[CPCC] TALK: by R. Glidden, Impinj, Inc.

[Ender Ayanoglu]

                                CPCC TALK

                        Automating the Supply Chain

                                   by
                               Rob Glidden
                               Impinj, Inc.

                             October 26, 2004
                                10:30 AM
                          Engineering Tower 331

Abstract

Radio-based identification has appeared in a variety of diverse forms
from keyless entry badge readers, to automatic toll collection, to smart
cards over the past decade. Now, the availability of inexpensive CMOS
technologies that perform well at microwave frequencies has created new
opportunities for automated material handling that will revolutionize the
supply chain.  This talk introduces new directions for radio-frequency
identification (RFID) technology in what is widely believed by many to be
the next killer application in semiconductors that will help fill the
wafer fabs of the future.

Our discussion outlines system architecture and circuit design
considerations that influence the development of RFID tags, through a case
study involving a high performance chip implementation.  Additionally, we
describe the tradeoffs and challenges from a communications-theoretic and
regulatory viewpoint that lead to optimal next-generation designs.

Speaker's Biography

Rob Glidden (S.75, M.78, IEEE) is Senior Director of Engineering and
Operations at Impinj, Inc., responsible for RFID technology and
manufacturing at both  Seattle and Newport Beach sites.  He has been
directly involved in development of analog, digital, and mixed-signal
integrated circuit products for over 20 years in many bipolar, CMOS, and
BiCMOS processes.  Prior to joining Impinj, he was Director of Engineering
at AMCC, responsible for all SiGe projects at three sites, generally
focused on optical fiber communications chips at 10 and 40 Gb/s, and
before that, held design engineering and management positions for RF and
other communications-oriented integrated circuits at TDK Semiconductor,
Silicon Systems, and TRW.  Early in his career, he was a Naval Officer
assigned to the Division of Naval Reactors (staff of Admiral H. G.
Rickover), responsible for reactor plant electronics in new construction
submarines. Glidden earned his BSEE degree from Cornell University in 1977
and MSEE from the University of Southern California in 1978, with
concentration in semiconductor physics.