Partnership Formed to Meet Difficult RFID Sensing and Data Logging Challenges

May 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Boulder, Colorado, USA:  Phase IV Engineering announces it has partnered with Melexis to create sensor tags based on the release of the revolutionary Melexis MLX90129 HF RFID enabled resistive sensor IC. The partnership between Phase IV and Melexis will optimize opportunities to deploy this powerful passive sensing chip to create previously impossible sensing solutions.

As the inventors of the first commercial RFID sensing IC, Phase IV Engineering might appear to be more of a competitor than an ideal partner for Melexis.  On the contrary, the MLX90129 chip has leap-frogged all existing RFID sensing ICs – providing Phase IV Engineering with an RFID sensing and data logging chip that can solve many previously unsolvable sensing problems. Scott Dalgleish, COO at Phase IV Engineering, commented, “Phase IV’s real core competency is providing complete sensing solutions for the wireless and embedded sensing problems that customers from a very wide variety of industries bring us. With the MLX90129, we can very effectively provide great solutions to many sensing projects we would have previously turned-away. The advanced features of the MLX90129 opened up many new markets for us - so we eagerly embraced it.”

Gilles Cerede, RFID Product Marketing Manager at Melexis, commented on the partnership by saying, “It was clear to us that no other organization understood the application of passive sensing to customer problems better than Phase IV Engineering.  We have been very impressed with Phase IV’s ability to provide a complete solution, including sensor configuration, calibration, packaging, reader integration, and software. Phase IV Engineering invented RFID sensing and knows the technology down to the IC level. When we learned that they were changing their business model to be a systems integrator and away from just using their own chips, we knew we found the ideal partner.”

The unique and powerful passive sensing features of the MLX90129 include an internal temperature sensor, two external highly accurate differential inputs to accommodate a wide range of sensor types, a high degree of configurability to accommodate precision calibration, and a standard ISO15693 high frequency RFID interface.

In battery-powered data logging mode, the MLX90129 has the unique features of a small size, low thermal mass, a sealed sensor package, wireless configuration and data transfer, expandable memory using the SPI interface, and the ability to tether two external sensors of any type – including extremely fast response temperature probes.

For additional information about Phase IV Engineering and the MLX90129 integration partnership visit www.phaseivengr.com.

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About Phase IV Engineering: Phase IV Engineering is a veteran-owned, private company based in Boulder, Colorado. Their innovative technology has made them leaders in RF enabled sensing and monitoring solutions since 1992, providing unique and challenging application solutions in the commercial aerospace, automotive, industrial and agricultural industries, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense.

About Melexis: Melexis Microelectronic Integrated Systems N.V. (Euronext Brussels: MELE) designs, develops, tests and markets advanced integrated semiconductor devices. Melexis’ products include microcontrollers, Hall (magnetic), optical sensor ICs, interface ICs for pressure and acceleration sensors, micro-machined silicon pressure, acceleration and gyroscope sensors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), wireless communication RF and RFID components, in each case principally for automotive applications. Further information about Melexis can be found at www.melexis.com.