New chip promises to track kids from miles away
Pastor Dale Morgan
New chip promises to track kids from miles away*
By Michael Kanellos, News.com
Published on ZDNet News: Sep 6, 2007 11:25:00 AM
Tags: Michael Kanellos, Communications, Radar, Sandia National
Laboratories, Technology, Military, Chip, Gentag
A technology originally developed to help the military track operatives
in the field may in the next few years be used by parents to find kids
in an amusement park.
Gentag will try to commercialize what it calls a Radar Response Tag,
which effectively acts as an accurate homing beacon. In field tests, the
tag can track someone more than 12 miles away and pinpoint their
location within 3 feet, said Gentag founder John Peeters in an interview.
Twelve miles far exceeds the capabilities of conventional radio
frequency ID (RFID) chips. The signal range of those chips is measured
in feet. The longer-range global positioning system reaches farther, but
the radar response system can track people through walls and other
environmental obstacles.
"GPS is extremely accurate, but it doesn't work inside buildings,"
Peeters said. "You can think of this (radar response) as sort of super
RFID."
Gentag will market the system as a way to keep track of kids or elderly
relatives. It will also be pitched at hikers and campers. The system can
piggyback on existing wireless infrastructures, Peeters added.
The technology is the outgrowth of a military project kicked off in
1990. The military wanted a better way to track soldiers without getting
interference from leaves or buildings, so it commissioned Sandia
National Laboratories to develop a solution. Seven years later, Sandia
came up with the radar response system. The system works at the 430
megahertz frequency, Peeters added.
"The military uses it for friendly-fire avoidance," he said.
Sandia has now licensed its interest in the technology to Gentag. Mike
Lovejoy, who helped develop the tag at Sandia, will work with Gentag to
commercialize the technology.
Because the military has been using the technology for years, much of
the field testing is already accomplished. Gentag now hopes to fine-tune
the consumer product and come out with credit-card-size devices that
would exchange signals between each other. Ultimately, Gentag would like
to cut deals with phone makers to incorporate the chips into cell phones.
Employing chips to track the locations of individuals has generated
controversy in recent years. Many have objected to the plans of some
companies to implant RFID chips into individuals. On the other hand, one
of the hot consumer items in Japan is a portable GPS device with an
emergency button. Push it, and private security firms track down the
recipient. Parents buy it for their kids.