The Art and Science of UHF Passive

Tag Design
And Selecting The Tag That is Best for Your Requirements

AlienTechnologyisuniqueintheindustryinhavingover15yearsofexperiencedesigningUHFpassive
RFIDinlays,thesemiconductorchipsonthem,aswellasthereadersthatinterrogatethecombination.This
expertiseenablesAlientoprovidealevelofRFIDinlayandtagdesignthatotherscannot.Hereweexamine
themultifacetedchallengesoftagdesignandwhataspectsofthisareimportantfortagpurchasersto
understand.

Problem

PassiveUHFRFIDtagsarealreadywellonthewaytoreplacingbarcodes

Amuchgreaterlevelofexpertiseisrequiredtochoosethebestperformingtagdesignforaspecificapplication(vs
selectingabarcode)butthebenefitsaremuchgreatertoo(andtheROIisnowproven)

FewchoosingtagsfortheirapplicationunderstandenoughabouthowRadioFrequenciesworkinthecontextofRFID

Understandingthetechnicaltradeoffsinmoderndaytagdesignisanoftenoverlookedaspectoftagselection

Background

OverthepastfewyearsRFIDtagshavecontinuedtoreplacebarcodesinmanyapplications.Thisdocumentdoesnot
dwellonthebusinessrationalewhy,althoughthediagrambelowhintsatoneofthemanyreasons,namelythatRFID
tagsidentifyaspecificobjectandnotjustaclassofobjects.Briefly,otherreasonsincludethefactthatRFIDtagsstore
additionaldata,thisdatamaybewrittenandupdatedinthefieldandthattagsdonotrequirelineofsighttofunction.

Figure1RFIDTagsareReplacingBarCodesTheyContainItemSpecificInformation

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

TheReturnonInvestmentisnowregardedasawellprovenfactandbetterunderstoodthan
afewyearsago.Thetechnologyhasalsoimprovedtothepointthatitisnolongera
RFIDisextremelyfast
questionofifthetechnologyworksbuthowdoIgetittoworkbestinaspecificapplication?
andextremelyaccurateand
Thispaperdiscussestagdesignissuesthatarealsoimportantforapurchaserofthe
technologytounderstandallowingamoreinformedpurchasingdecision.
nobodyisdoubtingwhether

RFIDcanreducelabor.But
Barcodesareintheirmostsimpleformarefairlysimpletounderstandandusersdonot
findingtherighttagtofitthe
needtoknowmuchabouthowthestripes(1Dbarcode)orblocks(2Dbarcodes)arecreated
productusedtobeextremely
ordecoded.Areaderhastoseethecodeandobservethelightanddarkvariances,
painful,andwhenitspainful
interprettheseandpresentthedatainhumanreadableform.Thereisnotmuchto
understandaboutthem.Thisdidnotstopearlybarcodeusersmakingmistakessuchas
itbecomesexpensive.
printingonsurfaceswithout
Terminology:
enoughcontrast,invertingthe
ZanderLivingston,CEOof

(Tag)AntennaThealuminumantennausedtocollect
lightanddarkareasorprinting
Truecount
powerandtransmits/receivessignalsto/fromtheUHF
themonunevensurfacesthat
passiveRFIDchip.NotethattheRFIDreaderalsohasone
madethemproblematicto
ormoreantennaofitsown.
read.Alsoiftheybecomescuffed,markedorsoiled,itis

InlaysTheantenna+chipcombination
prettyeasytounderstandthatthismaybeaproblem

TagsTheinlayappliedontoasubstrate(usuallya
forthereader.
plasticorpaper)toallowitsusewhenappliedtoan
object

LabelsThetagwithanextralayerofprintablematerial
AswemovetotheworldofRadioFrequency
addedwiththeinlaysandwichedbetweenallowing
Identification,wemovetotheworldofRF.
printingontothesurface
UnderstandingRFisadegreelevelsubjectandnot

ConversionTheprocessoftakingtheinlayand
somethingthatmanyRFIDimplementersnecessarily
manufacturingatagorlabel
understandwell.Forthosethatwantagoodgeneral

RFRadioFrequency
backgrounderonthesubjectmayalsochoosetoread

ISMbandindustrial,scientificandmedical(ISM)radio
bands(bandsrequiringnospeciallicensesprovidingthe
RFIDforDummiesbyPatrickJ.Sweeney,II.Thispaper
adheretocertainfrequenciesandpowerlimits)
examinestherolloftagdesignandthetradeoffsthat

