RFID technology leader Smartrac has announced Sensor Temperature DogBone, which it claims is the industry’s first passive RAIN RFID temperature-sensing inlay. The new sensor inlay combines high levels of accuracy and cost-efficiency. The latest addition to Smartrac’s sensor inlay family focuses on the logistics environment – cold-chain management, grocery or agricultural applications.

This product is the latest development arising from Smartrac’s successful cooperation with sensor specialist RFMicron. Based on Smartrac’s moisture-level sensing inlay Sensor DogBone, and also utilizing the proven RFMicron Magnus S3 chip, Sensor Temperature DogBone offers a maintenance-free and battery-free temperature-sensing solution to business problems for improved product management and quality control.

In addition, the new inlay retains the basic moisture-sensing capabilities of its sibling, as the IC provides the option to read the sensor code and on-chip RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value to detect how much power the chip is receiving from the reader.

Sensor Temperature DogBone senses temperatures ranging from -20°C to +65°C. The sensed temperature is digitized into a 12-bit number and wirelessly communicated to off-the-shelf readers using a standard UHF Gen 2 protocol. The 12-bit number can easily be converted into a precise temperature measurement. The typical accuracy is ±1°C using one-point calibration done during wafer manufacturing. Alternatively, two-point-calibration is available. This technique means that the tags are calibrated at an additional higher or lower temperature point, defining a temperature range where higher-than-standard accuracy is achievable.

Sensor Temperature DogBone can be deployed in environments where active or semi-active sensors are not practical or economically feasible. FCC and ETSI compliant and available in wet label format, Sensor Temperature DogBone is easy to implement, and works on different low- and high-dielectric materials like cardboards, plastics, stone, wood and construction materials. The new inlay boasts a long lifetime and full recyclability. Sensor Temperature DogBone works in the 860-960 MHz frequency range and comes in a die-cut size of 97 x 27 mm (3.8 x 1.1 in), with an antenna measuring 89 x 24 mm (3.5 x 0.9 in).

“With Sensor Temperature DogBone, we are expanding our highly successful product family of passive sensor inlays based on RFMicron’s Magnus S3 chip. Like its siblings, the new Sensor Temperature DogBone will provide the basis for a large number of applications that would be inconceivable without RFID sensing technology pioneered by Smartrac and RF Micron,” says Dirk Boltersdorf, head of product development and management, Intelligent Things Business Division at Smartrac.