SBIR Phase I: Hypertag: A Locator Tag with GPS and Cellular Communications Capability

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project addresses the need to collect information on the location and condition of high-value inventory items while in transit. The project objective is to develop an advanced, low-cost, battery-operated RFID tag (the Hypertag). Custom and off-the-shelf hardware and software components will be combined to create a device which integrates the functions of an assisted GPS locator with cellular communications, environmental sensors, a conventional active RFID tag, and an RFID reader, in a compact module. Assisted GPS will allow location to be determined where conventional GPS does not work. Sensor capability will allow the Hypertag to monitor environmental conditions such as temperature and vibration. RFID reader capability will allow a Hypertag to scan nearby conventional RFID tags and return information from them to a remote server. The Hypertag will return tag and location information to a remote server via the cellular network. The expected result of the program is a tag which can provide on-demand information on the status and location of assets wherever cellular coverage is available. The Hypertag will be valuable for tracking of critical assets in real time over a large geographic space. Potential users include the military, logistics companies, transportation companies, and car companies. The need for asset tracking devices increases as globalization causes supply chains to become more extended. Also, the increasing adoption of lean manufacturing processes means that disruption of supply chains has a more severe effect on businesses. There are few, if any, devices on the market today that have the capabilities of the Hypertag.