An announcement this week by SecureRF caught our eye, with the company releasing a new RFID tag specifically designed for “cold chain” applications such as those in the pharmaceutical industry. The company says the new tag, designed for item-level tagging, combines several features together in a single passive tag for the first time.

The new LIME (Lightweight Multistream Encryption Tag) is passive, meaning it is charged by the reader to produce a signal, but yet includes a battery to enable some of the other functions available on the tag. The company says it is compatible with most (but not necessarily all) current Gen 2 EPC readers.

The new tag provides tamper-proof data storage, using encryption technology on the tag itself, and ensures further security by providing the capability to permit only authorized readers to access information. These capabilities also will enable pharma and other companies to address problems with counterfeiting by using a range of cryptographic methods to create an unalterable electronic “seal.”

The new tag also includes a temperature sensor, supporting cold chain management issues by monitoring and securely recording an item’s temperature history.

Tags with some of these capabilities are available from the company now, with the full set of capabilities on tags shipping by the end of the year.