Mojix® Breakthrough Mojix EPC RTLS Solution Now in Field Trials
Leverages Cost-Effective EPC Passive RFID for Ubiquitous Real-Time Visibility of Goods and Assets
October 14 , 2008, Los Angeles, CA — Mojix, Inc. announced today that its Mojix eLocation™ solution, the market’s first Real Time Location System utilizing UHF passive RFID, is now in field trials in the U.S. and Europe. A new software component of the revolutionary Mojix STAR™ system, the eLocation solution combines the superior economics of UHF passive RFID and the scalable data collection and advanced multi-dimensional signal processing of the STAR system. The Mojix eLocation solution can accurately locate EPC passive RFID tagged goods or assets in real time to within one meter, indoors or outdoors, for truly cost-effective real-time tracking of materials, goods, processes and assets.
“The Mojix eLocation solution represents a major functional and economic breakthrough for real-time location estimation and tracking, overcoming all the traditional barriers to effective and cost-effective RTLS applications,” said Dr. Ramin Sadr, CEO and Founder, Mojix. “With the new solution extension of the Mojix STAR infrastructure, organizations now have a single EPC standard based system for all supply chain management, yard management and asset tracking needs, and can for the first time achieve ubiquitous real-time visibility across all assets.”
The Mojix eLocation solution leverages the Mojix STAR system architecture, consisting of a centralized high-sensitivity STAR receiver managing a network of hundreds of distributed RFID tag-excitation points, called Mojix eNodes™, that are oriented to define a vast three-dimensional coverage area. While extracting RFID tag data, the STAR Receiver’s phased antenna array employs advanced digital processing techniques to process the received signal and track the location of the signal source. This enables the eLocation solution to pinpoint exactly where an EPC passive RFID tag is located, and to track its path over time in both indoor and outdoor environments.
While the current RTLS market is predicted to grow by 30 percent annually to reach $1.26 billion by 2011, cost and technical barriers abound. The ability of the Mojix eLocation solution to perform real-time precision tracking using low-cost standards based EPC Gen2 RFID tags is extremely attractive from an economic standpoint. The Mojix eLocation solution eliminates the need for use of much more costly battery-powered “active” tags, separate WiFi infrastructure and more costly proprietary systems to perform RTLS. Now a single system can be used to read tags and determine location, which removes the need to special-tag items just for location tracking in a passive RFID environment.
In addition, EPC RTLS systems tap the superior performance characteristics of the UHF band to deliver improvements in performance. EPC compliant passive RFID tags operate in UHF band which is inherently superior in terms of signal penetration and propagation properties versus 2.4GHz or higher ISM frequency bands used in WiFi networks. Longer range and resolvability of the location of the signal source is achieved in the UHF band, with the ultimate target location accuracy of 32cm (wavelength in UHF).
The Mojix eLocation solution also overcomes the numerous technical challenges that have traditionally inhibited RTLS performance and utility, including multi-path, interference and non-stationary propagation radio environments. This in turn opens the door to a variety of high-value use cases in such areas as:
- Shipping docks - Users gain comprehensive real-time visibility not just into items passing through doors, but also into what is staged near, entering, or passing by each door. Normal dock door operations are supported, as well tracking goods in and out of different staging areas within the warehouse or distribution center.
- Outdoor areas - Assets can be immediately located and tracked for accurate inventory, loss prevention and more efficient operations across yards, lots, wharves and other outdoor areas through a ruggedized, easy-to-maintain RTLS infrastructure. Drives increased yard throughput, faster dock door turns, improved personnel productivity, enhanced outbound carrier selection, and elimination of unauthorized checkouts.
- Retail - Going far beyond conventional electronic surveillance systems, stores are now able to easily find products that have “migrated” from their designated displays and departments, curtail shrinkage while items are still in the store, and discover the exact location of misplaced backroom inventory before committing to double ordering.
- Work in progress - Manufacturers can increase product velocity, reduce inventory and achieve a more predictable flow on manufacturing lines through enhanced exception handling and real-time visibility into build status, resource utilization and misplaced materials and tools.
In all use cases, a Mojix eLocation implementation scales quickly and inexpensively across docks, yards, stores, warehouses and plants through the positioning of additional low-cost wired or wireless Mojix eNodes. As many as 512 eNodes with their respective tag interrogation spaces can be controlled by a single Mojix STAR Receiver to define an EPC RTLS coverage area of up to 250,000 sq. feet.
Availability
Now in field trials, the new Mojix eLocation solution is expected to be generally available in Q1 2009.
About Mojix
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Mojix, Inc. was founded in 2004 by a team of former JPL/NASA scientists and engineers with the vision of applying breakthroughs in deep space communications to exponentially refine the precision, reach and scope of RFID technology. The first in a game-changing new class of RFID systems, the Mojix STAR (SpaceTime Array Reader) system introduces capabilities orders of magnitude beyond conventional passive RFID offerings to enable economical, large-scale and high-volume RFID deployment. Mojix is privately held with funding from Oak Investment Partners, Red Rock Ventures and InnoCal Venture Capital. For more information, please visit Mojix, Mojix STAR, Mojix eNode, Mojix eGroup, Mojix eLocation are registered trademarks of Mojix Inc.
Contact:
Linda Prosser, VP Corporate Marketing
Mojix, Inc
408-500-5410
linda@mojix.com
Kurt Foeller, Media Relations
415-578-3251