RFID chip is first to ISO18000-6A

The EM4223 is a new UHF RFID integrated circuit which is fully compliant with ISO18000-6A and the EPC 64bit and 96bit code structures.

The EM4223 is a new UHF RFID integrated circuit which is fully compliant with ISO18000-6A and the EPC 64bit and 96bit code structures.

The EM4223 is the first RFID IC on the market to be compliant with ISO18000-6A, a standard finalised in 2003 and which will be published in the coming months.

The EM4223 is a high-performance 128bit read-only UHF circuit with a robust anticollision protocol.

It is frequency independent from 865MHz to 2.5GHz and is compliant with worldwide radio regulations.

It works with very low radiated power, not only in the USA but also in Europe and in Japan.

The EM4223 has been designed using EM advanced CMOS technology optimised for RFID and will be produced in EM's own fab in Switzerland.

The circuit layout has been conceived for easy assembly by antenna manufacturers.

An amazing feature of EM4223 is that it can read tags at a distance above 15m when using an optimised transponder antenna.

It also has an enhanced anticollision protocol that performs without saturation effect.

Indeed, with other RFID chips, it may happen that the reader saturates and is not able to read more than a certain number of tags because the transmission channel becomes saturated.

"The saturation limits of the transmission channel of EM4223 are extended to such a point that a reader is able to read over one thousand tags simultaneously present in the field", said Mougahed Darwish, President of the Management Board of EM Microelectronic.

"Due to its high speed anticollision feature, it is also possible to read two hundred EM4223 tags per second.

This high throughput will set new performance benchmarks, especially when operating under the prevailing ETSI regulation".

Another advantage of this protocol is that EM4223 tags can enter and/or leave the field without corrupting the anticollision protocol itself, ensuring that all tags are read.

This key feature is particularly important in logistics applications where tracked items are always in motion.

The application family identifier (AFI) is a segment of the memory, in addition to the user memory, which defines families of items to be tracked as per ISO18000-6A.

AFI allows a direct selection mechanism, enhancing the anticollision throughput and reducing the data flow on the network.

With this feature embedded in EM4223, it is possible for a reader to make a reading only on one specified type of item while included as part of a group of different items.

For instance, this feature is useful in the case of a pallet containing different types of goods and one wants to read only one type among all of the goods.

The electronic product code (EPC) is a unique ID number that identifies a specific item in the supply chain.

The EM4223 complies with the current EPC code specification with the possibility to encode the EPC64 or EPC96.

The most popular EPC96 is the GTIN number, but any other can be placed within the 128bit user data segment of EM4223.

RFID ICs operating in the UHF band can be used in many different applications requiring a long distance reading range, in particular supply chain management, transport and logistics management, industrial applications, anti-counterfeiting, parcel and baggage tracking, pharmaceuticals, biologistics, toll road collection, as well as sport applications.

EM4223 completes and diversifies the family of UHF RFID circuits of EM Microelectronic.

EM has already shipped EM4223 parts to antenna and reader manufacturers for implementation.

EM will accept production orders for EM4223 for shipment in the second quarter of 2004.

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