Contact Information: Editorial Contacts: Lynda Kaye Mango Communications 650-799-2888
Seven RFID Organizations Support Open-Source Low-Level Reader Protocol Software Development
| Source: Impinj, Inc.
SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - July 25, 2007) - A group of radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology organizations today announced their support for the
open-source development of EPCglobal-compliant Low-Level Reader Protocol
(LLRP) software libraries, which enable EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 communications
via the LLRP universal reader-to-network interface.
The initial group comprising IBM, Impinj, Intermec, OATSystems, Pramari,
Reva Systems, and the University of Arkansas is calling for contributions
from other organizations or individuals to accelerate adoption and create a
rich set of tools in C, Java and other popular programming languages. These
tools will enable customers to deploy RFID solutions easily and quickly and
reduce long-term deployment costs while providing system flexibility to
help unlock the business process impact of RFID technology. The group
expects that LLRP development will benefit all end-use RFID application
segments including transportation, manufacturing and logistics, supply
chain management, point-of-sale, security and asset management.
Recently ratified by EPCglobal, the not-for-profit joint venture set up to
encourage the worldwide adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC)
technologies, LLRP provides a high-performance, flexible and extensible
interface for operating network-connected RFID readers. Use of LLRP allows
readers to deliver optimal performance, resulting in rich, accurate,
actionable data and events and creates the foundation for technology
providers to extend basic capabilities in satisfaction of industry-specific
requirements. Businesses desiring to use RFID will also benefit from
interface standardization because it reduces long-term deployment costs
while maintaining system flexibility.
Recognizing the important role that well-defined technology development
guidelines and standard interfaces play in widespread RFID adoption, IBM,
Impinj, Intermec, OATSystems, Pramari, Reva Systems, and the University of
Arkansas have created the LLRP Toolkit, a "one-stop shop" that includes a
software library for LLRP programmers. The library is modeled after other
successful open-source software developments such as the Berkeley sockets
application programming interface (API). The LLRP standard addresses the
reader-to-network interface layer, providing a globally available mechanism
to fully leverage the Gen 2/ISO 18000-6C standard that has addressed the
tag-to-reader air interface layer.
"The support by leading RFID technology providers for LLRP is great news
for end users implementing scalable RFID deployments," said Mike O'Shea,
Global Director of Auto-ID Sensing Technology at Kimberly-Clark. "LLRP
facilitates scalable and repeatable RFID supply chain processes and allows
end users to take full advantage of advanced RFID reader capabilities while
standardizing the common plumbing used to communicate with RFID readers."
A member of EPCglobal's Reader Operations group, Kimberly-Clark has been
active in the development and ratification of LLRP.
More information about the effort is available at www.llrp.org.
Downloadable software libraries will be available in Q307. More
information about EPCglobal standards is available at
http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards.
About IBM
For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com. For more
information about IBM's RFID solutions, please visit
www.ibm.com/solutions/businesssolutions/sensors.
About Impinj, Inc.
Impinj, Inc. is a semiconductor and RFID company whose patented
Self-Adaptive Silicon® technology enables its two synergistic business
lines: high-performance RFID products and semiconductor intellectual
property (IP). A leading contributor to the RFID standards for high-volume
supply-chain applications worldwide, Impinj leverages its technical
expertise and industry partnerships to deliver the GrandPrix™ solution,
comprising tags, readers, software and systems integration to offer RFID
that just works™. Impinj's innovative IP products, core to the
company's RFID tags, are licensed to leading semiconductor companies
worldwide, allowing them to seamlessly integrate crucial nonvolatile memory
(NVM) alongside analog and digital functionality on a single chip.
Impinj's IP products include the popular AEON® family of embeddable
cores, which provides rewriteable NVM technology in logic CMOS
manufacturing. For more information, visit www.impinj.com.
About Intermec
Intermec Inc. (NYSE : IN ) develops, manufactures and integrates technologies
that identify, track and manage supply chain assets. Core technologies
include RFID, mobile computing and data collection systems, bar code
printers and label media. The company's products and services are used by
customers in many industries worldwide to improve the productivity, quality
and responsiveness of business operations. For more information about
Intermec, visit www.intermec.com or call 800-347-2636. Contact Intermec
Investor Relations Director Kevin McCarty at kevin.mccarty@intermec.com,
425-265-2472.
About OATSystems, Inc.
OATSystems, Inc., is the recognized RFID solution leader with software that
empowers businesses to achieve competitive advantage and ROI from
radio-frequency identification (RFID) enabled applications. As a pioneer in
developing RFID technology, OAT has been setting the standards in RFID for
over half a decade and is responsible for industry firsts that include the
largest scale and largest scope of deployments, as well as the most
innovative approaches to providing enterprise-wide RFID solutions. OAT's
multinational client base consists of nearly 100 customers in retail, CPG,
consumer electronics, manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace and defense.
OAT is headquartered in Waltham, MA, and has a development office in
Bangalore and various direct sales offices and resellers around the globe.
About Pramari
Pramari, the global leader in Open Source RFID, is dedicated to
fundamentally changing the way RFID Applications are built and deployed.
As the primary developer of RIFIDI®, Pramari works with corporations and
universities to deliver the promise of Software Defined RFID™. Rifidi
is the only open source and standards based IDE for RFID and enables the
design, development, and testing of an RFID system entirely with Software
Components. Pramari is also deeply committed to contributing and improving
standards and is developing the first Virtual Reader that is LLRP compliant
and completes the "one-stop shop" ideology of the LLRP toolkit. Pramari is
headquartered in Manchester, CT with offices in Regensburg, Germany. For
additional information, please visit www.pramari.com.
About Reva Systems
Reva Systems develops RFID network infrastructure products that enable
customers to rapidly deploy scalable solutions in any environment. Reva's
standards-based Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) products facilitate
improved system performance, manageability and accuracy while significantly
lessening implementation time and complexity. Reva products are delivered
by a global network of partners and deployed worldwide by enterprises
leveraging innovative RFID applications to generate value in diverse
industries. Reva was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chelmsford,
Mass. For more information, visit http://www.revasystems.com.
About University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas is home to the RFID Research Laboratory, an
EPCGlobal-accredited Performance Test Center. For more information, see
http://itri.uark.edu/rfid/. The University's Department of Computer
Science and Computer Engineering has developed TagCentric, a basic open
source Java-based RFID middleware toolkit available on SourceForge. For
more information, see http://tag-centric.sourceforge.net/. The TagCentric
team's contribution to the LLRP open source standards effort is aimed at
plug-and-play RFID that is easy to use.