Alien Technology has announced the expansion of its portfolio of EPC Gen 2 RFID readers with the introduction of three new RFID products. The new readers are aimed at industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail, manufacturing, transportation, airports and cargo logistics, government, and defence industries.

     According to Scot Stelter, Alien''s director of product marketing, the new reader portfolio was designed to help the company''s partners serve their customers in existing and emerging segments with a wider variety of performance and price points. 116.25.49.193 This article is copyright 2007 UsingRFID.com.

ALR-9900 Enterprise reader
     ALR-9900 Enterprise The ALR-9900 is a mono-static, dense-reader mode, enterprise-class reader for demanding manufacturing, asset management and supply chain applications. The ALR- 9900 builds upon the success of the Alien ALR-9800 by improving read rates and deployability, while retaining industry-leading software compatibility.

     Enhanced sensitivity and increased interference rejection ensure higher read rates in noisy environments. A 50% reduction in footprint and 4 monostatic antenna ports support easier deployment and a wider variety of applications. Backward compatible support for the Alien Reader Protocol ensures rapid compatibility with many existing RFID software products. Designed to operate within the 902-928 MHz band, the ALR-9900 is immediately available for use in the Americas, and will be available for use in Asia in and Europe in early 2008. The ALR-9990 has list price of $2199.00.

ALR-9650 smart antenna
     The ALR-9650 is a smart antenna-class, quick-start RFID solution for in-building asset and item-level tracking, and is an ideal solution for single and two-antenna applications.

     With its integrated antenna, Power-Over Ethernet (POE) and out-of-the-box software compatibility, the ALR-9650 Gen 2 RFID Reader is a simple, low-profile solution for a variety of applications. The ALR-9650 takes up little space. At only 9 inches square it uses less than half the real estate of a typical reader and antenna system.

     The ALR- 9650 easily fits into a variety of tight spaces and enables neat and tidy placement when it is visible to consumers or the general public. Compatible with the Alien Reader Protocol, the ALR-9650 will enjoy support from a wide variety of existing RFID software products. The ALR-9650 has list price of $1099.00 with availability in December.

ALR-9824 portal
     The ALR-9824 builds upon the success of the ALX-9010 series of portal appliances to provide a complete and easy-to-install dock-door portal solution in a durable casing.

     The portal is powered by the leading ALR-9800 Gen 2 RFID reader with four high-gain antennas included. The portal family includes the EPC Gen 2 Dense Reader Mode certified ALR-9800 and includes single-sided, double-sided and extended height options. The ALX-9010 series include: ALR-9812, ALR-9814, ALR-9822 and the new ALR-9824. The ALX-9010 portal family is immediately available and has a starting list price of US$4747.

Backward compatibility
     The Alien reader portfolio is backward compatible with existing Alien readers. Alien network-ready EPC RFID readers use the widely-supported Alien Reader Protocol, with reader software support including BizTalk Server 2006 R2, IBM WebSphere 6.0, Oat Systems, Oracle, GlobeRanger, and many others. Proven support for SAP through third-party middleware is also available. A well-documented SDK featuring.NET and Java libraries enables easy and custom interfaces to control the reader as required.

     Alien''s portfolio of RFID readers and tags are supported through Alien Technology''s global network of more than 200 authorized distributors, Value Added Resellers (VARs), independent software vendors (ISVs), converters and Alliance partners. Alien readers and tag products have earned designation as Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technologies under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act of 2002 for airports baggage and cargo handling systems.

New tags, too
     At the same time, Alien also announced the expansion of its portfolio of Alien Squiggle EPC Gen 2 RFID tags, with the introduction of two new form factors for case and item-level tracking in the consumer packaged goods, retail, transportation, government and defence industries. Together, the new tags signal the maturation of the market, with smaller, higher performance tags enabling more sophisticated tagging and broader implementation.

Squiggle-SQ
     The newest member of the Alien family, the diminutive Squiggle-SQ (ALN-9529), delivers good range in the item-tagging arena despite being the size of a postage stamp. Due to its combination of size and performance, the tag is ideal for use in the pharmaceutical segment as well as other high-value, item-level applications.

Tuned to operate optimally in the 902 to 928 MHz frequency range, the Squiggle-SQ will be available for sampling in October 2007 with volume production in December 2007.

Squiggle-SH
      Delivering the same range and sensitivity of the Squiggle-SQ, the Squiggle-SH was designed to meet the global supply chain''s requirement for an inlay that works with a 3-inch label. The Squiggle-SH is available for sampling in December 2007 with volume production in Q1 2008.

     All inlays and tags are based on the Alien H2 UHF RFID IC, and all members of the tag family are manufactured using Alien''s patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA) process, which delivers high inlay volumes at low unit costs. Alien tags are designed to deliver uniform global operation within the worldwide RFID frequency spectrum of 860 to 960 MHz.

 

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