RFID alternative is new standard

Visible Assets says that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved RuBee, a long-wavelength, packet-based, magnetic transceiver protocol, as a new international standard designated IEEE 1902.1.

Visible and Seiko sponsored creation of the standard and the workgroup and are responsible for its development.

RuBee overcomes many of the problems seen with RFID and other wireless asset visibility solutions in harsh environments through its ability to work on steel and in liquids. Its tags and antennas are volumetric in harsh environments, not line-of-sight as is often the case with other wireless technologies and bar codes.

Its tags work over a range of 300 mm to 15 m depending on antenna configuration and can be powered by a single coin-size lithium battery.

The tags and systems are combined with sensors, buttons, displays and LEDs, and RuBee tags with sensors have been directly embedded into items such as firearms, weapons, mission-critical tools and mobile phones.

IEEE 1902.1 has been used to ensure the visibility and safety of government-owned firearms, highly valued evidence, military weapons, patient visibility and optimal patient flow in hospitals, hospital disposable and implantable inventories, livestock, disaster recovery equipment and safety systems, mission-critical tools, aircraft maintenance tools, and many other categories of highly valued goods and services.

"RFID loses its ability to read and write reliably when it is near steel, liquids, people and animals," said John K Stevens, CEO of Visible Assets.

"IEEE 1902.1 signals are not affected by liquids and steel can actually enhance RuBee's range. It has no eavesdropping, target or tempest risk as with other wireless technologies. In addition, since each tag has a clock with date and time stamp enabling high packet security, IEEE 1902.1 has met the highest possible standard for wireless data security."