 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer Applications, Mobile Games & Communications Equipment |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | L. Michael Haller, Joseph J. Grillo, Daniel E. Penni |
| Website | www |
Digital Angel, Corp. is a developer and publisher of consumer applications and mobile games designed for tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices, as well as a distributor of two-way communications equipment in the U.K.
The company formerly developed Global Positioning System (GPS) and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology products for consumer, commercial, and government sectors. The company manufactured tracking devices for people, animals, the food supply, government/military arena, and commercial assets. Included in this product line were RFID applications, end-to-end food safety systems, GPS/Satellite communications, and telecommunication, security infrastructure, and the controversial Verichip human implant, a product which has caused concern among advocates of civil liberties.
Applications for this technology include pets, wildlife and livestock identification using implantable RFID microchips, scanners and antennas.
Digital Angel has also researched and developed GPS Search and Rescue Transponders that integrated geosynchronous communications for use by the military and the private sector to track aircraft, ships, and other high-value assets.
Digital Angel formerly owned a minority position (49%) in VeriChip, but divested itself of the stake in 2008. [1] VeriChip Corporation and Steel Vault Corporate later merged to form PositiveID, and in 2010 PositiveID attempted a friendly acquisition of Digital Angel, [2] but the bid was unanimously rejected by its board of directors. [1]
The animal identification products subsidiary Destron Fearing was sold to Allflex USA, in July, 2011, for $25 million. [3]
Digital Angel owns and operates Signature Communications, a distributor of two-way communications equipment in the U.K. Products offered range from conventional radio systems used by the majority of its customers, for example, for safety and security uses and construction and manufacturing site monitoring, to trunked radio systems for large-scale users, such as local authorities and public utilities.
Atmel Corporation was a creator and manufacturer of semiconductors before being subsumed by Microchip Technology in 2016. Atmel was founded in 1984. The company focused on embedded systems built around microcontrollers. Its products included microcontrollers radio-frequency (RF) devices including Wi-Fi, EEPROM, and flash memory devices, symmetric and asymmetric security chips, touch sensors and controllers, and application-specific products. Atmel supplies its devices as standard products, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or application-specific standard product (ASSPs) depending on the requirements of its customers.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits digital data, usually an identifying inventory number, back to the reader. This number can be used to track inventory goods.
Zarlink Semiconductor was a fabless semiconductor company specializing in the design and manufacture of communication and medical semiconductor integrated circuits, modules, and other devices. In 2011, Microsemi acquired Zarlink in a hostile takeover and merged it into its own operations.
The Electronic Product Code (EPC) is designed as a universal identifier that provides a unique identity for every physical object anywhere in the world, for all time. The EPC structure is defined in the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard, which is a freely available standard. The canonical representation of an EPC is a URI, namely the 'pure-identity URI' representation that is intended for use when referring to a specific physical object in communications about EPCs among information systems and business application software.
A microchip implant is an identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of an animal. The chip, about the size of a large grain of rice, uses passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, and is also known as a PIT tag. Standard pet microchips are typically 11–13 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include QR codes, bar codes, radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics, magnetic stripes, optical character recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as "Automatic Identification", "Auto-ID" and "Automatic Data Capture".
ISO 11784 and ISO 11785 are international standards that regulate the radio-frequency identification (RFID) of animals, which is usually accomplished by implanting, introducing or attaching a transponder containing a microchip to an animal.
Verifone is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida. Verifone provides technology for electronic payment transactions and value-added services at the point-of-sale. Verifone sells merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems to the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare industries. The company's products consist of POS electronic payment devices that run its own operating systems, security and encryption software, and certified payment software, and that are designed for both consumer-facing and unattended environments.
HID Global is an American manufacturer of secure identity products. The company is an independent brand of Assa Abloy, a Swedish door and access control conglomerate. Björn Lidefelt was appointed CEO on 27 January 2020. He succeeded Stefan Widing, who led HID Global for over four years.
A tracking system, also known as a locating system, is used for the observing of persons or objects on the move and supplying a timely ordered sequence of location data for further processing.
Katherine Albrecht is a consumer privacy advocate, Vice President (VP) of Startpage.com and spokesperson against radio-frequency identification (RFID). Albrecht devised the term "spy chips" to describe RFID tags such as those embedded in passport cards and certain enhanced United States driver's licenses. Katherine Albrecht holds a Doctor of Education degree from Harvard University. She is a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire.
The National Animal Identification System, (naisG) is a government-run program in the United States intended to extend government animal health surveillance by identifying and tracking specific animals. Administered at the federal level by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture, NAIS will also be overseen by state animal health boards. While the federal program is voluntary, money received by some states, tribes, and non-profit entities from the USDA through cooperative agreements has been used to make parts or all of the program mandatory.
Qualcomm Atheros is a developer of semiconductor chips for network communications, particularly wireless chipsets. The company was founded under the name T-Span Systems in 1998 by experts in signal processing and VLSI design from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and private industry. The company was renamed Atheros Communications in 2000 and it completed an initial public offering in February 2004, trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol ATHR.
Microchip Technology Inc. is a publicly listed American corporation that manufactures microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog, and Flash-IP integrated circuits. Its products include microcontrollers, Serial EEPROM devices, Serial SRAM devices, embedded security devices, radio frequency (RF) devices, thermal, power and battery management analog devices, as well as linear, interface and wireless products.
A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports.
Mobile asset management is managing availability and serviceability of assets used to move, store, secure, protect and control inventory within the enterprise and along the supply chain or in conjunction with service providing.
LDMOS is a planar double-diffused MOSFET used in amplifiers, including microwave power amplifiers, RF power amplifiers and audio power amplifiers. These transistors are often fabricated on p/p+ silicon epitaxial layers. The fabrication of LDMOS devices mostly involves various ion-implantation and subsequent annealing cycles. As an example, the drift region of this power MOSFET is fabricated using up to three ion implantation sequences in order to achieve the appropriate doping profile needed to withstand high electric fields.
Real-time locating systems (RTLS), also known as real-time tracking systems, are used to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people in real time, usually within a building or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are attached to objects or worn by people, and in most RTLS, fixed reference points receive wireless signals from tags to determine their location. Examples of real-time locating systems include tracking automobiles through an assembly line, locating pallets of merchandise in a warehouse, or finding medical equipment in a hospital.
A human microchip implant is any electronic device implanted subcutaneously (subdermally) usually via an injection. Examples include an identifying integrated circuit RFID device encased in silicate glass which is implanted in the body of a human being. This type of subdermal implant usually contains a unique ID number that can be linked to information contained in an external database, such as identity document, criminal record, medical history, medications, address book, and other potential uses.
EM Microelectronic, based in Marin, La Tène near Neuchâtel in Switzerland, is a developer and semiconductor manufacturer specialized in the design and production of ultra low power, low voltage integrated circuits for battery-operated and field-powered applications in consumer, automotive and industrial areas. EM Microelectronic SA is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group.