G2 Micro gives RFID a Wi-Fi connection

G2 Microsystems' G2C501 Wi-Fi Active RFID SoC leverages the widely-deployed Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) network infrastructure to reduce the cost installation of asset tracking systems by about 75% compared to conventional technologies.

The G2C501 is a highly integrated solution specifically designed for active RFID applications. Its integrated support for multiple location technologies and environmental sensing coupled with its ultra low-power consumption enables a new class of RFID tags.

Operating on the 2.4 GHz band, the G2C501 can determine its location and communicate via the Wi-Fi infrastructure, enabling a business to install an asset tracking solution with almost no additional network costs.

Since a tag can access the Internet through a local access point, it can communicate with a location server placed anywhere on the Internet, enabling the asset’s location and condition to be tracked as it moves through business partners and suppliers to customers.

Low power
Besides lowering power consumption of active asset tracking tags by two orders of magnitude, the chip significantly increases the tag’s battery life. For example, a tag based on the G2C501 will last 5 years at a 40-second report rate with two AA batteries. Current tags with the same configuration are only lasting a few months.

The G2C501 has integrated support for multiple location technologies, allowing end customers to utilize the one that meets their accuracy, environment and cost requirements, all with the same tag. Utilizing the integrated ISO 24730-2 emerging standard, customers can track assets to within 3 meters; the 125 kHz signpost technology allows customers to determine location with a high degree of accuracy; and the integrated EPC support allow the tag to operate as a passive RFID tag.

Sensor interfaces integrated into the G2C501 enable it to monitor multiple types of asset conditions, including temperature, humidity, pressure, chemical, security seals, motion, shock, light, and radiation.

These parameters can be monitored continuously and stored on-chip until an AP connection becomes available. This level of functional integration eliminates almost all external circuitry, resulting in tags with small form factors and low total bill-of-materials.

Early adopters
The chip is currently being incorporated into leading RTLS solutions including those from Ekahau and PanGo Networks. These solutions could be used in:

• Hospitals, to track patients, wheelchairs, diagnostic equipment, staff, and patients’ files
• Transportation, to monitor the location, security, and environmental conditions of valuable assets
• Container ports, to track the location of containers and trailers
• Auto-manufacturing plants, to track vehicles during production
• Oil refineries, to locate staff during emergencies
• Mining, to accurately track real-time movements of miners

"G2 Microsystems provides an existence proof that we don’t need a new infrastructure for wireless sensor nets and raises the question of ZigBee’s necessity and viability. I predict it will be used for many new applications beyond commerce," said computer pioneer Gordon Bell.

The G2C501 evaluation kit contains an evaluation board, sensors for temperature and motion, antennas for the 2.4GHz ISM band, the ~900MHz EPC bands and for the 125 KHz magnetic receiver, documentation and G2 Microsystems development software.

The G2C501 Wi-Fi Active RFID SoC is available today in sample quantities. The chip is housed in a QFN-72 pin package and is priced at $12 each in high-volume quantities.

More information is available at www.g2microsystems.com.