Philips expands RFID chip portfolio for global supply chain management applications
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced the next innovative evolution of its RFID semiconductor product portfolio for supply chain management applications. With the introduction of the Philips ICODE EPC and the UCODE HSL chips, Philips now offers RFID solutions for all major types of supply chain management applications. Logistics and supply chain systems greatly benefit from recent developments surrounding the Electronic Product Code (EPC) specification because chips based on the specification, such as the Philips ICODE EPC, can achieve up to 200 labels to be read per second, can store information electronically and offer greater user flexibility than current barcode technology.
An EPC is designed to provide a unique product number for every item in the supply chain or logistics system. By contrast, bar codes can only identify groups of products. With EPC technology every individual item can have a one-of-a-kind identifier, allowing inventory to be managed more effectively than ever before. The Philips ICODE EPC, the industry’s first EPC compliant IC to run at 13.56MHz, is perfectly suited for item-level management because of its high reading speed and sophisticated anti-collision (the process of reading multiple tags simultaneously) capability, averaging up to 200 labels to be accurately read, per second. The EPC standard is based on protocols specified by the Auto ID Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of which Philips Semiconductors is an official Technology Sponsor.
The Philips UCODE HSL (Ultra High frequency Smart Label) is ideally suited for long-range applications such as container and palette tracking in supply chain management and logistics applications, achieving 50 labels read per second. The UCODE HSL is the first member of the Philips UCODE IC family to operate in both the UHF and 2.45 GHz range, allowing one tag to be used worldwide where UHF is available. The use of RFID at ultra high frequency provides the range needed for reading smart tags of up to 3.5 meters (11 ft) for a single antenna reader and 7 meters (22 ft) for gate readers depending on regional regulations, the major benefit being that entire cases and pallets can be read as they come through the doors of a shipping warehouse, eliminating the need to scan each and every individual item.
“Philips works non-stop to fulfill its mission to serve the industry with chips for all high volume smart tag and label applications,” said Jan-Willem Reynaerts, general manager, Transport and Logistics, Philips Semiconductors. “Philips is committed to developing global RFID standards and to ensuring that all of our products are in line with those standards. We will continue to innovate in order to bring new and cost-effective RFID solutions for supply chain management applications to the market together with our broad network of partners.”
The ICODE EPC is currently available to vendors in sample quantities, with volumes available by the end of this year. The UCODE HSL is now available in volume quantities from Philips and is the industry’s first read/write smart label IC targeted to comply with ISO 18000-6 and ISO 18000-4 for tracking retail products. This is in line with the EAN·UCC GTAG™ program, an industry-wide initiative to provide global standards for RFID in logistics and supply chain management.
The RFID product portfolio from Philips addresses all features that are key to the supply chain management and logistics markets such as fast reading/transmission speed, standards compatibility, anti-collision, and options for the vendor to handle item security. Through its extensive network of partners across all RFID frequencies, Philips offers a complete range of solutions for the supply chain management and logistics market by covering all frequency bands for passive RFID (<135 kHz, 13.56 MHz, UHF (860 to 930 MHz) and 2.45 GHz). Philips’ unique and customizable portfolio covers all transmission frequencies and includes ICs for applications ranging from transport over asset management to supply chain management and retail.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of EUR 31.8 billion in 2002. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 164,000 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, semiconductors, and medical systems. Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at: www.semiconductors.philips.com