Finnish RFID developer UPM Raflatc has partnered with Blue Spark Technologies, a supplier of thin, flexible printed battery solutions, to develop and market products and applications using emerging battery assisted passive (BAP) RFID technology.
The development of BAP RFID gained momentum with the launch of a new EPC Gen2 battery assisted passive RFID chip from Swiss-based EM Microelectronic. EM’s new chip is capable of battery-assisted read ranges up to 50 meters and features 1024 bits of non-volatile memory. The chip also includes a “low battery” alarm.
UPM Raflatac and Blue Spark both point to battery assisted passive RFID as the next step in the evolving RFID market. From both a price and performance standpoint, BAP effectively bridges the gap between pure passive RFID technology and high-end active and real-time location systems (RTLS).
The partners plan to focus their research efforts on developing high-volume BAP RFID-enabled products for consumer, life sciences and industrial markets. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/rfidnews-4.gif)
