| Abstract: | Mojix, founded in 2004, releases its first application, a tracking system based on NASA technology and designed to provide much-improved RFID coverage in industrial settings. |
| Keywords: | RFID company, RFID vendor |
A new entrant to the passive RFID market today unveiled a system it claims can provide the read ranges and applications typical of active RFID equipment via lower-cost passive technology. Mojix, which had operated in stealth mode since its founding in 2004, will demonstrate its STAR (Space Time Array Reader) system later this week at the RFID Journal Live show in Las Vegas.
Mojix claims the STAR system, which works with EPCglobal Gen 2 passive RFID tags, can provide 20 times the read range (up to 600 feet), and 100 times the coverage area (up to 250,000 square feet) of conventional passive RFID equipment, for applications including presence detection and location tracking, authentication, asset tracking within the supply chain, and security scenarios.
The Mojix product uses advanced digital signal processing technology derived from deep space communications applications first developed at NASA, where the company’s CEO, Ramin Sadr, worked prior to founding Mojix.
“Current RFID systems evolved from bar code readers, which are reliable, well-understood, and well-managed by WMS systems. But the technology is based on a fixed portal limited to a coverage area of about 2,500 square feet,” according to Kevin Duffy, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Mojix. The Mojix system “is designed not as a portal, but to provide a ubiquitous view of a three-dimensional volume of space,” Duffy said in a briefing with Managing Automation.
In contrast with a conventional passive RFID system, in which transmitter-receivers, or readers, provide energy for tags, Mojix physically separates the receiver and transmitter functions. “Instead of placing readers everywhere, you have a set of low-cost transmitters that provide energy to activate tags and respond back to a single receiver,” Duffy said.
The Mojix system comprises one or more STAR receivers, which are mounted to a wall within a factory or other area. For each receiver, the company installs a set of up to 512 Mojix eNode transmitters, which need not be located within the receiver’s line of sight. Each transmitter can be individually controlled by the STAR reader, which, in turn, can integrate with enterprise systems via a local area network.
Mojix officials said the STAR system has been field tested by leading CPG companies, including Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, and Procter & Gamble, which will reveal the results of the trials during a panel discussion with the company at RFID Journal Live this week.
AMR Research analyst John Fontanella, who is also scheduled to participate in the panel discussion, said he is looking forward to hearing the response to the Mojix system from end users. “Like all new technologies, it’s not going to perform flawlessly,” Fontanella said in an interview. “I’m curious to hear what the customers have to say in terms of performance, but it certainly has the potential to change the way people think about and deploy RFID infrastructure within stores and distribution centers.”
Technology such as Mojix’s is a good sign for the RFID market in general, Fontanella said. “It’s just an example of the innovation we’re seeing with RFID,” as providers begin to look beyond Wal-Mart’s supplier mandates at new ways to apply the technology, he said, noting a renewed interest in the technology from tech giants, including IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard, all of which plan to participate in this year’s RFID Journal Live show.
ABI Research Director Michael Liard noted that while the Mojix system is positioned to offer exceptional range and provide coverage over a large area, potentially lowering total cost of ownership and overall RFID system deployment investment, “this, of course, is tied to price point — something Mojix has yet to publicly unveil,” Liard told Managing Automation.
Page : 12 ... NEXT
 |
|
|
|