700297PervasID Proof of Market - Wide area Passive RFIDClosedGRD Proof of MarketInnovate UKAlthough radio frequency identification (RFID) is finding a growing range of applications such as in TFL’s Oyster cards, passive ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID has the potential to have a far greater impact across a massive range of commercial sectors if remote identification of items could be achieved without requiring the human intervention that is needed for conventional technologies such as bar codes. Since the energy required to operate the tag is transmitted as a radio wave, no battery is required in the tags resulting in very low tag costs. To date take up of passive UHF RFID technology has been slower than predicted, largely because the reliable read range has so far been limited to only a few meters. While the maximum specified read range of the current generation of tags is in the range of 10-15m, this cannot be achieved in practice with high read reliability. The limited reliable range has restricted the range of applications where passive UHF RFID can be deployed to those where portals are practical. Where wide area coverage is required, currently active tags must be used which are typically 10-1000x more expensive and have a limited battery life. This project will assess the market viability of a passive UHF RFID wide area solution developed at Cambridge University which enables truly pervasive coverage with reliable tag detection. The PervasID patented technology makes use of multiple interrogator antennas distributed over an area as large as 20mx20m where tags are to be read. These antennas are able to work together in a collaborative manner to reliably detect the tags present. Where larger areas are required, the technology scales through the use of multiple cells. The technology has been developed into a prototype which has been deployed in pilot studies with test customers in applications as diverse as document management, asset tracking and security. The key objective of the project is to identify the best route to market for this technology.