Introducing Impinj Gen2X - An RFID Solutions Toolbox
Impinj has announced Gen2X - an enhancement to the radio and logical layers of the RAIN radio standard (Gen2 / ISO 18000-63), built to help increase RFID success in difficult environments while increasing inventory speeds and protecting consumers.
Gen2X provides a solutions toolbox that works seamlessly with Gen2 and ISO 18000-63 standard. This improvement was created to address challenges faced in RFID deployments in multiple industries – including retail, logistics, and manufacturing.
Key Benefits of Impinj Gen2X
The 7 main benefits of Impinj Gen2X include:
- Reduces inventory counting time, saving labor cost.
- Improves readability of small, embedded tags or tags on hard-to-read items, reducing tag cost and enabling new use cases like food tagging.
- Reduces stray reads in retail loss prevention, allowing consumer self-checkout.
- Declutters conveyor-to-truck shipment loading, reducing labor costs.
- Boosts dock-door reading and directional accuracy, reducing shipping errors and costly mistakes.
- Addresses consumer privacy at point-of-sale.
- Inhibits tag and item counterfeiting, and fraudulent returns.
Gen2X Performance Enhancements
Improved Tag Read Range and Inventory Speed
Gen2X enhances the performance of RFID solutions by improving tag read range and inventory speed. The enhanced reader sensitivity and power delivery ensure exceptional readability, even for small and embedded tags in densely packed items.
This capability is instrumental in environments where quick and accurate tag identification is critical, such as in logistics and distribution centers. The acceleration of inventory speed helps streamline operations and reduce labor costs.
Increased Readability and Efficiency
Gen2X optimizes the readability of even smaller or hard-to-read tags, such as those used in cosmetics and food tagging. This improvement allows businesses to explore new use cases while maintaining low operational costs.
Moreover, Gen2X innovations minimize stray reads, especially in environments like retail checkouts, thus allowing for efficient consumer self-service options. Stray reads can also lead to problems taking inventory of specific departments or warehouses in retail environments, which can also be improved with Gen2X.
Protected Mode and Cryptographic Authentication
Gen2X addresses privacy and security concerns by providing features that allow control of where and when tag data can be accessed. Impinj Protected Mode makes RAIN tags invisible to readers when necessary, only to be activated again using a secure PIN.
Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of data is critical in preventing counterfeit products and securing supply chains. Gen2X includes Impinj Cryptographic Authentication which provides advanced authentication features such as the challenge-response protocol. This protocol verifies the authenticity of a product, safeguarding against counterfeiting and ensuring secure data delivery.
Additionally, Gen2X integrates memory diagnostics that verify tag chip health and validate data encoding. These features offer robust data protection, enabling businesses to rely on RFID solutions for accurate and secure connectivity. By incorporating these advancements, Gen2X not only facilitates seamless connectivity but also fortifies RFID solutions against potential security threats.
New Tag Decluttering and Filtering Capabilities
In environments with a high density of tags, decluttering becomes essential to maintaining operational efficiency. Gen2X introduces features that help RFID readers discriminate which tags respond to which readers. Additionally, by silencing tags that have already been inventoried, Gen2X effectively declutters the environment.
Tag filtering capabilities further enhance efficiency by allowing readers to select specific tags at the initiation of an inventory round. This ensures that only the relevant tags participate in the inventory process, optimizing the speed and accuracy of reads in complex environments.
Unlocking New Use Cases
With Impinj Gen2X, the realm of possibilities for RFID solutions expands significantly.
Retail Self-Checkout
Retail environments are fast-paced and demand quick, efficient processes. Gen2X addresses this by reducing stray reads, thereby facilitating seamless self-checkout experiences for consumers. By accurately identifying items during checkout, retailers can diminish the instances of loss due to theft or unpaid merchandise. This advance helps in maintaining inventory accuracy, reducing shrinkage, and enhancing overall customer satisfaction in retail environments.
QSR and Food Management/Tracking
In industries such as food processing and distribution, the ability to read tags on small or challenging items is vital. Gen2X excels in improving the readability of embedded tags, even on items with less accessible surfaces. This capability makes it especially beneficial for food tagging where traditional RFID solutions might struggle.
Logistics and Counterfeit Prevention
Logistics and supply chain management is another area where Gen2X provides significant improvements. By enhancing dock-door reading and directional accuracy, Impinj’s innovations help minimize shipment errors and optimize the cargo flow. The added layer of security against counterfeiting through cryptographic authentication ensures that product authenticity can be verified throughout the product’s journey. This is crucial for industries facing challenges with fraudulent returns and counterfeit goods, promoting trust and reliability in the supply chain processes.
Through its solutions toolbox, Impinj Gen2X paves the way for innovative uses of RFID technology, crafting a more connected and secure environment for businesses across the globe.
The Impinj Commitment
Impinj’s commitment to furthering the industry doesn’t just stop at their own products. Impinj has shared Gen2X with other manufacturers royalty-free in order to strengthen the industry as a whole and drive innovation.
The introduction of Gen2X reflects Impinj's commitment to fostering innovations that drive seamless connectivity and advanced RFID solutions. By equipping businesses with this powerful toolbox, Impinj enables more effective use of RFID technology across multiple industries. As companies continue to explore the potential of RAIN RFID, Gen2X offers a promising pathway toward improved productivity, reduced costs, and enhanced data accuracy.
How Can I Use Gen2X?
Gen2X must be enabled on both the reader and tag level. Today, a variety of tags that use Impinj M800 series (M830, M850) chips and a range of readers built on the Impinj E Family reader are available in addition to the Impinj R700 reader. Additional Gen2X capable products are expected to come from manufacturers like Silion, Chainway, RoyalRoy, Seuic, ThingMagic, Bluebird, and Urovo.
Conclusion
For more information on Impinj Gen2X technology, contact us or read Impinj's official statement!
