RF Controls has developed a highly innovative, first-to-market radio frequency (RF) system which incorporates patent-pending technologies, and yields a game-changing solution to the complex requirements of item identification, tracking and control. The system we have developed, which employs advanced antenna systems and complex mathematical algorithms, changes the utility of passive UHF RFID systems from nodal (portal) to zonal monitoring, covering a wide area using strategically placed integrated antenna arrays, to identify, locate & track a wide range of tagged items concurrently:

Our innovative system is called Intelligent Tracking and Control System – ITCS™. The applications for ITCS span the identification and tracking of inventory, capital assets, tools, people, etc., with passive UHF tags attached to items to be identified and tracked. ITCS will also identify and track battery assisted passive (BAP) UHF backscatter RFID tags.

ITCS is best classified as local area real-time location systems (RTLS) rather than simply as a high performance RFID reader sub-system, because we provide much more than just tag identification data. By installing ITCS antennas, you can “illuminate” an area in which tagged items move or are stored, and achieve real-time, perpetual monitoring of an area of interest. For example, in a retail setting, you could install our system back-of-store and thereby achieve knowledge of what items of inventory you have for replenishment, and exactly where those items are presently located. Add to this the fact that our system keeps a record of the locations of tags (tagged items) and you achieve the ability to track the movement of tagged items. Hence our tag line Identify. Locate. Track.™

ITCS comprises one or more “smart antennas”, networked together via Ethernet and connected back to an edge server. Each antenna transmits low power RF signals into an area being monitored in order to capture data from UHF RFID tags. Each smart antenna performs the primary function of Signal Acquisition and Source Location (SASL™), and contains an antenna array, complex RF circuitry, an RFID reader module and a peripheral controller. The embedded RFID reader module is software programmable to support different air interface protocols. The reader module is compliant with the ISO 18000-6C air interface protocol standard and is certified compliant with EPCglobal’s UHF Gen2 protocol standard for interoperability. This means that our system will read any properly coded tag that is compliant with one of the supported protocol standards, and, looking forwards, we are future proofing your investment by ensuring that we can provide updates to protocol drivers via the network connection, as standards evolve.

ITCS Architecture Overview Click on image for high-res version

Data captured from tags – IDs, additional stored data – plus location data is collated in an edge server which runs proprietary, patent-pending software algorithms, to improve the accuracy of location data. Collated and correlated data is presented to the user through a flexible Application Program Interface (API), which is being developed in accordance with the developing ISO 24730-1 specification. In addition, custom commands in the API grant the user access to functions that control and manage the system.

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