Impinj Introduces Monza R6-A RAIN RFID Tag Chip for European Retail Industry

Impinj Inc. announced the introduction of the Monza R6-A tag chip. Impinj Monza chips attach to items and enable RAIN RFID connectivity devices to determine the item's identity, location, and authenticity. In production now, the Monza R6-A chip delivers enhanced privacy protection, industry-leading performance and environmental sustainability.

Designed for the European retail market, the Monza R6-A tag chip helps retailers implement “Privacy by Design” principles to protect consumer privacy. Monza R6-A chips enhance privacy protection in RAIN RFID deployments with short-range mode and tag deactivation via “kill” capability. When an authorized RAIN RFID reader activates Monza R6-A’s short-range mode, the chip’s read range is reduced by a factor of 10, preventing the tag from responding to any reader unless the reader is right next to the tag. Short-range mode allows retailers to protect consumer privacy while still providing post-sale customer service, such as returns without a receipt. Retailers can further enhance consumer privacy with Monza R6-A chips’ kill capability, which allows a reader to irreversibly deactivate, or kill, the chip after item purchase.

Like the Impinj Monza R6, the new R6-A chip provides industry-leading performance. Retailers also benefit from Impinj’s patented AutoTune technology, which improves readability in conditions like densely stacked items, and the Impinj Integra™ diagnostics suite, which verifies tag data reliability anywhere in the supply chain.

The Monza R6-A chip also employs Impinj’s patented Enduro chip-to-antenna connectivity. This improves the chip-to-antenna connection and performance over the life of the tag, creating a chip well-suited for use in environmentally friendly “green” tags made from paper and aluminum. Enduro technology uses primarily copper, which means Monza R6-A itself has a much smaller carbon footprint than chips that use gold.  For every billion chips produced, Monza R6-A reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 110 metric tons compared to gold-bumped chips.