ODIN technologies RFID Benchmark Series

Often referenced as the "Consumer Reports" of the RFID industry, ODIN technologies' RFID Benchmark series is the leading source for objective, scientific evidence of how RFID readers, tags and handheld readers compare. Since 2003 only ODIN’s labs have been conducting rigourous head-to-head comparison of the leading RFID equipment so you can have the best possible value.

Through active collaboration with industry thought-leaders and the engineering teams who build the technology, ODIN develops scientific test protocols that empower end-users to cut through the marketing hype surrounding new product releases.

ODIN’s Benchmarks allow many end-users to streamline their technology selection decisions, eliminating the lengthy process of due diligence or testing. Those who don't make an informed decision often pay a much higher price in wasted time and money. The Benchmarks also allows ODIN engineers to understand and test the latest RFID equipment in the market, making them your Trusted RFID Experts.

The ODIN technologies Benchmark series has been leveraged in scores of instance from DoD labs to Fortune 500 boardrooms ODIN’s Bencmark provide compelling evidence of industry direction and to influence major corporate investments in the technology space. It is the single most trusted source of objective information in the RFID industry.

IT Asset Tracking Benchmark - September 2008

The IT Asset Tracking Benchmark is the industry’s first scientific evaluation of passive RFID technology focused on IT asset tracking. The IT Asset Tracking Benchmark reveals passive RFID technology, including components only just available in the last few weeks, shows breakthrough performance on IT devices like servers, laptops, blades, and other high-value IT assets. Through RFID, companies are able to better track and secure sensitive and costly IT hardware with superior operational efficiency.

The benchmark is designed to answer common end user questions, such as:

• How to implement RFID successfully
• Which tagging solutions work and which leads to failure
• How the technology is used to solve problems
• How to build a business case

Through scientific tests comparing tag performance and analyzing common IT asset tracking use cases, the benchmark equips IT asset managers to make the best decisions for their organizations. ODIN engineers selected seven metal mount tags from four vendors. Tag selection was based on a number of factors including physical dimensions, performance and commercial availability. Tag size and form factor is an important consideration because many tags are too large or do not have the appropriate dimensions to fit on the front of a narrow blade server or other IT equipment. Multiple readers were also used during testing. A clear lesson is that no one tag or reader is appropriate for all use environments.

The benchmark contains results from a total of ten tests, including:

• Sensitivity - Will tags still respond if reader power is decreased?
• Orientation sensitivity - Which tags require a handheld reader to be at a particular angle?
• Distance - What is the optimal range to read tags with a handheld reader?
• Material dependency - Which tags work on both metal and plastic equipment cases?
• Blade server inventory - Which tags perform best when placed on blade servers?
• Rack inventory - How does distance, power settings, or reader equipment affect inventory of a rack full of servers?
• RAM inventory - Can individual sticks of RAM be inventoried with RFID technology?
• Cubical inventory - Can a handheld reader inventory a variety of IT assets spread throughout a cubical?
• Cubical speed comparison - How does RFID compare with manual inventory?
• Control point inventory - How easily can a stack of IT assets be read passing through a doorway?

IT Asset Tracking Benchmark 2008 - Enterprise Edition $1,500.00

Airline Baggage

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is proven technology that is revolutionizing all forms of asset tracking, including airline baggage. Traditional baggage tags utilize printed bar code labels which are easily obscured by dirt and must face a particular direction to be read. These problems have resulted in an industry average of 10-20% unsuccessful baggage label barcode scans by automated sortation systems. The missed scans cost airports and airlines in terms of time, expense and customer satisfaction. By contrast, RFID tags containing a microchip attached to an antenna communicate wirelessly from any direction leading to high read rates, lower cost and fewer delays.

Over a dozen international airports have already implemented RFID baggage tag solutions. Two of the most prominent are Las Vegas and Hong Kong. At McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, bar code scanners would fail to read up to 30% of tags, but RFID is missing reads less than 1% of the time. Hong Kong International Airport has seen accuracy improvements from 80% for bar code tags to over 97% for RFID tags. This has enabled more automation and less lost luggage.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates more than $733 million savings by airlines alone can be realized through RFID adoption when fully implemented. On a per bag basis, IATA and others estimate that a mishandled bag costs an airline $90-$100. That translates into millions of dollars of annual savings for large airports adopting RFID. Smaller airports can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and make their facilities more attractive to domestic and international airlines.

