Atmel Launches LF RF IDIC

Heilbronn, Germany, March 27, 2007. . . Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the availability of the ATA5577 330-bit read/write transponder IDIC®. The device features a unique ID and extended read/write distance and has been optimized for next-generation access control applications including hotel rooms, engineering departments, offices, time recording systems, parking lots and customer loyalty and membership cards. In addition, the new device operates according to ISO 11784 and ISO 11785 (FDX-B) standards, making it well-suited for animal identification and waste management applications.

Since the ATA5577 is a low frequency (LF) device, it can be used worldwide. It is not sensitive to rugged environments and can also be used under conditions that normally complicate the application of RFID devices such as water, metal, or dirt; out-of-sight; or being worn on the body.

Including the optional trimmed 330-pF on-chip capacitors, the ATA5577 measures approximately 1.1 square millimeter which allows the chip to be used in almost any transponder package including glass transponders for animal identification. The integrated capacitors reduce the number of external components required; a coil is all that is needed for a complete system.

The device's new architecture enables outstanding read/write performance operation with different types of coils, readers, and parameters which is especially important for animal and waste management applications. A special register allows the control of several analog front-end parameters, maximizing the overall read and write distance for each kind of application. Thanks to a dedicated write procedure (downlink, reader-to-tag), the write distance has been increased to industry leading distances. This increased write distance is especially beneficial for all applications in difficult environments.

The IDIC provides a manufacturer-programmed unique ID which is vital to guaranteeing access to secured areas. The unique ID also enables the traceability of the product, thus preventing easy cloning or counterfeiting of the tag IC.

The ATA5577 transponder IC supports different modulations and codings and is designed for passive identification systems with a 100 to 150 kHz magnetic field. It can replace and is backward compatible with Atmel’s well-known T5551, T5557, and ATA5567 LF devices in several applications.

Availability and Pricing
Samples are available now as wafer or die in waffle pack. Pricing for the ATA5577 as wafer shipment with quantities of 15k pieces starts at US$ 0.34. To support the system designer, Atmel provides the evaluation kit ATA2270-EK1 and the design kit ATAK2270. The latter is accompanied by evaluation software.
 
 
Footnote
ID = IDentification
IDIC = IDentification IC (Atmel patented term)
LF = Low Frequency
RFID = Radio Frequency IDentification
 
 
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About Atmel
Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components.  Leveraging one of the industry’s broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions.  Focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You Are®.
 
 
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Information
Product information on Atmel's new LF IDIC ATA5577 may be retrieved at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4112