Today’s announcement by fabless semiconductor supplier Impinj, Inc. that it has entered volume production to fulfill orders exceeding 50 million units for its Monza Generation 2 (Gen 2) RFID tag chip in the second half of 2005 is a clear indication that RFID is in transition to EPCglobal’s Gen 2 specs. Some of these inlay assembly customers for Monza tag silicon include Avery Dennison, Hana RFID, IER, KSW Microtec AG, Precisia, RF IDentics, RSI ID Technologies and UPM Rafsec. In addition, Impinj also revealed its long-term agreement with Alien Technology Corp., a supplier of UHF RFID tags. Under this agreement, Impinj will provide its Monza Gen 2 chips for inclusion in Alien’s RFID inlay and strap products.

According to Impinj, 0.25-micron logic CMOS-based Monza chips implement all mandatory features and several optional commands of the Gen 2 protocol and provide the many benefits promised by Gen 2, including superior tag throughput and compliance with global spectrum regulations. Plus, it establishes new benchmarks for range, readability, and high-speed field rewriteability. Orientation insensitivity is an added benefit when Monza is used in Impinj’s unique dual antenna configuration, said the manufacturer.

“We are extremely pleased that customers appreciate the performance advantages that our Monza tag silicon delivers,” said William Colleran, Impinj president and CEO. “With volume production now underway and key supply chain partnerships in place, Impinj is well-positioned to support the accelerating Gen 2 adoption. We expect inlays based on our Monza chips to be available in high volumes as early as September, followed shortly thereafter by converted labels.”

"EPC Gen 2 silicon availability will benefit the tag value chain as it prepares for high-volume end-user 2006 orders. It is critical that inlay vendors strengthen sourcing channels for Gen 2 silicon in 3Q05 to ensure Gen 2 product is ready to meet label converter and end user demands in late 2005 and early 2006," commented Erik Michielsen, director, RFID & Ubiquitous Networks at ABI Research.

“Our collaboration with Impinj on Gen 2 products is a natural extension of our combined efforts in the EPC standards development process,” remarked Steve Smith, CTO and founder, Alien Technology. “We are impressed by the time-to-market and performance of Impinj’s Monza silicon, and we look forward to offering the first high-volume, low-cost production availability of Gen 2 tags and inlays in the industry to meet our customers’ needs.”

Alien expects to sample Monza-based inlays and straps this month with volume shipments commencing in 4Q 2005. As volume ramps up, Impinj expects to lower the cost of its silicon tags and make it competitive with Gen 1 chips. However, at the present time, users will have to pay a modest premium for Gen 2 chips. By comparison, in volume production, Gen 1 chips cost between 6-9 cents.

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