Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. announces a new RAIN RFID tag, p/n “LXFLANMXMG-003” for on metal use. Production will start within 2017. With this RFID tag, a favorable communication environment is achievable even on metallic surfaces.

Overview
Placing RAIN  RFID tags on metal can be challenging because metal surfaces reflect the signal emitted from the reader and interfere with communication between a tag and reader. However, Murata has patented many technologies that allow RFID tags to work in conjunction with metal objects. The LXFLANMXMG-003 is designed to use the item’s metal surface as part of the antenna, which makes the item itself part of the RAIN RFID tag.

Murata developed the LXFLANMXMG-003 tag specifically for industries, where metal assets are required to be tracked. It is ideal for items that include construction equipment, IT assets, cage cars or logistics containers, and other metal parts used in the manufacturing industry. It can also be used to identify an items location. Items such as tools, containers and bins are often difficult to identify visually, difficult to track and relocate if they go missing, and may also be expensive to replace. Murata’s on-metal tag enables the application of RAIN RFID on all of these items and allows for enhanced inventory tracking.

Features

• Robust and waterproof to global IP-68 standard
• Size is 25 x 85 x 4.5 mm
• Integrates the Impinj Monza R6-P tag chip
• Complies with UHF RFID standard ISO18000-63 and EPC Global Gen2v2
• Produces great read range maximum 10 m (4W EIRP)
• Supporting global UHF band from 865 MHz to 928 MHz

Background

The Impinj Monza R6-P tag chip, combined with the Murata design, delivers excellent tag read performance. The product meets IP-68 waterproofing standards, allowing outdoor use without degraded performance. The Monza R6-P chip has 96-bit EPC memory and 64-bit user memory, allowing users to encode additional information such as internal identification numbers to the tag. With the Impinj platform and best-in-class knowhow, Murata expects to deliver higher added value and a perfect solution for industry needs.

“Once again, Murata has proven its ability to solve difficult RF problems by designing a tag that assimilates with the environment that poses the challenges, in this case metal,” said Carl Brasek, Senior Director of Product Management for Silicon Products at Impinj. “The industrial sector has been waiting for a tag that is capable of high performance in tough environments. The Murata LXFLANMXMG-003 on-metal tag with the Impinj Monza R6-P chip brings reliable RAIN RFID functionality and a new world of data and operational insights to this market.”

Website link to product information: LXFLANMXMG-003 See the lineup here.