TI Reader IC Shrinks Size Of Tablet PC

March 3, 2008

Using a new reader chip from Texas Instruments, Motion Computing was able to shrink the printed-circuit board (PCB) area of the RFID system in its C5 Tablet PC to the size of a quarter. The lightweight Motion C5 mobile clinical assistant helps physicians and nurses securely and quickly identify patients, medications, and assets. It ensures that only authorized users access sensitive patient data by authenticating their badge with the RFID reader inside the C5.

The device’s durable, sealed design enables simple cleaning and disinfection. Motion Control said that results from a series of usability studies indicate:

a 42% improvement in point of care (POC) documentation;
an 80% reduction in data that needed manual transcription, reducing the potential for human error;
identification of 15 of 1853 “near misses” at the point of medication administration, and;
a decreased transcription error rate from 25% to 7% due to increased POC documentation.

Besides its small size—5 mm by 5 mm—and low power consumption, the TI TRF7960 requires fewer components. As a result, the chip reduces the system’s bill of material (BOM) and lowers the overall production cost of the end product.

Motion Computing
www.motioncomputing.com