Fujitsu Beacon Achieves TRON Ucode Certification, Is Easier to Mass Produce

Fujitsu will make it easier for device makers to build more reliable location information services into a wider range of devices with a new prototype beacon that has achieved the world’s first ucode tag certification for such technology from the TRON Forum, the company said.

Fujitsu’s battery-less beacon prototype is now capable of globally unique ID transmissions and features streamlined circuit design and a redesigned manufacturing process, allowing for easier mass production. The certification also means the beacon can use IDs compliant with international standards, making it possible to design safer, and more secure and reliable location-information services, according to Fujitsu.

The TRON Forum is an organization aimed at standardizing and promoting core technologies for ubiquitous computing. The ucode tag certification is a set of standards for ucode tags, which are part of a system that identify things in the real world uniquely.

Fujitsu's new prototype beacon is battery-less, flexible and has an optimized manufacturing process, making it suited to a wider range of applications and easier to mass produce, the company said.
(Source: Fujitsu)

The beacon prototype from Fujitsu has a number of advantages over beacons that until now have been used in manufacturing. While ordinary beacons are usually made from a hard substrate such as glass epoxy, Fujitsu’s prototype is a soft, silicone sheet, making it more flexible not only literally but also in how it can be used, the company said.

The new design also is better suited for manufacturing, using conductive paste that’s printed on an electric circuit wiring pattern, to which electric components are mounted and connected with conductive adhesive. This is in contrast to the wiring of typical beacons, in which a copper layer is deposited with chemical processing and then attached to electric components using soldering, according to Fujitsu.

Moreover, Fujitsu selected the paste and adhesive materials to comply with existing production facilities. The company also optimized the drying process for the paste and connections between electric components for time and temperature to achieve more efficient production. This can shorten previous manufacturing time and enable cost reductions, according to Fujitsu.

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Conventional beacons require either a built-in battery, which must be changed regularly, or a nearby outlet to provide continuous power for signal transmission. This, in turn, requires significant effort from operations management. Not requiring a battery allows Fujitsu’s new beacon prototype to eliminate this hassle, the company said.

Some of the applications compliance with the standard made possible with the beacon include guidance support for the visually impaired within stations or around town, or efficient seat-management for stadiums, according to Fujitsu.

Furthermore, beacons -- because of their rigid form factor -- previously have been installed only on fixed structures. Because the new prototype is flexible and can change shape, it can be affixed to objects such as clothes and shoes, making it easier to connect to people or mobile platforms, according to Fujitsu. This makes it easier to provide location support in some of the aforementioned cases, the company said.

Elizabeth Montalbano is a freelance writer who has written about technology and culture for more than 15 years. She has lived and worked as a professional journalist in Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City. In her free time she enjoys surfing, traveling, music, yoga, and cooking. She currently resides in a village on the southwest coast of Portugal.