Active RFID chips emit a signal to RFID readers, as opposed to passive chips, which must be woken up by a reader, for information to be uploaded.
WhereNet’s latest active tags will now be able to be read by the Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance, which is part of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network that can locate tags in IEEE 802.11 WiFi mode.
WhereNet, which was bought by Zebra Technologies for $126m in January, said the deal covers its WhereTag IV active tag, which supports both ISO 24730 and IEEE 802.11-based real-time locating system applications — often called RTLS. This multimode tag would work for real-time location, messaging, telemetry, and enterprise communication applications. It could be used within a company or in its supply chain for ubiquitous asset coverage from carpeted offices to rugged industrial environments, according to Santa Clara, California-based WhereNet.
Specifically, in a dynamic RF, hard industrial environment, the tags can operate within a 300+ feet-range indoors and a 3,000+ feet-range outdoors, with extended battery life.
In WiFi mode, they can operate in stable RF environments, such as indoor carpeted areas, including those that have dense WiFi infrastructure. In this capacity, the tags have a 30 feet to 50 feet locate range.
Essentially, WhereNet has added the Cisco appliance and the Cisco Wireless Control System, or WCS, to its RTLS architecture. WhereNet’s Visibility Software Server gathers data from the company’s multimode tag and filters it accordingly.
Cisco director of mobility Ben Gibson said the advent of multimode tags would accelerate the adoption of RTLS-based applications as they become a de facto standard for companies driven to continually optimize business processes.
The WhereNet tags will cost $55 and will be available in August.