FHSS=FrequencyHoppingSpreadSpectrum(rapidly
mustbemadebythetagdesignersandwhattheimpact
switchingacarrieramongmanyfrequenciesusingshared
istothetag.Thisinturnshouldbeunderstoodbythose
knowledgebetweentransmitterandreceiver)
whoareinvolvedinthetagselectionprocessfora

LBT=ListenBeforeTalk
specificapplicationallowingthemtomakeamore

ETSIdefinestheEuropeanRFIDrequirements.Itusesa
informedandeducateddecisionaboutwhatisbestin
formofLBT.
theirapplication.

TradeOffs

AnunderstandingofbasicRadioFrequencyphysicsisanimportantskillsetthatshouldbeusedbythoseselectingtags
fortheirapplication.However,anindepthknowledgeisnotrequiredalthoughasolidunderstandingofthe
challengesofRFIDtagbehaviorandtagdesignwillcontributetoabettertagpurchasechoice.Thisiswhatthispaper
seekstoaccomplish.

Fromahighlevelthesetradeoffsinclude:

Forwardlinkvsbackscatter
Sizevsperformance
Operatingfrequencies(forforwardandreverse
Tagdesignvendor(ICvstaginteraction
links)
knowledge)

Substancetobetaggedandtheenvironment
UHFPassiveICtype/supplier
thistaggingistakingplacein
Tagquality(designandmaterials)

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Withabackgroundonthesetradeoffs,thenumberofsurprisesexperiencedduringtheimplementation
phasewillonlybereduced.OftenitisusefultokeepinmindthedifferencesbetweenbarcodesandRFIDtags.
Fundamentallythisallboilsdowntobarcodesbeingaonewayoptical(lineofsight)communicationofasingle
numbercomparedtoRFIDthatisalwaysabidirectional(evenwhenonlyreading)radiofrequency
communicationofmanywordsofinformation.

TagDesignConsiderationsAMultidimensionalProblem

Beforepurchasingtags,itisimportantto
understandthebasicanatomyofatagand
someofthekeyelementsthatinfluencetag
designandtheimplicationsofthesedesign
tradeoffsontagusage.Astheadagegoes,ifit
istoogoodtobetrue,itprobablyis.Notag
canbeallthingstoallapplicationsso
understandingthesetradeoffsisuseful.Forthe
purposesofthispaperwefocusonPassiveUHF
RFID.

AtagincludestheRFIDICandantennaona
substratetoallowthecombinationtobe
appliedtoatrackedobject.However,the
antennahasthreefunctionsandthereare
Figure2TypesofRFIDTags
actuallytwodifferentresonantelements(sub
antennaifyoulike)withinmostUHFpassive
RFIDtagdesigns(exceptnearfieldtagsthathaveonlyone).Whatarethesethreefunctions?

First,theinlaymustbeabletoreceiveRFpowerfromthereadertopowerupthechip.Asthereareno
batteriesinvolvedinPassiveRFIDtags,thepowertoallowtheRFIDchiptodoanythingmustcomefrom
somewhere.Itcomesfromthereader,20or30feetaway.Thechallengeistocreateapotentialdifference
acrossthealuminumantenna,enoughtopowertheseveryspecializedRFIDchips.Ifyouthinkyourcellphone
hasalowpowerchipdesign,thatisnothingcomparedtothesepassiveRFIDchips.RFIDchipsarepoweredand
active,doingtheirjob,atthousandsoftimeslesscurrentthanacellphoneortabletinsleepmode1.Soan
RFIDreaderisnotjustareader,italsotransmitsRFradiationtosupplypowertothetags.Thispower
transmittedbythereadervariesdramaticallydependingonreadertype(handheldreadersoftensupplyless
powerthanfixedreaders),country(countriesusedifferentpowerlimitsinordertomanageinterference
betweendevices)andtheenvironment(e.g.readertotagdistanceandwhatliesinbetween).Arangemightbe
consideredtobeaslowasWattandashighas4Wattsradiatedpower(atthereaderantennasomuchlower
whenreceivedbythetag).

Second,thetagmustreceiveandinterpretasignal(containingacommandorcommandstellingthetagwhatto
do).Thisisactuallypiggybackedonthesamepowersignalprovidedtothetagbythereader.Thissignalis
definedbytheISO180006Cprotocol2adoptedbytheEPCClass1Generation2standard3.