The RFID Baggage Tag Benchmark[tm] is the first objective scientific evaluation of leading RFID tags for airline baggage tracking. The Benchmark is designed to help airports and airlines understand the key performance characteristics behind successful RFID baggage tagging solutions and how current tag offerings stack up to scientific scrutiny. Designed for end users, the data is presented for scientific RF tag performance as well as high speed conveyor testing. The RFID Baggage Tag Benchmark[tm] can save Airport authorities and airlines tens of thousands of dollars in testing and narrow in on successful products available today.

Download your copy of the Benchmark here: http://www.odintechnologies.com/odinstore.html

RFID Medical Smart-Cabinet Benchmark

The first objective evaluation of RFID enabled Medical Smart Cabinets shows end users what is important when selecting products and how to evaluate vendors. RFID Medical Smart Cabinets have been used to improve patient safety, pharmaceutical security within the hospital and streamline inventory management and replenishment. This report will save you time and help you zero in on your requirements and vendor short list; ensuring you are making the right purchasing decision for your use case.

RFID Medical Smart-Cabinet Benchmark - Enterprise User License $495.00

European RFID Reader Benchmark

The European RFID Reader Benchmark presents analysis of the seven leading ETSI compliant reader manufacturers. The benchmark was developed to provide end users with objective insight into how well readers actually work in the field and what criteria should be evaluated when making reader selection decisions. End users can leverage the European RFID Reader Benchmark to save time assembling their vendor short lists, more critically assess vendor capabilities and reduce reader selection risk.

The Benchmark is the first scientific and objective comparison of how well RFID readers designed for the European market work in common use cases such as near dock doors, conveyors and stretch wrappers. In addition to scientific performance analysis, the report includes evaluation commentary by the ODIN engineering team. The results of the tests and the commentary are all laid out clearly for end users to make informed decisions

The benchmark used six scientific tests and three common use case tests to characterize and compare RFID reader performance. The six scientific tests included:

• Power output.
• Occupied channel power.
• Receive sensitivity.
• Interference rejection.
• Tag acquisition speed.
• Read distance.

The three common RFID use cases tested included:

• Conveyor.
• Stretch wrapper.
• Adjacent Dock Door portals with Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.
• Adjacent Dock Door portals with proposed ETSI EN 302-208.

European RFID Reader Benchmark - Single User License $250.00

European RFID Reader Benchmark - Enterprise User License $495.00

(The enterprise edition is for unlimited use within a commercial or government organization)

The RFID Global Tag Benchmark

Global supply chains require RFID tags that can perform effectively around the world. RFID tagged items are being shipped today from Europe to the United States, from South America to Australia and from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Each of these regions use different UHF RFID frequencies. End users require tags that will work globally no matter what local frequency is used.

The Global RFID Tag Benchmark is a scientific evaluation of the top 18 UHF RFID tags for performance in Asian, European and North and South American frequencies. Tag performance is rank ordered for power effectiveness, orientation sensitivity, distance, interference rejection and material dependence for corrugate, water and metallic items. Both general purpose and "jumbo" oversized tags are evaluated.

The Global RFID Tag Benchmark is the only published study that evaluates which tags can perform well across geographic boundaries. It is designed to help end users make better tag selection decisions that improve overall RFID system performance.

The Global RFID Tag Benchmark includes a number of scientific tests including:

• Power Effectiveness - the consistency and efficiency of tag performance
• Distance - distance performance at three global frequencies
• Orientation Sensitivity - performance at nine angles at three global frequencies
• Material Dependence - performance on three materials at three global frequencies
• Interference Rejection - how tags compare at blocking dense reader noise

In addition to these test results, the Benchmark also includes background on the physics of tag testing, a research summary, a master ranking table for all tags tested, and a separate ranking for general purpose tags which provide superior price-to-performance ratio.

RFID Global Tag Benchmark - Single User License $750.00

RFID Global Tag Benchmark - Enterprise User License $1500.00

(The enterprise edition is for unlimited use within a commercial or government organization) The enteprise user license is designed for use by commercial and government organzations for their internal use. No part of the Global RFID Tag Benchmark may be reproduced, shared electronically or in hard copy or published in whole or in part without the express written consent of ODIN technologies.

