The chip, heart of an RFID Tag: what determines its cost? (RFID Smart Labels Europe 2006)

Mr Thierry Roz, RFID Business Unit Manager
EM Microelectronic Marin SA, Switzerland
 

Downloads

EM presentation*
EM Microelectronics audio*

If you already have access, please [Login]

Presentation Summary

  • The RFID world rests on the assumption that economy of scale will bring the silicon price sufficiently down so every single product may have an RFID tag in the end. Where are the limits of economy of scale?
  • Wafer cost, function set, feature size and assembly process impact on the chip price. How do these aspects influence final label cost and which are the alternatives you should consider?
  • Everyone cries for standards (ePC, ISO18000, NFC, etc). Standards and associated IP often come with a non-negligible cost. Furthermore, standards are in constant evolution leading to new standards. What are the costs of standards and what are the alternatives?

Speaker Biography

Thierry Roz works as RFID Business Unit Manager at EM Microelectronic, a Swiss based semiconductor company subsidiary of the Swatch Group. With more than 12 years experience in the field of RFID, he is responsible in opening new application segments, supporting sales worldwide, defining and developing new RFID microchips for readers and tags at all frequencies (LF, HF, UHF, microwave). Previously, he held several positions in RFID chip design and design team leadership.
 
Prior to joining EM Microelectronic, Mr Th. Roz was Monolithic Microwave IC (MMIC) designer at TRT-Philips Communication Systems, a leader in communication systems in France, and Philips Microwave Limeil, the GaAs wafer foundry of Philips.
 
Th. Roz received his MS degree in microelectronics from University of Montpellier (France) in 1990 and he is contributing to ISO standardization in the field of RFID as head of the Swiss delegation in ISO committee SC31/WG4 and SC31/WG4/SG3, and as project editor of ISO14223-3 for the ISO committee SC19/TC23/WG3/TWG.

Company Profile

EM Microelectronic is a semiconductor manufacturer designing and producing ultra low power, low voltage, digital, analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) for battery-operated and field-powered devices in consumer, automotive and industrial applications.
RFID chips feature read/write, anti-collision, 125kHz, 13.56MHz, UHF and 2.45GHz operation for applications in security and access control, animal ID, logistics and immobilization in automotive. Other products include microprocessor supervisors and reset ICs, microcontrollers, smart card ICs, mixed analog and digital gate arrays, ASICs, LCD drivers and displays and optoelectronic ICs. EM also produces (LCD) modules and offers bumping services.
EM Microelectronic is one the electronic systems companies within the Swatch Group, developing and producing ultra-low power, miniaturized and accurate microelectronic components and systems. Additional company and product information is available at www.emmicroelectronic.com