Digi-Key has signed a global distribution agreement with Trimble and will carry the company's line of embedded UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) modules.
Under the agreement, Digi-Key, of Thief River Falls, Minn., is authorized to sell Trimble’s ThingMagic, Mercury 6e Series and Mercury 6e Series of RFID modules.
Trimble’s ThingMagic are used to reduce development costs and speed the time-to-market for RFID applications in small form factors, according to the company. ThingMagic Mercury 6e modules are used by companies ranging from printer and handheld equipment manufacturers to healthcare and transportation organizations, Trimble said.
“Partnering with Digi-Key represents an ideal fit for Trimble ThingMagic at this time given the growth we are seeing for our embedded RFID reader modules,” said David Emma, vice president of sales, marketing and engineering for Trimble’s ThingMagic Division, in a statement.
Chris Beeson, Digi-Key executive vice president, sales and supplier development, said the agreement would help Digi-key “expand our line card, with innovative wireless solutions.”
ThingMagic’s embedded UHF RFID modules support high read rates as well as RF transmit levels allowing tags to be read at more than twice the distance of competing solutions, according to Trimble.
The modules also allow for smaller tags to be read without forfeiting read distance and enable OEMs to incorporate smaller antennas into their products without sacrificing read performance, the company said.
ThingMagic firmware also provides real-world features to the functions delivered by RFID reader chips giving customers enhanced capabilities to develop innovative and customized RFID solutions for worldwide deployment. Capabilities include multiprotocol support, multi-regional support, advanced data collection for each tag inventory and tag write, lock and kill features, and custom command support for a variety of RFID tags.
Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.
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