Paratek Confidential and Proprietary Near-Field Focused Phased
Array and Scanning Antennas for RFID Applications Greg Mendolia
Vice President, Product Strategy Office: 443-259-0140 x 130 Fax:
443-259-0451 Paratek Microwave, Inc. 6935 Oakland Mills Road, Suite
G Columbia, MD 21045 Slide 2 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek
Confidential and ProprietaryPage 2 Paratek Microwave, Inc. Founded
in 1998 to develop innovative RF components based upon the companys
proprietary materials technology, Parascan TM The Parascan
materials science enabled the development of Parateks thin film,
thick film and bulk material electronically tunable capacitors
Electronic tunable RF components led to development of smart
scanning antennas Independent, multi-beam, 360 steering Frequency
coverage from 30MHz to 3 GHz Fast scanning in azimuth, elevation
and frequency Re-configurable aperture for wide beam acquisition
and then narrow steerable beam Maintain uninterrupted
communications, increased LPI/LPD, higher capacity through
frequency reuse Null steering for increased anti-jam Higher gain
Horizontal and vertical polarization diversity mitigates multipath
Slide 3 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and
ProprietaryPage 3 RFID Technology Challenges Accurate reading of
100% of the tags is essential Tags inside moving payload - - B U T
- - Technical limitations reduce tag read rates Reader reception of
tag data vulnerable to obstruction and de-tuning from metal, liquid
and dense materials Conventional reader antennas do not track and
stare at moving tags - - I M P A C T - - Slow industry adoption due
to technology shortfalls Slide 4 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek
Confidential and ProprietaryPage 4 Paratek Solution Near Field
Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA) Antenna power is surgically
directed at and focused on targeted RFID tags by increasing power
levels in the near field without polluting spectrum in the far
field Antenna RF power is focused at the tag instead of spread over
the entire area More signal power delivered at the tag => more
tags read and better ability to write to tags Multipath and
interference problems reduced => decreased tag contention
Antenna tracks tags as they pass by Increased beam dwell time on
tag => longer read time Direction of tag movement can be
detected Are items entering or leaving the area? KEY RESULT:
Dramatically improved tag read rates for RFID unfriendly materials
Slide 5 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and
ProprietaryPage 5 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Reader Antenna
Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Conventional Reader
Antenna Energy Distribution Tag Lower field intensity in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field Higher field intensity in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field Near Field Focused Phased Array
amplifies and focuses RF to increase power in the near field Arrays
of elements are used to control energy focus and distribution RF
power decays quickly so that power levels in the far field are
comparable to standard antennas Compliant with FCC energy levels in
far field Permits higher near field energy intensity at the tag
location Slide 6 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and
ProprietaryPage 6 Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna
Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Phased Array Antenna Paratek Near
Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Tag 6dBi gain limit in far field
Lower field intensity in near field Higher field intensity in near
field 6dBi gain limit in far field Paratek re-engineers the phase
of each element in the array, focusing the energy in the near field
where the tags are located The depth and direction of the focused
region can be easily steered with standard phased array electronics
Conventional arrays focus energy in the far-field, not near field
Tag Slide 7 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and
ProprietaryPage 7 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna
Near Field EIRP RF energy not where its needed Paratek NFA Antenna
Directivity: 0-3 meters RF energy focused on tags Conventional 1x8
Far-Field Array Antenna Directivity: 0-3 meters Slide 8
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
8 Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna Far Field EIRP
Conventional 1x8 Far-Field Array Antenna Directivity: 0-30 meters
High far field RF energy (pollutes spectrum) Far field RF energy
dispersed Paratek NFA Antenna Directivity: 0-30 meters Slide 9
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
9 Target focus range: NFA is 4.5 dB higher NFA is 4.5dB lower 9 dB
Improvement Over Conventional Antennas in Near Field / Far Field
Ratio Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Slide 10 Reproduction Not
PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage 10 Paratek NFA
vs. Conventional Array Comparative Statistical Read Rate (tags on
surface of cases of bottled water) 275% greater read rate @ 5
1,060% greater read rate @ 6 Same far-field EIRP Slide 11
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
11 Antenna Characteristics: 862 - 928 MHz Passive Tx/Rx, 30 dBm max
Gain 6.3 8.4 dBi Dual linear polarization V/H 27 dB isolation V-H
ports 9. 5 17 17 9.5 lb Pattern Paratek Scanning Antenna Full 360
azimuth scan range 50 Azimuth beam (-3dB) 70 Elevation beam (-3dB)
< -10 dB Side/back lobe > 12 dB Return loss, 50 ohm < 1 ms
Beam switch/scan Slide 12 Reproduction Not PermittedParatek
Confidential and ProprietaryPage 12 RFID Vertical Beam Elevation
PlaneAzimuth Plane 10dB 8dBi Paratek Scanning Antenna Slide 13
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
13 Video 1 Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna Slide 14
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
14 Video 2 Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna Slide 15
Reproduction Not PermittedParatek Confidential and ProprietaryPage
15 Summary Parateks Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA)
antenna dramatically improves tag read rates under all conditions,
especially RFID unfriendly materials, while also enhancing the
ability to write to tags Electronic steering enables tracking of
tags for increased acquisition time => Results in dramatically
improved read rates, as well as identification of direction of
travel for tagged products Directed and controlled RF energy
reduces tag contention and multipath issues NFA transmitted RF
energy (EIRP) decays at a faster rate over distance => Results
in lower far field interference to other products or to other RFID
systems