Impinj Introduces Monza R6 Tag Chip to Drive Retail Applications

Impinj, Inc. announced its Monza R6 tag chip to drive high-volume applications in retail stores and supply chains. Combining breakthrough features with unprecedented read range and write speed, Monza R6 enables retailers and brand owners to achieve significant performance improvements, unmatched data integrity and the lowest applied tag cost in their RFID operations while using smaller and more versatile tags that extend the benefits of RFID to new product categories.

Monza R6 boasts the industry’s best read sensitivity, measured at –22.1 dBm, and delivers 25% longer read range than existing RFID tags, resulting in faster and more accurate inventory-taking. This enables retailers to reliably deploy small tags, such as required on jewelry and cosmetics, and supports advanced usage models including full-time, hands-free data capture.

Monza R6 is also the world’s fastest tag chip, requiring only 1.6 milliseconds to encode 32 bits of memory. Impinj’s STP Source Tagging Platform can encode Monza R6 at 9,500 tags per minute, allowing service bureaus to easily scale to the volume, cost and order turn-around times typically required by retail brand owners.

“In addition to its superior performance, Monza R6 is packed with revolutionary new features such as our AutoTune, Integra and Enduro technologies, all designed to enable RFID applications to scale to the next era of tens of billions of tags per year,” said Nikhil Deulkar, Monza product marketing director at Impinj.

Monza R6 chips leverage Impinj’s patented AutoTune technology to dramatically improve inlay responsiveness by automatically and continually re-tuning their on-chip radios to compensate for changing environmental conditions, including the effects of nearby materials like fabrics, packaging and fixtures. In addition, because AutoTune enables very efficient antennas, inlay manufacturers can now offer high-performance, small-form-factor tags while reducing material and manufacturing costs.

As the industry scales to tens of billions of tagged items per year and businesses increasingly rely on RFID in their daily operations, the integrity of data encoded in RFID tags must be verifiable throughout the supply chain. Monza R6 tag chips include Impinj’s Integra technology, the first and only suite of diagnostic tools allowing users to verify the reliability of encoded data anywhere in the supply chain.

With Enduro Technology, a breakthrough die-attach method for constructing high-quality RFID inlays, Impinj replaces traditional bumps with large copper pads on the Monza R6 chip surface for bonding to an inlay antenna. This large-surface-area bond improves the robustness of tag performance by increasing tolerance to variability of inlay manufacturing parameters, such as die placement accuracy and curing pressure, all while increasing the strength and durability of the final product.

As a consequence, Enduro significantly improves yields when converting and encoding tags through printers. Developed over the past three years in close collaboration with Muhlbauer and Delo, Enduro technology is now available exclusively on Monza R6 ICs.

“The innovative features we included in Monza R6 arose from discussions with our customers and end users throughout the supply chain,” said William Colleran Ph.D., Impinj’s president and CEO. “With Monza R6, we deliver unique benefits to each layer in the retail value chain, and those benefits make for a revolutionary product that will fuel market growth.”

Monza R6 chip samples are available now, and leading inlay vendors expect tags built around Monza R6 to be available in the second half of 2014. Monza R6 tag chip prices will equal those of current Monza 5 chips in similar volume.