UHFPassiveRFIDconsumes13microAmpsvsasmartphonesleepmode74milliAmps.SeeTable4here:http://www.scribd.com/doc/116401727/PowerConsumption
AnalysisofaModernSmartphone
2
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=59644
3
http://www.gs1.org/gsmp/kc/epcglobal/uhfc1g2

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Thethirdandfinalfunctionisforthetagtotransmitinformationbacktothereader.Forthistohappen,thetag
modulatesthesignalreceivedfromthereaderasdefinedbyISO180006Candusingbackscatterradiation4,
reflectsamodulatedversionofthereceivedsignalbacktothereader.Therearetwotermsusedtodescribe
whereatagreadercombinationislimited:forwardlinklimited(thetagisalwaysabletobackscattersufficiently
tothereaderifitreceivesenoughpowerontheforwardlinktopowertheRFIDchip)orreverselinklimited(the
tagreceivesenoughpowertopowerthechipbutinsufficientcapabilitytobackscatterinformationbacktothe
reader).

Figure3ThreeTagchallenges

OneofthemanycomplexitiesisthattheseUHFpassiveRFIDtagsactuallyhave2resonatingelementstothe
design.Aswillbeshownlater,together,theyarekeycomponentsinprovidingsufficientbandwidthtothe
solution.

Figure4TheTwoRFIDResonatorsBuiltintoaSingleUHFRFIDAntenna

ThisisfurthercomplicatedbythepatchworkofworldwideUHFpassiveRFIDfrequencies5inuse(allwithin
regionalISMbands)andotherrestrictionswithineachregion(andsometimesindividualcountries)suchas
maximumallowabletransmittedpower.AslongastheselimitsareadheredtothentheRFIDsolution(primarily
thereaders)donotneedlicenses(justasaWiFirouterdoesnotrequireaspeciallicense).Theprimaryregions
are:

UnitedStates902928MHz(4WEIRPFHSS)
Europe865870MHz(2WERPETSI)
China840844MHzand920924MHz(2WERPFHSS)
JapanWas950956MHzmovingto916924MHz(4WEIRPLBT)

4
5

http://www.eetimes.com/design/microwaverfdesign/4018929/RFIDBasicsBackscatterRadioLinksandLinkBudgets
http://www.gs1.org/docs/epcglobal/UHF_Regulations.pdf

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Combiningallregionsintoasingletagdesigniscommon
todaybutascanbeseen,thistagdesignhastospan840
956MHz,averybroadrangeindeed.Therealityisnotag

designcanaddressallregionsequallywell.Asaresult,an
understandingofwhereandhowatagwillbeusedis
important.Manytagsdohavetobeusedworldwide

throughacompleteinternationalsupplychain.However,
Figure5Exampleofworldtagswithregionaloptimizations
sometimesthereisonlyoneregionwherethetagsareto
(NorthAmerica,Japan.Chinafocusworldtagtop;Europefocus
beusedthatmayexhibitamorechallengingenvironment.
worldtagbottom)
Forexample,provisioningataginAsiaduringthe
manufacturingofthetaggeditemmaybeeasierbecausetheenvironmentiswellcontrolledandtagwritesare
doneatlowpowerclosetothetagonaconveyer.However,whenthetagsareinuse,theusecasemaybe
muchmoreproblematice.g.thousandsoftags,packedonclothesonshelvesonaretailshowflooror
warehouseinEurope.

ApplicationMaterialsWhatistheTagAppliedtoandWhatisBetweentheTagandtheReader?

Theapplicationthetagneedstooperateinisprobablyoneofthemostdiscussedtopicstodaybutcanstillbe
problematicifnotwellunderstood.Therearetwomajoraspectshere,thesubstancetheRFsignalwilltraverse
andthematerialthetagisappliedto.Bothareabsolutelycritical.
Therelationshipbetweenthereader(thereadersantenna)andthetagisoftendynamicbutunderstandingwhat
maybeinbetweenwilldictatetheamount(ifany)oftheRFsignalwillreachthetag.Thesematerialscanbe
dividedintothefollowing:
1. RFLucent(RFtravelsthrougheasily):air,oilsetc
2. RFOpaqueTwotypes:
Conductivematerials:Blockorreflectenergye.g.metals/foils
Absorbingmaterials:waterorhighwaterbasedobjectse.g.woodandpeople.

