ThingMagic, a division of Trimble that makes embedded UHF RFID reader engines, development platforms and offers design services, has announced the addition of Micro-LTE to its Mercury6e Series of embedded UHF RFID modules.
ThingMagic uses Ultra High Frequency RFID technology that allows tags to be placed just about anywhere for RFID readers to read them.
The Micro-LTE joins the ThingMagic Micro family of 2-port RFID modules. The Micro is designed for applications with medium to large tag populations, while the new Micro-LTE is optimized for small tag populations. Both support the EPCglobal Gen2 standard for RFID operations.
Micro-LTE fits battery operated applications and wide RF output range (-5 dBm to +30 dBm) which are key requirements for RFID enabled printers, tag commissioning stations and point of sales readers.
The RF transmit levels and receive sensitivity of the Micro and Micro-LTE can read RFID tags at over twice the distance of alternative solutions, according to the company. Both Micro and Micro-LTE are designed for high-volume production environments and support both traditional board-to-board mounting and solder down surface mounting.
The new Micro-LTE is 46 mm L x 26 mm W x 4.0 mm H. The ThingMagic firmware provides for customized RFID solutions for global deployment, including multiprotocol support, multi-regional support, and custom command support for a variety of RFID tags.
ThingMagic, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 2000 by a group of PhD graduates from Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. In 2001 MIT’s Auto-ID Center worked with ThingMagic to develop an RFID reader that could talk to any RFID tag, on any radio frequency and that could integrate seamlessly with the Internet. This led to the Mercury 1 RFID reader, which demonstrated interoperability using the EPC (Electronic Product Code) standard for the very first time.
Trimble acquired ThingMagic in October 2010.
