Passive Sensor Inlays: The Next Big Thing in RFID?

Though not entirely new, RAIN RFID (UHF) passive sensor inlays are experiencing a notable increase in demand. Tageos has the perfect answer to that demand – its EOS-840 sensor products enable novel use cases through innovative sensing capabilities for temperature, strain, and ambient light.

Being able to monitor and measure conditions and variables such as temperature, ambient light, and strain with battery-free, cost-effective and easy-to-implement RAIN RFID (UHF) sensor inlays triggers ideas for a variety of beneficial solutions and use cases. Tageos' EOS-840 sensor products are tailor-made for them.

Multiple use cases for many industries

While affected industries range from agriculture to automotive, and from industrial manufacturing to building construction, existing and potential applications include cold-chain management, grocery and agricultural management, as well as product monitoring, quality control and predictive maintenance. This diversity is already creating growing demand - and will continue to do so to an even greater extent in the foreseeable future: Reputable industry analysts expect the global RFID sensor market to increase significantly and reach larger volumes due to the growing demand to monitor supply chains and environmental conditions for enhanced overall sustainability.

Tageos EOS-840

The right products at the right time

In May, on the occasion of RFID Journal LIVE! 2022, Tageos expanded its portfolio with three innovative EOS-840 sensor products. The triad represent the market's first versatile, battery-free sensor inlays based on the next-generation AS321x chip family, which is developed and uniquely produced by French-based sensor and IC specialist Asygn.

Sensing temperature, strain, and ambient light

In particular, the new products are available including the following capabilities:

The innovative inlay trio features a unified, functionally superior antenna design that contributes to their wide sensing range, comprehensive compatibility with existing RAIN RFID readers -- even without firmware upgrades -- and hassle-free on-chip calibration data.

Leveraging superior IC technology from Asygn

Asygn’s AS3211, AS3213S and AS3213L ICs, and all related EOS-840 sensor inlays and tags based on them, can operate in temperatures from -40°C up to 125°C with a resolution of 0.35°C. All three ICs have the same sensitivity in sensing mode, which is -12dBm with a dipole antenna, enabling read ranges of up to 7 meters for any EOS-840 Sensor inlay. Any required calibration data is stored inside user memory, while equations to obtain the physical data are provided in application notes.

Comprehensive compatibility and global compliance

Any off-the-shelf reader using a standard EPC Gen 2 protocol can collect data from the RFID tags using a standard read command in user memory. EOS-840 Sensor inlays feature an optional operational mode, in which ICs can also return their UID for inventory management purposes, further enhancing the sensor inlays’ application scope. Furthermore, their comprehensive RAIN RFID compatibility and outstanding RF performance allow for the use of existing reader infrastructures as well as novel drone-based readers.

FCC and ETSI compliant, Tageos’ new sensor inlays are easy to implement globally, and work on different low- and high-dielectric materials like cardboard, plastics, stone, wood, and construction materials.

Available in large quantities as of now, EOS-840 Sensor inlays come in dry and plastic-face format with a compact antenna size of 70 x 25 mm (2.76 x 0.98 in). Samples can be requested via Tageos’ sales team.