PRESS RELEASES
Alien Technology® Introduces Its New High-Performance Integrated Circuit with Extended Memory and Security for Passive RFID Tags
Alien® H3 Integrated Circuit Designed for Markets and Applications Requiring Unique Brand and Product Integrity Identification with 512 bits of User Memory and Enhanced Security Features for EPC Gen 2 Tags
April 7, 2008, Morgan Hill, Calif. – Alien Technology, an industry leader in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) products and services, today announced its new high-performance H3 (Higgs) Integrated Circuit (IC). With 512 bits of user memory and advanced security features, the H3 complements Alien’s existing H2 product. The new IC is targeted at converters and end customers requiring exceptional performance, unique tag identification, and extended memory capabilities required to fully address RFID applications such as: airline baggage; pharmaceutical drugs; secure access; e-passports; and tracking of high-value assets and items such as electronics, or wines and spirits.
“Based on benchmark testing, the Alien Higgs-3 IC provides a 50% sensitivity improvement over competitive products, and a 25% improvement above and beyond our industry-leading Higgs-2 IC, which currently powers Alien’s Squiggle® portfolio of EPC Gen 2 inlays and tags.” said Steve Smith, CTO and founder of Alien Technology.” With the new security and memory map features, Alien continues to lead the way for new applications and markets to adopt passive RFID by once again raising the bar on performance for passive RFID tags.”
Key features of the new Alien H3 IC include:
- Authentication: the H3 has a 64-bit Unique Tag ID (UTID), which is programmed at the factory and cannot be altered. This allows the manufacturer to ensure the authenticity of any product it sells. This is particularly important to vendors of high value branded products subject to counterfeiting and diversion, pharmaceuticals held to increasingly stringent e-pedigree requirements, and merchants dealing with return fraud.
- Memory: H3 also brings a new level of memory flexibility to RFID chips with expanded user memory, block level data access passwords, an extensible EPC number, and accelerated programming commands. The IC has 512-bits of user memory, which allows it to support legacy part numbering structures, service records, and chain of custody requirements such as e-pedigree. The user memory can also be sub-divided into blocks and assigned read and write passwords, allowing the IC to contain both public and private data. The IC also supports EPC numbers up to 496-bits in length, which allows for the use of alternate part number encoding standards as well as proprietary schemes.
- Sensitivity: In addition to being more sensitive than the H2 (the IC that powers Alien’s Squiggle tags which leads industry benchmarks), the H3 builds upon the industry leading interference rejection performance of the H2. These improvements result in higher read rates, better performance in noisy Radio Frequency environments, smaller tags, and greater read range.
- Interoperability: Designed in compliance with the latest EPC v1.2 specification, the H3 supports the mandatory and optional EPC Gen 2 commands, including the item-level commands, and works with all EPC Gen 2 compliant readers. Alien RFID integrated circuits are designed to integrate with either UHF Near Field or Far Field antennas, and accommodate global UHF tags for spectrum bands inclusive of 840MHz to 960MHz.
The Alien H3 IC is currently being sampled with partners and customers, with general availability scheduled for late July. Like the H2 IC, which has been shipping since December 2006, the H3 will be available in several packaging options, including Straps and Flip Chip.
“With the introduction of its new H3 chip, Alien once again raises the bar for performance and security features,” said Michael Liard, research director for RFID and contactless technologies and markets at ABI Research. “We view the availability of Alien H2 chip and the introduction of the H3 as positive developments for Alien and the industry.”
For more information about the Alien H2 and Alien H3 ICs, including the Squiggle portfolio of inlays, please go to www.alientechnology.com/ where you can view datasheets and photographs and request access to samples.
About Higgs
Alien has traditionally named its RFID ICs after subatomic particles – the building blocks of matter. Since Alien’s initial offering of EPC Class 1 compliant silicon ICs in 2002, the Higgs family is the fourth generation of RFID IC platforms from Alien, and has been preceded by the Quark, Omega, and Lepton. Higgs-2 is currently the industry’s best performing IC, and Higgs-3 builds on that foundation by offering enhanced authentication capabilities along with extended memory. Higgs – giving mass to the RFID universe.
About Alien Technology
Founded in 1994, Alien Technology is a leading technology and product provider of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Integrated Circuits (IC), tags, readers and professional services. Alien Gen 2 products, along with software solutions from partners, help solve business problems for customers to improve productivity, processes, security and asset tracking for closed-loop and supply chain systems. These solutions are currently implemented in industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government and defense, and more. Alien's patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSATM) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low-cost RFID tags. Quatrotec, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alien Technology, is a specialized professional services and technology firm that provides complete solutions to meet the sophisticated requirements of the transportation industry. Alien’s facilities include corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, OH; Quatrotec’s offices at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO); and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCglobal. For more information please visit www.alientechnology.com
Alien, Alien Technology, the Alien logo, Higgs, Squiggle, the Squiggle logo, and FSA, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Alien Technology Corporation in the United States and other countries. Copyright 2008 Alien Technology Corporation. All rights reserved.
