Money tracking by micro chip
Hitachi has developed a silicon chip for security applications so
small that it can even be embedded in money.
Originally developed to thwart counterfeiting of bank bills, Hitachi
said the minute integrated circuit could equally be embedded in
consumer products to track them in case of theft.
The chip, which is just 0.4mm long, can hold security-related
information or identifying data. It is so thin it will neither damage
material in which it is placed or be damaged if a note it is
embedded within is folded.
EE Times reports that the chip is a 60-micron thick CMOS device
that integrates 2.45GHz wireless communications circuitry and
features 128 bits of ROM.
Hitachi has formed a joint venture firm, called Mew Solutions to
promote sales of the integrated circuit device, which has been
christened the Mew chip.
The Japanese giant expects the Mew chip to enjoy much higher
demand than conventional ID chips, which can be several millimeters
across. New applications, such as linking information on the Internet
with the Mew chip's ID number, could be opened by the tiny
integrated circuit, says Hitachi.
Its availability would open up the possibility of being able to track
consumer products - or even money - over the Internet.
Samples of the chip will be available this autumn, with sales efforts
getting into gear by next year. Mew Solutions expects to achieve
sales of $145 million per year by 2005.
Pricing on the device isn't available yet and that, along with the
privacy concerns using the technology might throw up, will play a
large part in determining its success.
We all remember the furore that surrounded Intel's plans to ship
Pentium 4 processor with ID numbers that identified each processor.
Intel said this was good for ensuring the security of ecommerce
transactions, but eventually relented under pressure from privacy
advocates and shipped processors with the feature disabled.
Similar concerns might well surround the introduction of the Mew
chip and it'll be interesting to see how the technology is received in
the market.
