Download - Bill Colleran
RFID: The Next Big Little Thing
William T. Colleran, Ph.D.President & CEO, Impinj Inc.
Copyright 2003 Impinj, Inc. All rights reserved.
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 2
What is RFID?
• Stands for “Radio Frequency Identification”
• Replacement for bar codes with several key advantages– No line-of-sight required– Tags can be rewriteable– Unique serial number for each tag
• EPC replaces UPC
EPC Code
ExpirationDate
Tax Tariff
Kill Command
RepairHistory
RFID
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 3
How Does RFID Work?
• Reader sends RF interrogation signal
• Tag uses incoming RF signal as power source– Tag comprises antenna and RFID chip
• RFID chips are extremely small (< 1 mm2)– No battery required – unlimited lifetime
• Power dissipation must very low (< 10 uW)
• Tag returns EPC by reflecting incident RF signal
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 4
RFID is Old, So What’s New?
• Previous standards– 125 KHz and 13.56 MHz– Inefficient modulations schemes– Large antennas – credit card size– Short range – < 3 feet
• Emerging standards– 900 MHz– Efficient modulation scheme– Small antennas – postage stamp size– Long range – ~ 20 – 30 feet– Rewriteable nonvolatile memory
13 MHz
900 MHz
1 – 3 ft
30 ft +
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 5
Myriad Applications
• Supply Chain
• Package tracking (UPS, FedEx)
• Airline tickets, luggage
• Pharmaceuticals
• Anti-counterfeiting
• Asset tagging, archiving
• Car tires
• Animal tagging
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 6
RFID in Supply Chain Management
• Albertson’s distribution center in Brea, CA
• RFID will increase throughput and efficiency– Current barcode
scanning slow– Barcode applied
manually by retailer, not supplier
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 7
RFID in Logistics
• UPS sorting facility in Louisville, KY– Handles ~5 billion
parcels annually
• RFID will increase throughput and efficiency– Current barcode
scanning slow and requires manual alignment
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 8
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
• 6 of top 7 retailers worldwide
• > $750 billion revenue
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 9
Astounding Volume
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Un
its
(bil
lio
ns)
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Deloitte & Touche, stores.org, customer interviews.
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 10
Conservative at 100 Billion/Year?
10 TU
1 TU
100 BU
10 BU
1 BU
100 MU
10 MU
Metcalf’s Law: The value of a network increases
exponentially with the number of nodes on the network
1/Computer
1/ConsumerAppliance
1/Object
Cell Phones Wi-Fi Bluetooth/ZigBee
RFID
1/Human
Potential
CurrentPenetration
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 11
RFID Chip Market
• First and only market for consumable semiconductors– Most semiconductor products designed to last years– Many RFID chips will last for weeks, days or even hours
• Huge volume – 10s of billions per year– ASPs will start < $0.30 and move to < $0.10– $ multi-billion market in a few years– No entrenched incumbent
• Keys to success– Global standards– Very inexpensive chips => Logic CMOS– Very low power chips => Advanced logic CMOS– Rewriteable nonvolatile memory => Impinj’s AEON memory
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 12
Impinj, Inc.
• Fabless startup located in Seattle, WA– Founders: Dr. Carver Mead and Dr. Chris Diorio– 45 employees– Raised $30 million to date
• Platform technology: Self-Adaptive SiliconTM – Self-tuning analog circuits in lowest cost logic CMOS processes
• Superior analog and RF performance (extremely low power)– AEONTM low-density nonvolatile memory in logic CMOS
• RFID activity– Chairing AutoID Center’s hardware standards body– Developing RFID products for > 1 year
• First RFID chip sampling late this year
Gilder / Forbes Telecosm Conference 2003 13
Award Winning Technology
“Best of the Best”
“Startup of the Year”
“Startups Graduate with Honors”
“Most Promising New Technology”
“Hottest Young Communication
Companies”
“Venture All-Star”
William T. Colleran, Ph.D.President & CEOwww.impinj.com
Copyright 2003 Impinj, Inc. All rights reserved.