Figure6WhatisBetweentheReaderandtheTag?WillitAbsorborReflectRFRadiation?

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

WaterbasedobjectsdoagoodjobofabsorbingRFradiation
soshouldnotbeplacedbetweenreaderandtag(tryplacing
thereaderantennaabovetheobjectswiththetagsontop).
WoodandpaperwillalsoabsorbRFradiationbasedonthe
moisturecontentsocareneedstobetaken.Interestingly,
oilsconductRFradiationverywellsowhileBabyOilwillnot
causeanyproblems,abottleofBabyShampoowill(itis
mostlywater).
Tagscanbeapplieddirectlyontomanymaterials(withafew
importantexceptions).However,understandingthe

propertiesofthismaterialisalsoimportant(e.g.dielectric
Figure7ExampleTwoHighDielectricTags(top,glass
properties;whatelseisinsidethematerialsbeingtagged).If
windshields,bottomhighdensityplasticscontainingmetaland
thisisaplastic,howdenseisit?Aglasswindshield;doesit
watere.g.automotivebatteriesortires)
havemetalaspartofthetinting?Ifthisisaplasticcontainer,
whatisinside?Istheremetallicfoilinside(likeacigarettepacket)?Engaginginaconversationdirectlywithan
educatedtagsuppliercanhelp.Somecompaniesprovidemorespecializedtagsforapplicationwithdifferent
materials.
Onematerialthatwillalwaysbetroublesomeismetal.ApplyingaUHFpassiveRFIDtagdirectlytometalisakin
totakingthetag,connectingbothendswithawireandthentryingtocreateapotentialdifferenceacrossthe
antenna.Clearlythisisimpossibleasthetagantennaisshortedout.Itwillneverbepoweredupbecauseofthe
lackofpotentialdifferenceacrossit.

Figure8ApplingaTagDirectlytoMetalisAkintoShortingaBattery

TosolveRFIDbeingappliedtometal,asmallinsulatingmaterialneedstobeplacedbetweenthetagandthe

metal.Thisonlyneedstobeenoughtoallowthetagtohavethepotentialdifferenceacrosstheantennasuchas
athinfoamlikematerial.FoambackedRFIDtagsareoftenusedinthisapplication.Inmetalenvironments,

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

makesuretherearentothermetalobjectsbetweentheantennaandthetagsincemetalactslikeanRFmirror
reflectingtheRFradiationbacktothereaderbeforeitisabletoreachandpowerthetag.Whiledealingwith
metalsisclearlychallenging,theseRFpropertiescanalsobeusedasabenefit.Withasmallstandofffromthe
metal,themetalbehindthetag,canreflectmoreenergyintothetagthusenhancingthetagperformance.So
carefulplacement,tagchoiceandstandoffdistanceareimportant.

TurnonThresholdandBackscatter

Someofthisdiscussioncanbebetterunderstoodbylookingatsomegraphicalrepresentationsoftwoofthe
mainpropertiesoftheinlayandICcombination.The(relative)readsensitivityisdefinedbytheabilityofthe
chiptoturnonortobepowered.WecallthisTurnonThreshold(ToT).Thelowertheturnonthreshold,the
better,sincethetagpowersonwhenreceivinglesspower.Thisdescribestheforwardlinkofthetagthatwe
mentionedearlier.Nextisthelevelofbackscatterradiation(denotedbyBSbelow)thetagisabletoreflect
back.Thehigherthisis,thebetter,sincethisshowshowefficientthetagisatreturningastrongmodulated
returnsignaltothereader.Itshouldbenotedthatreadersforwardandreverselinkcapabilityarealsocriticalin
definingtheoverallbehavior(readerread/writesensitivity).Itisasystemissueofwhichthetagispart.
Thegraphbelowshowstheseforatagmeasuredinair(notappliedtoanymaterial).Wealsoshowthefour
frequenciesofmostinteresttous(yellowverticallines).

