Aiming to shorten the arrangement process of RFID project for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Alien Technology recently released a new UHF RFID reader and gateway device- ALR-F800-X.

Aiming to shorten the arrangement process of RFID project for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Alien Technology recently released a new UHF RFID reader and gateway device- ALR-F800-X. ALR-F800-X is both a UHF card reader device and a gateway device, which collect and read data from four extra Alien readers, and then interpret the information and transmit them to server.

The new device is equipped with Emissary software, by this means, users could create logical names for every reader, antenna, and other peripheral equipment and their locations in the network of ALR-F800-X. For example, users can name devices as: (Dock Door 4 or Conveyor 5) to replace traditional serial numbers.

(ALR-F800-X device)

Neil Mitchell, a senior marketing director at Alien Technology,said the device’s goal was to make the arrangement process easier with cheaper cost and friendlier customer experience.

Mitchell said, “companies that use or want to use RFID technology often have problems in configuring and managing multiple card readers”. Readers often have digital addresses, which are named in a very different way from the real world. In fact, 60 percent of medium-sized RFID projects are delayed because hardware installation and integration are too complex.

ALR-F800-X aims to bring Alien’s partners (solution providers) and end users with RFID projects which are arranged more easily. The device is equipped with ALR-F800 reader and Emissary software layer.

Mitchell said, “Alien’s card readers will send a “heartbeat” signal by the Internet protocol for management software to know its location. The ALR-F800-X also detects the signal, adding four card readers at most to the network.” The system also has a Windows tool. Users can use built-in events (basic tasks) to create card reader’s work flow within its network.

These events are illuminated after finishing reading, or the data will be directly transmitted to the cloud-based server. These work flows will be sent to the Emissary software layer of ALR-F800-X itself to manage the collected data.

In addition,the device can automatically obtain data standards for labels queried by the reader; therefore, if the readings are encoded according to a specific industry standard (such as the automobile industry), the device automatically interprets the label IDs without user identification and management of each different label standard.

Mitchell explained that readers could have four antennas at most, and at that time, ALR-F800-X could accommodate 20 readable areas”. If each reader has two antennas, ALR-F800-X can accommodate 10 reading areas. When more than 20 areas are needed, ALR-F900-X devices will be arranged.

Mitchell reported that there was no licensing fee for Emissary software layer. Users just need to pay $1999 for ALR-F800-X.