Blue Spark Technologies, the leading designer of thin, flexible, green printed batteries, revealed innovations in the RFID market as Battery-Powered Passive RFID will be powering new and emerging applications in manufacturing, supply chain, health care, asset management, security and retail.
Battery assisted passive (BAP) RFID tags will allow for faster reads and longer read ranges than pure passive RFID. BAP RFID will also allow for higher RF signal strength and improvement in read accuracy and reliability in challenging environmental situations.
Unlike Active RFID tags, BAP RFID tags do not require as strong of a battery. Active RFID tags are typically significantly more expensive than passive RFID tags because of these more powerful batteries. With BAP RFID tags, manufacturers who cannot afford active RFID tags are now able to give many of the same advantages of active tags at a much lower cost.
“Innovation to drive improved performance typically follows after technologies mature and become increasingly more commoditized,” said Gary Johnson, Blue Spark president and CEO. “That’s what’s happening now with RFID. For many high value applications, battery assisted passive effectively bridges the price/performance gap that exists between pure passive UHF and active RFID, and does so with far less complexity and expense.”
Johnson, as well as several industry analysts, have predicted that RFID applications will generate $4.6 billion by 2015, and will be the dominant thrust in the thin-film and printed battery market.
Not only are BAP RFID tags practical for applications. They are also practical for the manufacturers. Because of their small form factor, BAP RFID tags can be made in high volumes, as well as relatively easy to integrate compared to active RFID.
With these innovations in the RFID market, Manufacturing, Asset management, Healthcare, Security, Public Safety, and Retail will see big changes in their tracking costs and performance.