Figure9ExampleUHFPassiveRFIDTagToTandBSWhentheTagisMeasuredinAir

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Notethefollowing:

Therearetwotroughsorupsidedownpeakstotheturnonthreshold(ToT).Thisisbecausethe
tworesonatingelementsthatcoexistinsidetheRFIDtageachhavetheirownresonantfrequency.
TheToTisacomplimentarycombinationofthesetwo.Thisisimportantasitenablesthetagtoturn
onacrossawiderangeoffrequencies.Thisishowtagdesignersmakeatagapplicabletomorethan
oneregion.
Thebackscatteronlyhasasinglepeak(asonlyoneoftheresonatingelementsprovidesthemajority
ofthebackscatter).
ThepeakoftheBSandthetwotroughsarenotlocatedinthecenteroftheimportantfrequencies
showninthegraph.OneoftheToTtroughsiscloserto1GHz,wayofffromthelowend865MHzfor
EuropeandevenfromthetopoftheNorthAmericanbandsat928MHzandsoontobevacated
956MHzJapanesebands.Thisisdeliberateinthedesign.

TheexperienceoftagdesigncomesintoplayindesigninghowclosetheToThumpsare,wherethepeaksand
troughsareandmostcriticallyhowandwherethesetroughsmoveasthetagisappliedtodifferentsubstances.
Whenthetagisappliedtoamaterialseveralthingshappen:

EachToTtroughshiftsleftbydifferentamountsdependingonthematerialandhoweachofthetwo
loopsaredesigned;
ThetwoToTtroughsmovedown(relativetotheirinairvalues)andagaintheymoveatdifferent
amountseachdependentontheirdesigns.
Thebackscatteralsoshiftsleft(intothedesiredfrequency)andalsoshrinksorexpandsdependent
onthematerialthetagisappliedto.

Figure10TheShifting,ShrinkingandExpandingofToTandBackscatterWhenTagisAppliedtoaMaterial

Theneteffectofthesechangesisshowninthegraphbelow.

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Figure11SummaryShowingtheOverallChangeofTagToTandBSWhentheTagisAppliedtoMaterial

UHFPassiveRFIDTagandICSuppliersWhattoLookOutFor

Agoodtagdesignercanpredict,model,simulateanddesignforthesecomplexchanges.Thesimulationtools
needtobedevelopedfromthegroundupandmusttakeintoaccountthecomplexitiesdescribedhereand
manyothersubtlebutimportantnuances.Thebestvendorsarethosethatunderstandthesubtleinteractions
betweentheRFIDIC,thetagsandtheRFIDreaderitself.Thebestsolutionswillusethisknowledgetobuild
bettertagdesignsthatextractthebestofthatICdesignandviceversa.
Thewholedesignprocessisshownbelowandincludes:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

Initialsimulationofthetag(bothresonantelements)
ImpedancematchingthedesigntothespecificpropertiesoftheselectedRFIDIC
Reviewthesimulatedradiationpattern
Reviewthesimulatedcurrentdistribution
ReviewthesimulatedTurnonThresholdandbackscattercharts(similartoabove)
BuildaprototypeantennasheetofbarealuminumantennaandhandmounttheICon10or20samples

CapturetheperformanceoftheprototypeandreplotonthesameToT/BSchartstoconfirm
performanceisassimulated(andifnot,identifywhatneedstochange).

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Figure12TagAntennaDesignProcess

Thetagmaterialandbuildqualityisalsoimportant.AsmallmisplacementoftheIContotheantennacancause
theoverlapimpedancetochangedramaticallyandthetagbehaviorwillshiftandbehavedifferenttothe
targetdesign.Also,iftheantennaisdamagedduringmanufacturingasimilarresultmaymanifestitself.Atag
notworkingisbadbutwhatifoneoftheseproblemsstopsthetagsfrombeingprogrammedproperly?The
wrongEPCnumbercouldbeworsethananonfunctionaltag(agreenTshirtisreadasabluedress)!Justafew
poorlymanufacturedtagscanresultinalargedisturbanceinastressedsupplychain(especiallyifthishappens
toanumberoftagsinasequencethatareappliedtomultipleproductSKUs).

SizeDoesMatter

Thefinalaspecttoconsiderisperhapsonethatseemsmoreintuitive.Thelargertheantenna,thebetterthe
antennaisatreceivingasignalandpowerfromthereaderandthestrongerthereturnedbackscattersignalwill
bebacktothereader.Themostimportantdimensionisthedipolelengththatisusually(butnotalways)the
horizontaldimensionofthetag.Asageneralrule,ifyoucanfitalargerdipole,youwouldnormallyseebetter
performance(dependentonalltheabovementionedfactorssuchasmaterialthetagisattachedtoetc.).So
reviewingavarietyoftagsisuseful.

