RTLS Standard: WhereNet Supports New ISO Active RFID Real-Time Locating System Standard

WhereNet Corp., a Zebra Technologies company and one of the leader in wireless solutions for tracking and managing enterprise assets, announced recently its support for the first global technical standard for real-time locating systems (RTLS).

Recently published by the International Standards Organization (ISO), the ISO/IEC 24730 standard defines an air interface protocol and an application programming interface (API) for use in RTLS applications.

The new standard will enable multi-vendor compatibility and encourage interoperability of products for the growing RTLS market, thereby driving broad international adoption and integration of wireless location systems by global companies.

"Standards are valuable because they give end users confidence that a technology has been well vetted by the technical community, they promote interoperability, and they encourage a competitive marketplace. ISO/IEC 24730-2 well serves these purposes and begins an era of standardized real-time locating systems," said Craig K. Harmon, President & CEO, Q.E.D. Systems, the industry's leading consulting and standards advisory organization.

"With its bottom-line business benefits and proven return on investment, RTLS is being embraced on a global scale and ratification of this standard will further accelerate adoption," said Jon Rosselle, vice president for SSA Terminals. "Creation of a global standard for tracking mobile assets in campus-wide environments will get more vendors involved in building out RTLS architectures, leading to additional capabilities and price reductions. In particular, the international shipping industry, which has more than 18 million intermodal containers in use around the world, will benefit from this newly established standard, since shippers and carriers have longed for a solution that provides visibility throughout their supply chain."

International Collaboration at Work

WhereNet is a member of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31/WG 5 (International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission, Joint Technical Committee 1, Sub Committee 31, Working Group 5), and participates as a member of the U.S. delegation within the international community; other members of the delegation include representatives from APL, the Department of Defense, and Q.E.D. Systems, to name a few.
Delegations from other countries include representatives from Denso, ETRI, Hyundai, G2 Microsystems, and numerous others.

The ISO/IEC 24730 standard has been ratified by ISO member countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others.

"This ISO standard is a tribute to a strong partnership of the international community of government and industry. Although many proprietary technologies are being modified to provide limited locating functions, this is the first and only internationally accepted, high-precision locating standard for assets and people," said Tim Harrington, vice president of product strategies for WhereNet and document editor for ISO 24730-2. "Furthermore, ISO/IEC 24730 lends credence to the fact that the technology used by WhereNet is openly available to other companies to develop products. In fact, G2 Microsystems and GE Healthcare are among those already designing products to this standard."

ISO/IEC 24730
The fundamental goal of the ISO/IEC 24730 standard is to allow for compatibility and to encourage interoperability of products for the growing RTLS market. The ISO/IEC divided the standard into two parts:

• ISO/IEC 24730-1 defines an API needed for utilizing an RTLS. It enables software applications to utilize an RTLS infrastructure to locate assets with RTLS transmitters attached to them. It defines a boundary across which application software uses facilities of programming languages to collect information contained in RTLS tag blinks received by the RTLS infrastructure.
• ISO/IEC 24730-2, the 2.4 GHz air interface protocol, establishes a technical standard for real-time locating systems that operate at an internationally available 2.4 GHz frequency band and are intended to provide approximate location with frequent updates (for example, several times a minute). This part of the standard defines a networked location system that provides x-y coordinates and data telemetry. The system utilizes RTLS transmitters that autonomously generate a direct-sequence spread-spectrum radio frequency beacon. The transmitters may be field programmable and support an optional exciter mode that allows modification of the rate of location update and location of the RTLS device.

WhereNet Corp.
A Zebra Technologies company, WhereNet is the first company to deliver a single wireless location and communication infrastructure that reliably and cost-effectively manages valuable mobile resources and delivers a complete return on investment within 6-12 months. Based on patented, standards-compliant technology resulting from a collective 100+ years of development, the WhereNet active RFID, real-time locating system solutions enable companies such as APL, BMW, Ford Motor Company, and NYK Logistics and facilities like Tobyhanna Army Depot to reduce inventory, lower operating costs, and improve operations. The company has received the Henry Ford Technology Award; was recognized for strong ROI by Computerworld; was ranked among the top 10 in the InfoWorld 100; and has been recognized as a wireless innovator by Forrester Research, Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies, Plant Engineering, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazines. WhereNet is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit the WhereNet Web site at www.wherenet.com, or call 408-845-8500 (in the U.S.) or +32 3 286 84 50 (in Europe). Information about Zebra bar code, card and RFID products can be found at www.zebra.com.

SOURCE: WhereNet Corp.