Slide 1

Paratek Confidential and Proprietary Near-Field Focused Phased Array and Scanning Antennas for RFID Applications Greg Mendolia Vice President, Product Strategy Office: 443-259-0140 x 130 Fax: 443-259-0451 Paratek Microwave, Inc. 6935 Oakland Mills Road, Suite G Columbia, MD 21045 Slide 2 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 2 Paratek Microwave, Inc. Founded in 1998 to develop innovative RF components based upon the companys proprietary materials technology, Parascan TM The Parascan materials science enabled the development of Parateks thin film, thick film and bulk material electronically tunable capacitors Electronic tunable RF components led to development of smart scanning antennas Independent, multi-beam, 360 steering Frequency coverage from 30MHz to 3 GHz Fast scanning in azimuth, elevation and frequency Re-configurable aperture for wide beam acquisition and then narrow steerable beam Maintain uninterrupted communications, increased LPI/LPD, higher capacity through frequency reuse Null steering for increased anti-jam Higher gain Horizontal and vertical polarization diversity mitigates multipath Slide 3 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 3 RFID Technology Challenges Accurate reading of 100% of the tags is essential Tags inside moving payload - - B U T - - Technical limitations reduce tag read rates Reader reception of tag data vulnerable to obstruction and de-tuning from metal, liquid and dense materials Conventional reader antennas do not track and stare at moving tags - - I M P A C T - - Slow industry adoption due to technology shortfalls Slide 4 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 4 Paratek Solution Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA) Antenna power is surgically directed at and focused on targeted RFID tags by increasing power levels in the near field without polluting spectrum in the far field Antenna RF power is focused at the tag instead of spread over the entire area More signal power delivered at the tag => more tags read and better ability to write to tags Multipath and interference problems reduced => decreased tag contention Antenna tracks tags as they pass by Increased beam dwell time on tag => longer read time Direction of tag movement can be detected Are items entering or leaving the area? KEY RESULT: Dramatically improved tag read rates for RFID unfriendly materials Slide 5 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 5 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Reader Antenna Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Conventional Reader Antenna Energy Distribution Tag Lower field intensity in near field 6dBi gain limit in far field Higher field intensity in near field 6dBi gain limit in far field Near Field Focused Phased Array amplifies and focuses RF to increase power in the near field Arrays of elements are used to control energy focus and distribution RF power decays quickly so that power levels in the far field are comparable to standard antennas Compliant with FCC energy levels in far field Permits higher near field energy intensity at the tag location Slide 6 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 6 Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Phased Array Antenna Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Tag 6dBi gain limit in far field Lower field intensity in near field Higher field intensity in near field 6dBi gain limit in far field Paratek re-engineers the phase of each element in the array, focusing the energy in the near field where the tags are located The depth and direction of the focused region can be easily steered with standard phased array electronics Conventional arrays focus energy in the far-field, not near field Tag Slide 7 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 7 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna Near Field EIRP RF energy not where its needed Paratek NFA Antenna Directivity: 0-3 meters RF energy focused on tags Conventional 1x8 Far-Field Array Antenna Directivity: 0-3 meters Slide 8 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 8 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna Far Field EIRP Conventional 1x8 Far-Field Array Antenna Directivity: 0-30 meters High far field RF energy (pollutes spectrum) Far field RF energy dispersed Paratek NFA Antenna Directivity: 0-30 meters Slide 9 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 9 Target focus range: NFA is 4.5 dB higher NFA is 4.5dB lower 9 dB Improvement Over Conventional Antennas in Near Field / Far Field Ratio Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Slide 10 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 10 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Comparative Statistical Read Rate (tags on surface of cases of bottled water) 275% greater read rate @ 5 1,060% greater read rate @ 6 Same far-field EIRP Slide 11 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 11 Antenna Characteristics: 862 - 928 MHz Passive Tx/Rx, 30 dBm max Gain 6.3 8.4 dBi Dual linear polarization V/H 27 dB isolation V-H ports 9. 5 17 17 9.5 lb Pattern Paratek Scanning Antenna Full 360 azimuth scan range 50 Azimuth beam (-3dB) 70 Elevation beam (-3dB) < -10 dB Side/back lobe > 12 dB Return loss, 50 ohm < 1 ms Beam switch/scan Slide 12 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 12 RFID Vertical Beam Elevation PlaneAzimuth Plane 10dB 8dBi Paratek Scanning Antenna Slide 13 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 13 Video 1 Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna Slide 14 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 14 Video 2 Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Slide 15 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 15 Summary Parateks Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA) antenna dramatically improves tag read rates under all conditions, especially RFID unfriendly materials, while also enhancing the ability to write to tags Electronic steering enables tracking of tags for increased acquisition time => Results in dramatically improved read rates, as well as identification of direction of travel for tagged products Directed and controlled RF energy reduces tag contention and multipath issues NFA transmitted RF energy (EIRP) decays at a faster rate over distance => Results in lower far field interference to other products or to other RFID systems