Sybase announced plans this week to accelerate RFID (radio frequency identification) adoption in the enterprise with the development of new middleware platform. The system will aggregate data from a number of different types of RFID sources for real-time monitoring from any location, including remote tracking from a wireless device.

To jump-start the development of RFID technology, Sybase also launched the RFID Early Adopter Program, which will foster close cooperation with a select group of customers and partners (SIs, VARs, OEMs) in implementing the new middleware solution.

The first company to join Sybase in its quest is AeroScout, which offers an Active RFID platform based on Wi-Fi technology. Other partners are expected to come on board by launch time later this year.

An RFID primer
RFID systems leverage tags, which are really mini radio transmitters, to track identifying information. A radio-enabled reader “interrogates” the tags in a manner that’s similar to a barcode scanner reading a barcode. Unlike barcode technology, however, a direct line of sight or a particular orientation isn’t required for RFID, simplifying the reading process. Readers can be stationary or portable.

There are two types of RFID tags: Active and Passive. Since Passive tags don’t have their own power supply, they are limited to a range of about 20 feet and to static types of data, such as identification number, product type, and shipping date.

Active RFID tags, on the other hand, leverage their own power supply to extend read ranges to up to 100 feet and deliver location-based data. A familiar example of an application for Active RFID tags is the electronic passes we’ve become accustomed to using to zip through tollbooths.

Falling prices = mass adoption
RFID technology is just beginning to take hold in retail and enterprise businesses.

In the past, operations such as hospitals and aircraft manufacturers used RFID to keep tabs on their costly and critical assets (heart-lung machines or wing sub-assemblies, for example).

As prices—in particular for Passive RFID tags—have dropped over the past year or two, massive deployments are beginning to appear. With prices hovering in the one-dollar-per-tag range, retail giant Wal-Mart is ramping up to require its suppliers to implement the technology on all shipping pallets. When this program is in place, the company will be able to automatically track all the goods it carries throughout its supply chain.

The mobility factor

As for the Sybase/AeroScout project, it leverages Sybase’s database knowhow to collect information generated by AeroScout's RFID technology and its Wi-Fi-enabled Active Tags. Sybase then uses its handheld expertise to make the data available on a PDA or smartphone for tracking.

And since AeroScout location technology is based on Wi-Fi, a separate client isn’t required to also track standard Wi-Fi assets, such as printers, routers and computers.

With this tracking system, companies can keep tabs on any type of asset, including vehicle fleets, equipment, inventory—even employees—in real-time, and monitoring can be done from a Palm or Pocket PC-based handheld from any location.

Sybase Executive VP Thomas Volk noted "It brings exciting opportunities for our customers to capture real-time information at the point of action, and turn that information into business value through integration with their business processes."

Sybase is currently previewing its middleware RFID platform at the Tech Wave tradeshow in Orlando Florida. The demo has attendees walking around the show floor with AeroScout Active RFID tags, while others track them using a handheld. Those with the handheld can identify tagged folk on a map of the show floor using the PDA’s display.

Since Active RFID tags cost anywhere from $20 to $40, companies tend to use them for assets that will stick around. So a real world example would be an operations manager tracking forklifts and other equipment. Another example—AeroScout's initial proof-of-concept deployment—tracks children's movements around the LegoLand amusement park using Active RFID tags as wristbands. So when a child gets separated from her parents, she can be easily located.