The company has also begun ramping up to volume production "in the millions", starting with its UHF EPC Gen 2 inlays, with large-scale manufacture of Gen 2 straps to commence soon after. "We're capitalising on our RFID manufacturing muscle to move the market from prototyping to large-scale deployments of EPC Gen 2 on a global basis," says Tony Sabetti, director of UHF/Retail Supply Chain, Texas Instruments RFID Systems.
TI is simultaneously teaming up with 3M to implement a global RFID-based strategy to combat drug couterfeiting and boost pharmaceutical supply chain safety. The two companies' Authenticated RFID Platform is "a multi-layered, transaction-based security solution where each item is uniquely and securely authenticated".
A TI HF RFID tag placed on each pack delivers a machine-readable security stamp containing a (1,024-bit) digital signature based on Public Key Infrastructure (a security architecture that combines software, encryption technologies and services that enable businesses to protect the security of their communications and business transactions).
Dispensing sites can use the signature to verify the product came from the original manufacturer. The system exploits 3M's encryption, software and specialist labelling expertise, while overt and covert physical security features can be incorporated to make it harder to compromise security.