RFID Metal Mount Tag Benchmark

The Metal Mount Tag Benchmark is the industry's first scientific comparison of the leading RFID tags designed for use on metal surfaces. There is a myth that passive RFID will not work on metal. This benchmark debunks that myth and shows which tags work on metal and which manufacturers have designed the most robust and versatile tags. Whether tagging servers and IT assets, manufacturing parts or airplane wings, there are tags designed for your RFID use case.

The report summarizes findings from six scientific tests that were conducted on each of the 17 tags evaluated from seven manufacturers. The tests include:

• Tag Sensitivity: the minimum RF power each tag requires to operate
• Power Effectiveness: tag performance results from one milli-watt to one watt
• Orientation Sensitivity: tag performance over multiple power levels and orientations
• Distance: how well tags are read at distances ranging from 1 to 17 feet
• Metal Proximity: tag read performance when placed next to other metal surfaces
• Material Dependency: metal mount tag performance when affixed to other materials

There are also two new tests in the benchmark that end users will find are essential to ensure that their RFID solution design is successful. Metal proximity and material dependence are two criteria that are rarely considered, but can make or break your tag selection choice. The results will surprise you, especially if you have been told about the usefulness of the universal tag.

Manufacturers represented include Avery Dennison, Confidex, Emerson & Cummings, Intermec, Omni-ID, Sontec, and TROI. The tags tested are the best known and most versatile of all of the metal mount tags on the market today. Since tagging on and around metal is more difficult than most applications, it is important that you have a tag that is designed to perform well and makes the grade in independent use. Consider the added cost of metal mount tags and it becomes obvious how important the correct tag choice can be for your project success and return on investment.

The ODIN engineering team was impressed with several of the offerings and surprised at how some of the more popular tags showed substandard results on key tests. The full report is 28 pages and includes test data charts and a full discussion of the findings.

Metal Mount RFID Tag Benchmark 2008 - Single User License $250.00

Metal Mount RFID Tag Benchmark 2008 - Enterprise User License $495.00

The Gen 2 RFID Reader Benchmark

The report presents analysis of seven of the leading EPC (electronic product code) compliant Gen 2 RFID readers. The benchmark was developed to provide end users with objective insight into how well readers actually work in the field and what criteria should be evaluated when making reader selection decisions. Some of the results are surprising and will help end users make better reader selection decisions.

In addition to scientific performance analysis, the report also includes sections on:

• Mitigating the risks of selecting a Gen 2 reader
• Reader selection tools based on use case
• Editorial user comments from the ODIN engineering team

The Gen 2 RFID Reader Benchmark - Enterprise User License $95.00

RFID Tag Pricing Guide™

RFID tag pricing. You can look at it two ways. There is either a lot of information out there or a lot of misleading information. One of the most common questions we receive at ODIN is, “What do RFID tags cost?” That is a loaded question. The answer: “What kind of tags?”

The inaugural issue of ODIN’s RFID Tag Pricing Guide™ is designed to address one of the fundamental cost components of an RFID system, the tag. It is also intended to get past the marketing hype and provide objective, fact-based information. You may be aware of ODIN’s industry leading RFID Benchmark Series™ which routinely provides objective, fact-based RFID performance data (http://www.odintechnologies.com/scientific-benchmarks). This Pricing Guide complements that work with cost data.

The guide provides end users with a snapshot of RFID tag pricing. Other contextual information is also provided to help users become better consumers of tag information and understand when a five cent tag isn’t really a five cent tag.

The report includes sections on the following topics:

• Setting the Record Straight – What do tags cost?
• Myths about passive RFID Tag Pricing
• The Impact of Tag Silicon
• The Impact of Tag Dimensions
• The Role of Frequency
• Key Tag Features
• Pricing Guide May 2009
• Recent Industry Updates

The good news is that RFID tag prices are falling. At the same time performance has improved. This is the right price-performance curve for end users. In this issue, we have focused on three types of tags across two frequency ranges and industry standards – High Frequency (HF) ISO 15693 and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) ISO 18000-6C / EPC Global Class 1 Gen 2. That is a mouthful, but these are the most common requests from customers through ODIN’s Ask the RFID Expert free question and answer service.

To compile the guide we collected list prices from leading RFID label converters and manufacturers. We present the Low, High and Average prices in an effort to inform you of what the current price ranges are and what to expect when you are considering tag costs into your budget. You can download the RFID Tag Pricing Guide™ here:

http://www.odintechnologies.com/odinstore.html

As always we encourage you to ask questions and submit comments for future research. The Ask the RFID Expert box in the upper right corner is always available for your questions.