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

Figure13AlienTechnologyTagPortfolioTagsforMostApplications,FormfactorsandUseCases

Conclusions

Tagdesignisacomplexprocessinvolvingcomplextradeoffs
betweenelementsincludingbutnotlimitedto:

Forwardlinkvsbackscatter
Operatingfrequencies(forforwardandreverselinks)
Substancetobetaggedandtheenvironmentthistaggingis
takingplacein
Sizevsperformance
Tagdesignvendor(ICvstaginteractionknowledge)
UHFPassiveICtype/supplier
Tagquality(designandmaterials)

Noapplicationiscompletelythesameasanother.Whilemany
timesageneralpurposeworldwidetagwillworksufficientlywell,
thatshouldnotbeassumedandworkshouldbedonetounderstandtheapplication,theusagemodelandthe
environmentinwhichthetagwillbeused.Thetagdesignerandtagsuppliershouldbepartoftheevaluation

sincejustasmallamountofpoorqualitytagscancreatealargeissueforanexpensivesupplychain.Ifindoubt,
workwithacompanythatcanadviseyouonwhatwillworkbestinyourspecificcircumstances.Mostidealisa

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TheArtandScienceofUHFPassiveTagDesign

AndSelectingWhatisBestforYourRequirements

companythatmanufacturersUHFPassiveRFIDchips,tagsandreadersandcanactuallydoasitesurveyforyou
orassistwithyourown.

Figure14OptimalTagDesignTheArtofApplyingTheScience

AUTHOREDBY:NeilMitchell;SrDirector,Marketing;AlienTechnologyCorp.
V1.0June6,2013

Copyright2013AlienTechnologyCorporation.Allrightsreserved.
Alien,AlienTechnology,theAlienTechnologylogo,FSA,Higgs,BlastWrite,QuickWrite,DynamicAuthentication,Squiggle,andtheSquigglelogoaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofAlienTechnology
CorporationintheU.S.andothercountries.
DISCLAIMERApplicationrecommendationsareguidelinesonlyactualresultsmayvaryandshouldbeconfirmed.Thisisageneralpurposeproductnotdesignedorintendedforanyspecificapplication.
ICproductsarecoveredbyoneormoreofthefollowingU.S.patents:7967204,7931063,7868766,7737825,7716208,7716160,7688206,7671720,7659822,7619531,7615479,7598867,7580378,
7576656,7562083,7561221,7559486,7559131,7554451,7551141,7542301,7542008,7522055,7500610,7489248,7453705,7452748,7425467,7417306,7411503,7385284,7377445,7364084,
7353598,7342490,7324061,7321159,7301458,7295114,7288432,7265675,7262686,7193504,7173528,7172910,7172789,7141176,7113250,7101502,7080444,7070851,7068224,7046328,
6998644,6988667,6985361,6980184,6970219,6952157,6942155,6933848.Otherpatentspending.
TagproductsarecoveredbyoneormoreofthefollowingU.S.patents:7967204,7931063,7868766,7737825,7716208,7716160,7688206,7659822,7619531,7615479,
7598867,7580378,7576656,7562083,7561221,7559486,7559131,7554451,7551141,7542301,7542008,7531218,7522055,7500610,7489248,7453705,7425467,
7417306,7411503,7385284,7377445,7364084,7353598,7342490,7324061,7321159,7301458,7295114,7288432,7265675,7262686,7260882,7253735,7244326,
7218527,7214569,7199527,7193504,7173528,7172910,7172789,7141176,7113250,7101502,7080444,7070851,7068224,7046328,6998644,6988667,6985361,
6980184,6970219,6952157,6942155,6933848,6927085,6816380,6780696,6731353,6693384,6683663,6665044,6657289,6623579,6606247,6606079,6590346,
6586338,6566744,6555408,6527964,6479395,6468638,6420266,6316278,6291896,6281038.Otherpatentspending.

ReaderproductsarecoveredbyoneormoreofthefollowingU.S.patents:7716208,7716160,7688206,7671720,7659822,7619531,7615479,7598867,7580378,
7576656,7562083,7561221,7559486,7559131,7554451,7411503,7385284,7377445,7364084,7353598,7342490,7324061,7321159,7301458,7295114,7288432,
7265675,7262686,7215249,7214569,7199527,7193504,7173528,7172910,7172789,7141176,7113250,7101502,7080444,7070851,7068224,7046328,6998644,
6988667,6985361,6980184,6970219,6952157.Otherpatentspending.

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