1. 6935 Oakland Mills Road, Suite G
Near-Field Focused Phased Array and Scanning Antennas for RFID Applications
Greg Mendolia
Vice President, Product Strategy
Office: x 130
Fax:
Paratek Microwave, Inc.
6935 Oakland Mills Road, Suite G
Columbia, MD 21045
Paratek Confidential and Proprietary

2. Paratek Microwave, Inc.
Founded in 1998 to develop innovative RF components based upon the company’s proprietary materials technology, ParascanTM
The Parascan™ materials science enabled the development of Paratek’s thin film, thick film and bulk material electronically tunable capacitors
Electronic tunable RF components led to development of smart scanning antennas
Independent, multi-beam, 360° steering
Frequency coverage from 30MHz to 3 GHz
Fast scanning in azimuth, elevation and frequency
Re-configurable aperture for wide beam acquisition and then narrow steerable beam
Maintain uninterrupted communications, increased LPI/LPD, higher capacity through frequency reuse
Null steering for increased anti-jam
Higher gain
Horizontal and vertical polarization diversity mitigates multipath

3. RFID Technology Challenges
Accurate reading of 100% of the tags is essential
Tags inside moving payload
- - B U T - -
Technical limitations reduce tag read rates
Reader reception of tag data vulnerable to obstruction and de-tuning from metal, liquid and dense materials
Conventional reader antennas do not track and “stare” at moving tags
- - I M P A C T - -
Slow industry adoption due to technology shortfalls

4. Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA)
Paratek Solution
Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA)
Antenna power is surgically directed at – and focused on – targeted RFID tags by increasing power levels in the near field without polluting spectrum in the far field
Antenna RF power is focused at the tag instead of spread over the entire area
More signal power delivered at the tag => more tags read and better ability to write to tags
Multipath and interference problems reduced => decreased tag contention
Antenna tracks tags as they pass by
Increased beam dwell time on tag => longer read time
Direction of tag movement can be detected
Are items entering or leaving the area?
KEY RESULT: Dramatically improved tag read rates for RFID unfriendly materials

5. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Reader Antenna
Conventional Reader Antenna Energy Distribution
Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna
Tag
Tag
Lower field intensity
in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field
Higher field intensity
in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field
Near Field Focused Phased Array amplifies and focuses RF to increase power in the near field
Arrays of elements are used to control energy focus and distribution
RF power decays quickly so that power levels in the far field are comparable to standard antennas
Compliant with FCC energy levels in far field
Permits higher near field energy intensity at the tag location

6. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Phased Array Antenna
Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna
Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna
Tag
Tag
Lower field intensity
in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field
Higher field intensity
in near field
6dBi gain limit in far field
Conventional arrays focus energy in the far-field, not near field
Paratek re-engineers the phase of each element in the array, focusing the energy in the near field where the tags are located
The depth and direction of the focused region can be easily steered with standard phased array electronics

7. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna
Near Field EIRP
RF energy focused on tags
RF energy not where its needed
Paratek NFA Antenna
Directivity: 0-3 meters
Conventional 1x8 Far-Field Array Antenna
Directivity: 0-3 meters

8. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array Reader Antenna
Far Field EIRP
High far field RF energy
(pollutes spectrum)
Far field RF energy dispersed
Paratek NFA Antenna
Directivity: 0-30 meters
Conventional 1x8 Far-Field Array Antenna
Directivity: 0-30 meters

9. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array
9 dB Improvement Over Conventional Antennas in
Near Field / Far Field Ratio
Target focus range:
NFA is 4.5 dB higher
NFA is 4.5dB lower

10. Paratek NFA vs. Conventional Array
Comparative Statistical Read Rate
(tags on surface of cases of bottled water)
Same far-field EIRP
275% greater
read 5’
1,060% greater read 6’

11. Paratek Scanning Antenna
9.5”
17”
9.5 lb
Pattern
Antenna Characteristics:
MHz
Passive Tx/Rx, 30 dBm max
Gain 6.3 – 8.4 dBi
Dual linear polarization V/H
27 dB isolation V-H ports
Full 360° azimuth scan range
50° Azimuth beam (-3dB)
70° Elevation beam (-3dB)
< -10 dB Side/back lobe
> 12 dB Return loss, 50 ohm
< 1 ms Beam switch/scan

12. Paratek Scanning Antenna
RFID Vertical Beam
Elevation Plane
Azimuth Plane
10dB
8dBi

13. Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna
Video 1
Conventional Far Field Focused Array Antenna

14. Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna
Video 2
Paratek Near Field Focused Phased Array Antenna

15. Summary
Paratek’s Near Field Focused, Scanning Phased Array (NFA) antenna dramatically improves tag read rates under all conditions, especially RFID unfriendly materials, while also enhancing the ability to write to tags
Electronic steering enables tracking of tags for increased acquisition time => Results in dramatically improved read rates, as well as identification of direction of travel for tagged products
Directed and controlled RF energy reduces tag contention and multipath issues
NFA transmitted RF energy (EIRP) decays at a faster rate over distance => Results in lower far field interference to other products or to other RFID systems