RFID tags get smaller – and more common
Hitachi have announced the smallest RFID chips to date – only 0.05mm x 0.05mm in dimension. They are so small that to the human eye they resemble particles of dust, and so thin they can be embedded in paper. Hitachi’s smallest RFID tag to date, the tiny Mu chip, is 64 times larger and has the same storage capacity as the new chip.
The problem, as always with RFID, is the antenna. It has to be large enough so that scanners can induce a current and communicate with the chip. The smaller the antenna, the more difficult this is, and the shorter the scanning range of the tag.
However, there are clever ways to incorporate antennae into products or packaging unobtrusively – and even very small consumer products are generally presented in “excess” packaging in order to improve on-shelf visibility.
This kind of innovation suggests that RFID is becoming more ubiquitous. It’s no longer a blue-skies technology: it has filtered through into the hobby electronics market , with books such as “RFID Toys: 11 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment” on the market (if you fancy making your own RFID catflap).
Links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6389581.stm – full report from BBC News
http://www.hitachi.com
Categories: Supply Chain News and Comment.
Tags: RFID, Technology
Comments: 1
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Time 26 April 2007 at 10:16 pm
[...] RFID tags get smaller – and more common 13Mar07 Hitachi have announced the smallest RFID chips to date – only 0.05mm x 0.05mm in dimension. They are so small that to the human eye they resemble particles of dust, and so thin they can be embedded in paper. Hitachi’s smallest RFID tag to date, the tiny Mu chip, is 64 times larger and has the same storage capacity as the new chip. The problem, as always with RFID, (more…) [...]