29 Aug Cut Costs and Increase Coverage with an RFID Multiplexer
What is RFID Multiplexing?
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has seen a steady rise in the past year in various industries all over the world. From warehousing to logistics and many other industries in between, the need for a comprehensive inventory management solution is apparent. Therefore, the most effective organizations are utilizing RFID technology to automate their asset tracking needs. A key contributor to RFID’s recent resurgence: the advancement of multiplexing.
What is a Multiplexer?
In layman terms, a multiplexer is a device that allows multiple connections of inputs to one output. In RFID systems, a multiplexer enables you to use one reader to control many reader antennas (can have up to 16 antennas per reader instead of four), allowing greater area coverage while simultaneously cutting costs.
RFID Multiplexing
To explain the value and innovation of RFID multiplexing, let’s first break down the basic concept of an RFID operation:
- An antenna is utilized to send out and receive radio signals
- An RFID tag receives these signals and pairs those signals with information
- A reader accepts and stores that information and triggers actions
This is the standard process when organizations utilize RFID to enhance their asset and inventory tracking capabilities. However, multiplexing elevates RFID setups to another level. Whereas it used to be that one reader equated to one location or portal, the multiplexor enables each antenna to be read individually, thereby not only increasing the coverage in square feet per reader but also providing more discrete read points that convert to distinct locations.
Low Cost. High Coverage. Easy Implementation.
Having the ability to support a relatively higher number of RFID antennas per RFID reader drastically improves operation efficiency and lowers installation and deployment costs.
Also, multiplexing reduces the complexity of an RFID system by reducing the number of readers needed. This can significantly reduce system integration effort and allow for easy deployment by a system integrator.
Use Cases that can Benefit from a Multiplexer
- Inventory/asset management in large warehouses
- Tracking of items and equipment in large facilities
- Real-time visibility in manufacturing
- Key and armory tracking at correctional facilities
- PPE & medical equipment monitoring in hospitals
- FOUP, materials, and equipment tracking for semiconductor fabs
- Gas canister & equipment tracking for industrial gas
- Operations requiring a large area of coverage
The advanced technology of multiplexing paired with TME® RFID provides an organization with a comprehensive real-time tracking software platform for mobile equipment, tools, inventory, IT assets, furniture, etc., across multi-tiered locations. MASS Group already offers the most cost-effective deployment of RFID on both a small and large scale and now the addition of multiplexing provides the ability to scale even higher.
For more information about TME® RFID, please contact MASS Group.