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Awarepoint Receives Patent for its Active RFID
Plug-In Network Appliance
Other Topics:
RFID
Infrastructure
Awarepoint Corporation
March 24, 2008
San Diego, CA -- Awarepoint Corporation, a provider of
active RFID real-time location system solutions to the healthcare
market, announced today it has been granted U.S. Patent No.
7,324,824. The patent covers Awarepoint's mesh network plug-in
sensor appliance and describes the use of a plug-in network
appliance to perform a bridge between two wireless communication
formats and perform position location services.
"This patented sensor is a small, unobtrusive device that plugs
directly into AC outlets forming an automatic mesh sensor network.
It requires no cabling, and it can be moved to other AC outlets as
needed to optimize the system's performance," said Ron Hegli, Chief
Technology Officer of Awarepoint. |
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This sensor is designed uniquely to perform two key functions:
observe radio communications from tags, and route observation data
to a central server. The sensors employ a networking standard called
ZigBee to automatically form an ad-hoc, mesh data network that
allows tag observations to be routed through multiple sensor/routers
to a coordinating bridge node and ultimately to their final
destination at a server. The ability of the sensors to observe tags
and create observation data that allows tag positions to be
accurately calculated, the ability to wirelessly communicate the
observation data to the central server, and the plug-in form factor
described makes the Awarepoint sensor network deployment fast and
low-impact.
"No other vendor employs the low-power radio protocols employed by
Awarepoint, that provide both accurate positioning, long tag battery
life and wireless data routing," added Hegli. "Further, ZigBee
allows the sensors to automatically join a network as soon as they
are plugged in, allowing technicians with limited training to
deploy. As a result, installations are simple and deployed rapidly."
About Awarepoint
Awarepoint's Active RFID technologies and real time location systems
(RTLSs) include its real time awareness platform, firmware, RFID
tags, sensors, and bridges. Awarepoint's technologies collect raw
sensor data and transform that data into high-value positioning
information that can be used to add location awareness to a variety
of healthcare, manufacturing, security and other applications.
Requiring no hard wiring, Awarepoint's "plug and track" network is a
fully managed service, including hardware, software, remote
monitoring and maintenance. The company is headquartered in San
Diego, California and serves hospitals across the United States
through a national sales and operations workforce. Track us down at
www.awarepoint.co |
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