OMRON to Ship EPCglobally Compliant RFID Products
Omron Corporation, a global leader in automation, sensing and control technologies, announced today it will ship an IC tag inlay compliant with Class 1 Generation 2 (C1G2) of EPCglobal specifications. Sample shipments, the first from any Japanese manufacturer, will start in October to suppliers of major retailers, label converters and others. Mass production is scheduled to begin in February 2006*. The sample shipped IC tag inlay conforms to the UHF band 902-928 MHz used in the U.S., and is also compliant with EPCglobal Class1 Generation 2 (C1G2), as defined by EPCglobal, the international standardization organization.
The IC tag inlay will be produced by applying a propritary ultrasonic bonding technology. This OMRON technology uses ultrasonic waves to mount IC chip to the module substrate with less time and can strongly join the module to the antenna by metal welding. As a result, it realizes a high quality IC tag inlay mass production and can provide tags to customers at lower prices. Omron will continue to manufacture the current Class1 IC tag inlays (96 bits) for users until the new C1G2 becomes more widely adopted in the marketplace.
The reader writer will be also designed for U.S UHF band and it can support the EPCglobal standard protocols of Class0 and Class1. The reader writer which handles the newest EPCglobal C1G2 will be introduced to the market along with the C1G2 IC tag inlays. Reader writers installed in the field can be upgraded to the C1G2 by changing their firmware.
*Fiscal year 2006 North America RFID business volume estimation
1) IC tag Inlay V740 series 200 million pieces.
2) Reader writer V740 series 10,000 units
3) Antenna V740 series 20,000 units
About EPCglobal
EPCglobal, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation jointly established in September 2003 by EAN International, a European distribution standardizing organization, and UCC, an organization responsible for the distribution and management of bar codes. EPCglobal handles operation and management of the RFID tag and network technology combined EPC (Electronic Product Code) system. EPCglobal has assumed responsibility over the research findings of the Auto ID Center which carried out research and international standardization for RFID tag systems. Please visit www.epcglobalinc.org/
About OMRON
Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, OMRON Corporation is a global leader in the field of automation. Established in 1933 and headed by President Hisao Sakuta, Omron has more than 25,000 employees in over 35 countries working to provide products and services to customers in a variety of fields including industrial automation, electronic components industries, and healthcare. The company is divided into five regions and head offices are in Japan (Kyoto), Asia Pacific (Singapore), China (Hong Kong), Europe (Amsterdam) and US (Chicago). The European organisation has its own development and manufacturing facilities, and provides local customer support in all European countries.
Contact:
Takayuki Nakamura
Media Relations Officer,
Corporate Brand Communications Department
Phone: +81-3-3436-7202
e-mail: takayuki_nakamura@omron.co.jp