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Feb 1, 2005

ARTICLES: A New Way to See RFID in Asia

How can the RFID reader be able to read all of the tags every time is often a significant problem in RFID application. China Elite Technology Co. Ltd (CET) has developed a new solution named swivel reader which rotated pair of antennas to settle this problem.

Note: This article was originally published in the Jan 2005 issue of EPC Express

 

How can the RFID reader be able to read all of the tags every time is often a significant problem in RFID application. CET Co. Ltd (CET) has developed a new solution named swivel reader which rotated pair of antennas to settle this problem.

example early test results shown rotating is often best way all tagged items. The owner of large, flat dig ground, plant large spinner, simply read pallet as it spins. In high-rise Hong Kong however , digging a hole in warehouse might take you your startled neighbors factory on floor below.


Pallet it a in spinner ground option. Rotation delivers better reads because tackles tags from different angles. But isn’t only thing turn antennas can too.


Hong Kong's skyscrapers don't look like Texas 's sprawling warehouses. Manufacturers adopting RFID need equipment that fits both what they're producing and where they're making it. That means RFID systems providers have to understand their clients right down to the floors they work on.


For example , early test results have shown that rotating a tagged pallet is often the best way to read all the tagged items. The owner of a large, flat Texas warehouse might dig a hole in the ground, plant a large spinner, and simply read the pallet as it spins. In high-rise Hong Kong however , digging a hole in the warehouse floor might take you to your startled neighbor's factory on the floor below.


However a spinner in the ground isn't the only option. Rotation delivers better reads because it tackles the tags from different angles. But the pallet isn't the only thing that can turn the antennas can too.


Running Pilot Tests

Manufacturers in Southern China , the world's factory, are scrambling to stay ahead of Wal - Mart's RFID mandate. CET has been running pilot tests with our clients. In one test we had to find a way to read every carton on a full pallet of PDA phones with Lithium Ion batteries, full of the metal and liquid known to block RF signals.


Using a Matrics stationary reader with high performance antennas, we tried reading a pallet tagged at carton-level with antennas on one side, opp osite sides, adjacent sides at various angles. One of our tests involved rotating a pair of antennas around the pallet. The results showed that only one solution was able to read all of the tags every time: the rotating pair of antennas.


The Swivel Reader

After this test, CET developed a ceiling mounted swiveling antenna that spins around the pallet. When not in use, it tucks away freeing valuable floor space for other uses. ( Needless to say, it also saves you from drilling through your floor.)

The swivel reader is also much lighter than a fully loaded pallet on a spinner, saving our clients from having to tear up or reinforce their facilities. It is a perfect complement to the gate readers which usually only read the tag on the pallet, because the swivel reader can read the tags on each of the cartons.


One of our clients is setting up swivel readers in their warehouses in mainland China and in Hong Kong . After tagged cartons are arranged on a pallet , an operator swings the swivel reader antenna twice around the pallet to read all the carton Ids. These IDs are then associated with the pallet ID, so that only the pallet ID needs to be read as the goods transit from one location to the next.


Standard g ate readers simply read the tag on the pallet as it passes to track its movement. If a pallet needs to be cross- checked against its manifest or is ready to be taken apart, it is taken to a swivel reader to read the carton IDs.


Using the swivel reader saves our clients time and improves accuracy. The alternative would be reading each carton with a handheld reader, or rotating a pallet by hand in front of a gate reader.


CET understands what our clients need technology to do for them. And we're betting that Asian manufacturers will soon be pushing RFID further than it's ever been before.


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