Very Low Cost Miniature Radio Tag with Asic Architecture

The team of Physical Research, Inc. (PRi) and Savi Technology (Savi) propose ASIC integration for an ASIC-based container manifesting tag. Savi and the Navy/Marine Corps have been developing the Radel (Radio Label),, an innovative Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for a Radel-based Automatic Container manifesting System (RACMS). The Radel is an RFID tag designed to be placed on individual items (pallets, ammunition, etc.) that are then loaded into a shipping container. The Radel is associated with the National Stock Number (NSN) of the item to which is attached. A Radel detector, mounted inside the container, automatically collects each item's Radel information (NSN) and builds the complete container manifest. The manifest is then electronically transferred to a SealTag mounted on the outside of the container, which stores the manifest in a database from which can be queried via wireless from hand held of fixed interrogators. The SealTag and Interrogators are part of the DoD, currently deployed Savi Asset Management System (SAMS). The SAMS has been designated the sole source for military procurement of RFID equipment under MITLA contract F33600-94-D-0077. ASIC integration can reduce the cost of each Radel tag to less than $3.00/tag versus $7.00-$12.00/tag for the PCB-based Radel tag.