RFID unit connects up to four antennas

Omron is releasing an RFID reader/writer which is compatible with UHF frequency bands.

Omron is releasing an RFID reader/writer which is compatible with UHF frequency bands.

The unit conforms to European RoHS Directive, but is intended for use in the US retail industry - the first of its kind in the world.

The reader/writer is a monostatic type that uses an integral transmission and reception antenna element and can be connected with up to four antennas.

Omron plans to ship 2000 reader/writer units to the North American market during fiscal 2005 with a sales goal of 500 million yen.

Following this, Omron also plans to market an RoHS-compatible UHF-band RFID reader/writer for the European market.

Until now, Omron has marketed bistatic type RFID reader/writers, which require separate antenna elements for transmission and reception and can connect with up to two antennas.

The monostatic type reader/writer, to be released for the first time among the ThingMagic licensees, allows connection of up to four antennas - twice that of the bistatic type.

It maintains the same performance level as with one antenna even when four antennas are connected, thus proving highly cost effective.

The new reader/writer also supports EPCglobal Class C1b protocol.

Moreover, by upgrading its firmware, it will accommodate Class 1 Generation 2 protocol by EPC Global (C1G2) from October 2005.

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