SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - July 25, 2007) - A group of radio frequency identification(RFID) technology organizations today announced their support for theopen-source development of EPCglobal-compliant Low-Level Reader Protocol(LLRP) software libraries, which enable EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 communicationsvia the LLRP universal reader-to-network interface.
The initial group comprising IBM, Impinj, Intermec, OATSystems, Pramari,Reva Systems, and the University of Arkansas is calling for contributionsfrom other organizations or individuals to accelerate adoption and create arich set of tools in C, Java and other popular programming languages. Thesetools will enable customers to deploy RFID solutions easily and quickly andreduce long-term deployment costs while providing system flexibility tohelp unlock the business process impact of RFID technology. The groupexpects that LLRP development will benefit all end-use RFID applicationsegments including transportation, manufacturing and logistics, supplychain management, point-of-sale, security and asset management.
Recently ratified by EPCglobal, the not-for-profit joint venture set up toencourage the worldwide adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC)technologies, LLRP provides a high-performance, flexible and extensibleinterface for operating network-connected RFID readers. Use of LLRP allowsreaders to deliver optimal performance, resulting in rich, accurate,actionable data and events and creates the foundation for technologyproviders to extend basic capabilities in satisfaction of industry-specificrequirements. Businesses desiring to use RFID will also benefit frominterface standardization because it reduces long-term deployment costswhile maintaining system flexibility.
Recognizing the important role that well-defined technology developmentguidelines and standard interfaces play in widespread RFID adoption, IBM,Impinj, Intermec, OATSystems, Pramari, Reva Systems, and the University ofArkansas have created the LLRP Toolkit, a "one-stop shop" that includes asoftware library for LLRP programmers. The library is modeled after othersuccessful open-source software developments such as the Berkeley socketsapplication programming interface (API). The LLRP standard addresses thereader-to-network interface layer, providing a globally available mechanismto fully leverage the Gen 2/ISO 18000-6C standard that has addressed thetag-to-reader air interface layer.
"The support by leading RFID technology providers for LLRP is great newsfor end users implementing scalable RFID deployments," said Mike O'Shea,Global Director of Auto-ID Sensing Technology at Kimberly-Clark. "LLRPfacilitates scalable and repeatable RFID supply chain processes and allowsend users to take full advantage of advanced RFID reader capabilities whilestandardizing the common plumbing used to communicate with RFID readers."A member of EPCglobal's Reader Operations group, Kimberly-Clark has beenactive in the development and ratification of LLRP.
More information about the effort is available at www.llrp.org.Downloadable software libraries will be available in Q307. Moreinformation about EPCglobal standards is available athttp://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards.
About IBM
For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com. For moreinformation about IBM's RFID solutions, please visitwww.ibm.com/solutions/businesssolutions/sensors.
About Impinj, Inc.
Impinj, Inc. is a semiconductor and RFID company whose patentedSelf-Adaptive Silicon® technology enables its two synergistic businesslines: high-performance RFID products and semiconductor intellectualproperty (IP). A leading contributor to the RFID standards for high-volumesupply-chain applications worldwide, Impinj leverages its technicalexpertise and industry partnerships to deliver the GrandPrix™ solution,comprising tags, readers, software and systems integration to offer RFIDthat just works™. Impinj's innovative IP products, core to thecompany's RFID tags, are licensed to leading semiconductor companiesworldwide, allowing them to seamlessly integrate crucial nonvolatile memory(NVM) alongside analog and digital functionality on a single chip.Impinj's IP products include the popular AEON® family of embeddablecores, which provides rewriteable NVM technology in logic CMOSmanufacturing. For more information, visit www.impinj.com.
About Intermec
Intermec Inc. (NYSE: IN) develops, manufactures and integrates technologiesthat identify, track and manage supply chain assets. Core technologiesinclude RFID, mobile computing and data collection systems, bar codeprinters and label media. The company's products and services are used bycustomers in many industries worldwide to improve the productivity, qualityand responsiveness of business operations. For more information aboutIntermec, visit www.intermec.com or call 800-347-2636. Contact IntermecInvestor Relations Director Kevin McCarty at kevin.mccarty@intermec.com,425-265-2472.
About OATSystems, Inc.
OATSystems, Inc., is the recognized RFID solution leader with software thatempowers businesses to achieve competitive advantage and ROI fromradio-frequency identification (RFID) enabled applications. As a pioneer indeveloping RFID technology, OAT has been setting the standards in RFID forover half a decade and is responsible for industry firsts that include thelargest scale and largest scope of deployments, as well as the mostinnovative approaches to providing enterprise-wide RFID solutions. OAT'smultinational client base consists of nearly 100 customers in retail, CPG,consumer electronics, manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace and defense.OAT is headquartered in Waltham, MA, and has a development office inBangalore and various direct sales offices and resellers around the globe.
About Pramari
Pramari, the global leader in Open Source RFID, is dedicated tofundamentally changing the way RFID Applications are built and deployed.As the primary developer of RIFIDI®, Pramari works with corporations anduniversities to deliver the promise of Software Defined RFID™. Rifidiis the only open source and standards based IDE for RFID and enables thedesign, development, and testing of an RFID system entirely with SoftwareComponents. Pramari is also deeply committed to contributing and improvingstandards and is developing the first Virtual Reader that is LLRP compliantand completes the "one-stop shop" ideology of the LLRP toolkit. Pramari isheadquartered in Manchester, CT with offices in Regensburg, Germany. Foradditional information, please visit www.pramari.com.
About Reva Systems
Reva Systems develops RFID network infrastructure products that enablecustomers to rapidly deploy scalable solutions in any environment. Reva'sstandards-based Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) products facilitateimproved system performance, manageability and accuracy while significantlylessening implementation time and complexity. Reva products are deliveredby a global network of partners and deployed worldwide by enterprisesleveraging innovative RFID applications to generate value in diverseindustries. Reva was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chelmsford,Mass. For more information, visit http://www.revasystems.com.
About University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas is home to the RFID Research Laboratory, anEPCGlobal-accredited Performance Test Center. For more information, seehttp://itri.uark.edu/rfid/. The University's Department of ComputerScience and Computer Engineering has developed TagCentric, a basic opensource Java-based RFID middleware toolkit available on SourceForge. Formore information, see http://tag-centric.sourceforge.net/. The TagCentricteam's contribution to the LLRP open source standards effort is aimed atplug-and-play RFID that is easy to use.