Racom Systems Inc, Boulder, Colorado and Australian-born Ramtron International Corp of Colorado Springs have teamed up to produce a read-write Smart Card that communicates by radio. Ramcom’s existing cards can already be read by radio thanks to a built-in transceiver, but the new In-Charge cards can also be written to in the same way. Central to this is the use of Ramtron’s innovative Ferroelectric RAM (CI No 1,603) which stores information without needing power. Previously, building RAM into a Smart Card required an on-card battery. The product is the result of an agreement signed in October 1991 for joint development of an FRAM-compatible radio frequency transponder chip. Potential uses include smart identity badges and all of the usual retail card applications – so it will be possible to spend money without even taking it out of your wallet. In addition the company is pushing applications in manufacturing where the card will be able to store information about the product as it trundles along the assembly line. The concept can be naturally extended to let it store maintainance information once the product has left the plant. Companies wanting to try out the cards can buy an application test kit for $1,800.
