799-2888 Email Contact