Alien Technology, Impinj ink RFID supply deal

SAN FRANCISCO — Impinj Inc. and Alien Technology Corp. Thursday (Sept. 8) announced a long-term agreement by which Impinj will provide its Monza Generation 2 chips for inclusion in Alien's RFID inlay and strap products.

According to Impinj (Seattle), Monza, is the world's first tag chip designed according to the Gen 2 standard promulgated by EPCglobal Inc., the industry consortium established to promote RFID in the global supply chain.

Alien (Morgan Hill, Calif.) said it expects to sample Monza-based inlays and straps later this month, with volume shipments expected to commence during the fourth quarter.

"Under this arrangement, both Alien and Impinj leverage our complementary strengths — Impinj's chip design prowess and Alien's assembly capability — to deliver very high performance RFID products at competitive cost," said William Colleran, Impinj president and CEO, in a statement.