Impinj And Texas Instruments To Ship Interoperable RFID ProductsImpinj And Texas Instruments To Ship Interoperable RFID Products

Impinj Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. have revealed a development agreement they say will result in interoperable products for radio-frequency identification.

The cooperative effort will enable the two companies to offer products that meet the Class 1, Generation 2 standard for UHF RFID chips and tags. That standard was ratified by EPCglobal Inc. in December.

The two companies have worked closely together in the past "and will continue our ongoing collaborative activities to ensure our products are interoperable in all respects," says Chris Diorio, co-founder and chairman of Impinj.

Diorio also served as co-chairman for the EPCglobal hardware action group, which was responsible for developing the Gen 2 standard.

"Even within the Gen 2 standard there are custom, proprietary features, and we have agreed to work together to ensure products from the two companies work together in the field," Diorio says.

Impinj, which says it has $15 million in backlog orders for primarily its previous-generation Class 0 RFID chips, is a supplier of RFID chips and reader-reference designs. Texas Instruments provides RFID chips and inlays with antennas. Both companies have indicated they plan to have their first Gen 2 chips available in the second quarter of this year, with full production in the third quarter.

"I think we are beginning to see a significantly increased level of excitement," Diorio says. "In 2003 and 2004 there was a proliferation of standards, but now with the Gen 2 adoption, everybody anticipates there will be a single worldwide standard, which is leading to an increase in pilot programs."