Omni-ID

American company

Omni-ID, Ltd.

Company type| Private
Industry| Radio-frequency identification
Founded| 2007
Headquarters|

Rochester, New York

United States

Key people

| President and CEO: Tony Kington
Products| RFID Tags
Parent| HID GLOBAL (AssaAbloy Group)
Website| http://www.omni-id.com

Omni-ID is a vendor of passive UHF Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, founded in 2007[1] as Omni-ID, Ltd. It produces a range of RFID tags designed to operate in all environments, including on metal and liquids.

## History

[edit]

### Founding

[edit]

The company is based on a research unit that was formed within QinetiQ, an international defence technology company that was spun off from the former UK government agency Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) when it was split up in June 2001.

One of the problems the research unit studied was the difficulty reading radio frequency identification (RFID) tags placed close to metals and liquids.[2][3] On August 22, 2007, Omni-ID was granted UK patent number GB2429878 for an "electromagnetic radiation decoupler".[4] With a working RFID tag that overcame those difficulties, the design was commercialized by launching a new company, Omni-ID, in March 2007. Initial funding was provided by Cody Gate Ventures LLP [5] a technology venture fund created in 2007 by QinetiQ and Coller Capital. An additional US$15 million in Series C funding was provided to Omni-ID by Cody Gate Ventures in February 2009.[6]

### HID GLOBAL

[edit]

In 2021, HID Global acquired Omni-ID.[7]

## Products

[edit]

The core principle of the passive [8] RFID tag design marketed by Omni-ID was that it contained a complex proprietary[4] arrangement of metal layers within the tag which reflected and boosted the signal broadcast from an RFID reader.[9] This allowed the tag to be read accurately even when placed on metal, on a liquid container, or when immersed. This was confirmed in independent testing in November, 2008.[10][11][12]

The company offers five different tag designs named Ultra, Max, Flex, Prox, and Curv, each with a different read range based on the trade-off between tag size and performance. The Ultra tag has the longest read range of up to 135 ft. with a stationary reader.[13] The Max tag has a long read range [10] and is designed for tracking conveyances and outdoor assets. The Max HD is a long-range global tag for use in all regions.[13]

The thin, low-profile Flex tag has a medium range.[11] The small Prox tag has the shortest read range, 4m,[12] and is often used for tracking high value IT assets. The small, flexible Curv tag is for use on cylindrical objects.

In October 2008, the company announced a new product, OmniTether, to attach RFID tags to items with insufficient surface area for normal attachment methods.[14] A Service Bureau was also launched to simplify RFID tag commissioning.[15] Omni-ID prints a barcode and human-readable information on the outer label, and pre-commissions tags with a customer's inventory and associated EPC coding.

In November 2008, the company announced Omni-ID On Demand for their Prox RFID tag, to print, encode and deploy Omni-ID tags, and applied for a patent.[16]

In September 2009, the long range passive Ultra tag was introducedm[17] with a read range of 135 ft. with a stationary RFID reader.[18]

## Awards

[edit]

In April, 2008, Omni-ID was a finalist and the second runner-up at the RFID Journal Awards.[19]

Omni-ID was awarded the 2009 Asia Pacific Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award for UHF RFID Tags.[20]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "QinetiQ launches new technology venture fund in partnership with Coller Capital, RFID News, Jun 27, 2007". Rfidnews.org. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
2. ^ Environmental effects on RFID tag antennas, 2005 IEEE MTT-S International, Jun 2005. doi:10.1109/MWSYM.2005.1516541.
3. ^ "Microsoft Word - Dewolf_Maloni_ResearchPaperFINAL.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-06. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
4. ^ a b "United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office". Ipo.gov.uk. 2009-09-08. Archived from the original on 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
5. ^ "QinetiQ launches new technology venture fund in partnership with Coller Capital, Jun 27, 2007". Qinetiq.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
6. ^ "Omni-ID Secures $15 Million in Series C Funding From Cody Gate Ventures, Reuters, Feb 2009". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
7. ^ "HID Global Acquires Omni-ID to Extend Its RFID Leadership". businesswire. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
8. ^ "Technovlegy". Technovelgy.com. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
9. ^ "Technovlegy". Technovelgy.com. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
10. ^ a b "Product Review: Omni-ID Max". Rfidwizards.com. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
11. ^ a b "Product Review: Omni-ID Flex". Rfidwizards.com. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
12. ^ a b "Product Review: Omni-ID Prox". Rfidwizards.com. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
13. ^ a b "Omni-ID Launches RFID Tags for Manufacturing, Transportation, and Defense Industries". M2m.tmcnet.com. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
14. ^ "RFID Journal, News Roundup, Nov 6, 2008". Rfidjournal.com. 2008-11-06. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
15. ^ "RFID Innovator Omni-ID Unveils Service Bureau to Offer Flexible Tag Commissioning and Enhanced Customer Efficiency, Reuters, Oct 2008". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
16. ^ "Omni-ID removes barriers to RFID adoption through a patent-pending on site deployment solution, Enterprise Management Quarterly, Nov 17, 2008". Emqus.com. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
17. ^ "Omni-ID Launches New High-Performance UHF Gen 2 Tags, RFID Journal, Sep 14, 2009". Rfidjournal.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
18. ^ "Omni-ID Launches New RFID Manufacturing & Transportation Product Suite". Aware Innovations. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
19. ^ "RFID Journal Awards, RFID Journal, Apr 2008". Rfidjournal.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
20. ^ Omni-ID Awarded 2009 Asia Pacific Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award for UHF RFID Tags, Yahoo Finance, Mar 24, 2009[dead link]

## External links

[edit]

* Omni-ID corporate website

* v
* t
* e

QinetiQ

Divisions and
subsidiaries|

| Current|

* Automatika
* Boldon James
* Cyveillance
* Foster-Miller

|

Former|

* Omni-ID

Shareholdings and
partnerships|

* Defence Technology Centre
* Metrix UK
* PSivida

Products|

* Cerberus
* Foster-Miller TALON
* PyTEC
* QinetiQ 1
* QinetiQ Banshee
* Q-Net
* QinetiQ Mercator
* QinetiQ Zephyr
* TopSat

Places and vessels|

* MoD Boscombe Down
* RAE Bedford
* RV Triton

Predecessors|

* Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
* Defence Research Agency
* ARE
* A&AEE
* MVEE
* RAE
* RARDE
* RSRE

People|

* John Chisholm
* Graham Love

Category
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*[e]: Edit this template