FAT Tags to Attach RFID to Metal

Filed in archive Tags and Readers on June 30, 2006

I'm not sure if this was deliberate or an accident, but a company has come up with a catchy name for a new tag to affix to metal surfaces to reduce interference from the metal.

It's called a FAT tag. FAT stands for "Foam Attached Tag." According to an article in RFID Journal:

"ADASA's new 'Foam Attached Tag' (FAT tag) is based on EPCglobal's second-generation Electronic Product Code (EPC) air-interface protocol. It features a passive UHF 4-inch-by-1/2-inch tag attached to a layer of foam, which creates distance between the transponder and the metal or liquid products. Metal and liquids can detune an RFID transponder's antenna, greatly reducing the distance from which it can be read, while liquid absorbs RF signals."

The FAT tag ranks right up there with the Alien Squiggle tag for name appeal.

The FAT tag also features a wearable tag Encoder -- the world's first, so the company, ADASA, says. The photo shows the wearable tag encoder (photo credit: ADASA website).