NXP, Siemens collaborate on pharmaceutical RFID innovation

EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS: NXP has announced a collaboration with Siemens on an RFID-based supply chain pharmaceutical project designed to improve efficiency from manufacture to retail.

Using NXP’s Application and System Center (ASC, formerly known as RFID Reference Design Center), a facility that provides real-life conditions for evaluating and optimizing RFID applications, the Siemens IT Solutions & Services team created a customized RFID system to ensure a high read accuracy throughout the supply chain.

The project focuses on creating a system based on NXP’s ICODE high frequency (HF) RFID technology incorporated into the labels of pharmaceutical products. The whole system is configured to already comply with the latest edition of the HF Gen2 standard, which is currently under final review by EPCglobal.

The aim of the installation is to accurately bulk read several hundreds of labeled packages quickly, allowing the manufacturer to keep a thorough stock inventory at all points along the supply chain. The ASC enabled the Siemens IT Solutions and Services team to achieve industry benchmark HF read accuracy results. This was accomplished through the use of an advanced high speed anti-collision concept and the optimization of the entire system.

"We selected NXP as the chip supplier for our innovative RFID pharmaceutical project. During project planning, NXP offered us the services of its highly sophisticated ASC,” said Matthias Bruckschen, Principal Consultant SCM / RFID, Siemens IT Solutions and Services.

“The facility supported our engineers, enabling them to evaluate and tune the design of the HF RFID labels. By simulating the interactions between the readers and samples, we were able to obtain first qualitative results and calibrate the solution accordingly. The support provided by NXP's ASC saved us a lot of development time and we look forward to a renewed cooperation between NXP and Siemens IT Solutions and Services in future."

Based near Graz, Austria, the ASC was created with the aim of driving the adoption of RFID technology. NXP’s team of engineers based at the ASC can help systems engineers tackle common problems and support the development of RFID projects.

In addition, the facility can be used to build and test full scale supply-chain scenarios to evaluate the robustness of an RFID-based system –- enabling the development of a business-ready solution and reducing development time.

“NXP’s aim in founding the ASC was to create an environment which would spur the advancement of RFID and industry-wide research through methodological analysis, test and validation of all elements of an RFID system,” said Dirk Morgenroth, Director Marketing, RFID, NXP Semiconductors.

“We are pleased to support Siemens IT Solutions and Services in the optimization of their implementation for pharmaceutical supply chain management, by delivering a future proof RFID system set-up prepared for HF Gen2-specified solutions.”

End customers integrating RFID solutions in their businesses are demanding a fully integrated, turnkey solution which provides them with a high-level of business intelligence. NXP’s systems level approach and leadership in RFID technology enables systems integrators to design and build business ready solutions and reduce the complexities of the technology.

Red hot IPTV set top market is cooling

USA: The IP set top box market grew 55 percent in 2008, but such breakneck growth will not continue, reports In-Stat.

Many telcos have already launched TV services, so there are fewer new customer prospects. In addition, the economic climate is sapping investment in new telco TV systems.

Established telco TV providers like France Telecom, AT&T, Free, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, and China Telecom provided much of the subscriber growth that drives the demand for IP set top boxes. We expect this situation to continue in 2009 and 2010. However with few new deployments, unit shipments of IP set top boxes will see only slight increases in 2009 and 2010.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
* More than 50 percent of 2009 IP set top box unit shipments in Western Europe will have hard disk drives.
* Among the key technology trends are improved power management and support for 3D graphics, multiple codecs, and open software platforms.
* The average bill of materials for an HD IP set top box will fall below $50 in 2010.
* Among the semiconductor competitors providing solutions for the IP set-top box market are Broadcom, CopperGate, Intel, NXP, Sigma Designs, and STMicroelectronics.
* Motorola held onto the top market share position in IP set-top boxes in 2008, but its market share slipped from 2007 as Cisco ramped up shipments.