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Michael K. DempseyChief Technology Officer

Mike.Dempsey@Radianse.com(978) 337-0864

And in This Corner .Active RFID vs. WiFi for

Indoor Positioning Systems

Agenda

What is Indoor Positioning System (IPS)?

How does IPS work?

What are some important parameters of IPS?

How do these parameters compare between Active RFID and WiFi?

What is an Indoor Positioning System?

Indoor Positioning Solutions (IPS) are analogous to GPS in an indoor spaceThese can be based on:

Active RFID TransmittersWiFi TransmittersInfrared TransmittersUltrasonic Sound WavesOther types of Radio Transmitters

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The Value of IPS

IPS are valuable and allow you to:

Reduce lossImprove workflow

Improve patient safetyImprove regulatory compliance

Gather better utilization data

Manage rental equipment more effectivelyMake IT systems aware of location

Typical IPS System

Hospital LAN

Server

ID-tag

Receiver or AP

------------------------------------------------

Power InjectorNetwork Switch

Typical Information Flow

Other Systems

Location Software

Web Browser

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What are Some Important Specifications for any IPS?

AccuracyPrecisionTag SizeTag Battery LifeSupport and Maintenance Risk Ease of InstallationStandards Compliance & Integration with other systems

Accuracy of WiFi IPSWiFi systems determine location based on either Signal Fingerprinting or triangulationBoth methods suffer from changes to the radio environmentFingerprinting requires frequent relearningTriangulation requires precise time synchronizationThere is no peer reviewed data documenting the accuracy of 802.11 based systems

Accuracy of Active RFID IPS

These systems use various techniques (reception range limitation, line-of-site communications, multilateration, etc) to improve accuracyActive RFID systems typically have much less floor hopping than 802.11 based IPSPeer reviewed data supports this

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PrecisionActive RFID & 802.11 systems claim 1 3 MVery dependent on the number of AP s or receiversAgain, independently published data is crucial for determining precision claimsMatch the level of precision that you need to that provided by the system.

Tag Size (inches)Radianse: 2.0 x 1.2 x 0.8RF Code: 2.4 x 1.2 x 0.4Pango: 3.5 x 2.0 x 1.0AeroScout: 2.4 x 1.6 x 0.7Ekahau: 1.9 x 2.2 x 0.9

Tag Battery Life

35¢12 sec5 yrsRF Code

46¢10 sec2 yrsRadianse

recharge10 sec1 dayEkahau

$3.00 minimum

10 sec1.3 yrAeroScout

unknown10 sec1 dayPango

Battery Cost

Update Rate

Life

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Tag EMI Issues

802.11 tags must, by definition, be 802.11 compliant

This high output power causesThe inability to be used on patients

Short battery life

Possible EMI issues

7925100.003Tag Power* (mW)

Aero-Scout

EkahauPangoRadianse & RF Code

* As reported on the FCC website

Ease of MaintenanceWith 802.11 systems, more AP s mean more channel management issues

Some 802.11 asset tags require an IP address

If the radio environment changes, the 802.11 system needs to relearn

Non 802.11 receivers are install and forgetand are more secure

Ease of InstallationTo achieve the specified precision a high density of AP s are required in 802.11 based systems this is not free

To get room-level accuracy we needed to increase the number of AP s from 3 to 8. Initially 3 AP s served all of our data needs for the ED, but then we moved to voice over IP and needed to increase that to 5. When we did the survey with Pango we needed to bring the total up to 8.

John Powers, Chief Administrative Information Officer, CareGroup; RFID in Healthcare, October 2004

802.11 and Active RFID solutions both use standard wired and wireless networks

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Standards Compliance and/or Integration with Other Systems

The key here is that any IPS must be open and easily integrate to other IT systems No IEEE standard for Active RFIDIs an ANSI standard802.11 based IPS conform to the IEEE 802.11 standard at the radio layer; some comply with ANSI at the data layerActive RFID systems typically comply with ANSI standard at the data layer

Bottom Line: 802.11 vs RFID

Active RFID for IPS isLess expensiveMore preciseMore accurateLower risk to install and maintainIntegrates betterHas lower ongoing costs

This is due to the use of special readers; the cost to install these is low and decreasing with wireless and other options

802.11 Competitive Summary

NoNoNoYesPeople Track

1.5 x 2.52 x 2~ 2 x 3.51 x 1.7 and

2 x 2.7Tag Size

3 4 M with floor hopping

3 4 M with floor hopping

3 4 M with floor hopping

1 2 M with no hopping

Accuracy

1000 ?1000 ?1000 ?25,000 tagsScaleability

1.3 yrs1 day10,000 pings2 years

6.3M pingsBattery Life

?$2.5K$5K$1.26KPrice/ Licensed bed over 5 Years

$85$65$200/yr for 3

years$10 & $30Tag Price

WiFi 3WiFi 2WiFi 1A-RFID