xArray on its way for wide-area inventory

swiftsureNov. 21, 2014 – Impinj announced the full commercial availability of its xArray gateway, which the Seattle-based RFID company says ushers in a new era of always-on, real-time, fixed infrastructure RFID reader technology. The xArray gateway is designed for large-scale, item-level applications in retail, healthcare and manufacturing.

Real time location systems (RTLS) have previously relied on expensive, battery-powered active tags, proprietary protocols and multiple readers to locate, identify and authenticate UHF-tagged items and people.

A single ceiling-mounted xArray reader, with an integrated antenna and software, can visualize 1,500 sq. ft. of floor space to automatically collect inventory data. “That’s a mammoth footprint,” said Bruno Riegl, chief executive of the Swiftsure Group, an Impinj channel partner. “The ability to use this relatively inexpensive passive RFID gateway to accomplish virtual RTLS is a great leap forward for resource and workflow management. We look forward to integrating the xArray in a variety of deployments in many environments.”

A select group of organizations has already implemented the xArray system. (In February Swiftsure posted about Impinj’s lab, where xArray was still in testing.) Impinj now has more than 30 certified partners around the world.

Read Impinj’s press release.