In a recent release, Semtech Corporation, a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and algorithms, has announced its new nano-tag reference design, which the company said is a disposable, ultrathin and low-cost tag for integration into disposable systems or attachment to assets that communicate a specific event trigger.
The LoRa-based nano-tag is designed to be deployed across Internet of Things (IoT) verticals that use event data to enable smarter decision making. So – all of them. The nano-tag is equipped with a thin printed battery and is designed to be integrated into products or systems that send messages to the Cloud when a simple event is detected. The LoRa-enabled reference design will work with existing LoRaWAN networks to enable the proliferation of IoT applications, requiring real-time, reliable feedback including logistics/shipping applications, healthcare and pharmaceutical applications, asset tracking applications, and general-purpose compliance applications.
MachineQ, a Comcast Industrial IoT service, is the first company to pilot the LoRa-enabled nano-tag with interested third parties on its IoT network in Philadelphia.
“As we continue to work with customers across a wide range of use cases, the innovative service made possible by coupling Semtech’s new nano-tag on machineQ’s dense IoT network opens a whole new set of use cases, across multiple industries, that were not commercially or technically viable using existing technologies,“ said Alex Khorram, general manager, machineQ.
“By offering lower cost, disposable LoRa-enabled tags, we can expand the current landscape of use cases for Semtech’s LoRa devices and wireless radio frequency technology and allow companies to integrate the technology to drive many more diverse IoT use cases. We believe the number of use cases should expand rapidly as our connectivity and Cloud partners start to leverage the disruptive nature of the LoRa-enabled tag,” said Marc Pegulu, VP and GM, Wireless and Sensing Products Group. Semtech. “We continue to introduce leading edge solutions based on Semtech’s LoRa Technology to fully leverage the differentiated capabilities and advantages of the technology’s long-range, low-power and low-cost connectivity.”
The tags will be commercially available in both flexible tape and paper substrates in 2018 and are currently in trials by a number of LoRa Alliance members.
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
