Smallest claim for low-cost RFID chip

An Innovision Research and Technology product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Feb 6, 2004

Innovision Research and Technology will unveil the smallest and lowest-cost RFID chip ever produced for smart ticketing applications this week.

Innovision Research and Technology will unveil the smallest and lowest-cost RFID chip ever produced for smart ticketing applications this week.

Innovision R and T's chip, known as Jewel, will be launched at the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) Automatic Fare Collection Conference in Bologna, Italy, taking place from 4th to 6th February 2004.

With a silicon area approximately 30% smaller than the nearest competing product, the new RFID tag is inexpensive to produce.

Until now the cost of mass transit smart tickets has been relatively high, but Jewel will enable companies to produce convenient, low-cost, ISO14443A-compatible contactless tickets suitable for deployment with existing ticket types and in virtually any type of public transportation system.

"Innovision R and T's developments in RFID tag production will mean that contactless ticketing will no longer be the preserve of high-value season tickets", says Trevor Crotch-Harvey, Innovision R and T's Director of Sales.

"By driving the cost of chip production down, we have made smart card technology economically viable for use in daily, weekly, occasional and complex-pattern journeys that 21st century commuters and travellers frequently make".

Compatible with international standards - including ISO14443A - and included in the UK transport standard ITSO version 2.1, Jewel is interoperable with existing mass transit fare collection systems.

Because Jewel-based tickets are contactless, neither the ticket nor the reading device is susceptible to the wear and tear of conventional magnetic-stripe systems, and therefore requires minimal maintenance for ticket reading machinery.

Widespread deployment of contactless ticketing will allow transportation managers to collect more refined travel and journey management information, enabling them to develop more efficient timetables, reduce costs and delays, and improve safety.

Jewel also offers travellers convenience: because they are interrogated by a radio signal reader device, Jewel smart tickets do not require line of sight, and so users need not remove their tickets from their wallets or purses.

Innovision R and T is now working in partnership with mass transit operators and ticket converters across the globe to design the next generation of smart tickets for 21st century travel.