Introducing Impinj Gen2X - An RFID Solutions Toolbox

Impinj Gen2X expands what businesses can accomplish with RAIN RFID by improving the performance, accuracy, and protection of compatible RFID systems.

Gen2X is a standards-compatible enhancement to the RAIN RFID Gen2 standard. It adds capabilities developed to help businesses identify difficult-to-read items, complete inventories faster, automate item-tracking workflows, and protect products, data, and consumer privacy.

Why Use Impinj Gen2X?

Connect More Items

Improve the readability of small RFID tags and tags applied to densely packed or difficult products, including items containing liquids, metal, or foil.

Complete Inventory Faster

Reduce tag communication errors and unnecessary data transmission to speed inventory cycles by up to two times in supported applications.

Improve Item Traceability

Reduce stray tag reads and improve verification accuracy as items move through dock doors, tunnels, exits, and other defined read zones.

Find Specific Items Quickly

Select which tags participate in an inventory round to locate products associated with an order, expiration date, recall, shipment, or other criteria.

Protect Products and Consumers

Authenticate supported endpoint ICs, protect tag data, and prevent unauthorized tracking after an item leaves the store.

Explore Impinj Gen2X Resources

Gen2X in Real-World Applications

Shipment Verification

Clustag and Impinj tested Gen2X in an outbound shipment-verification tunnel containing densely packed, difficult-to-read metal products. The Gen2X-enabled system achieved 99.8% average accuracy across 100 test runs, with less than 1.5 seconds available to inventory each carton.

Fresh Food Management

Gen2X can improve the readability of tags applied to food packaging and help businesses identify items by expiration date, batch, or recall. This supports faster inventory, improved traceability, and reduced product waste.

Health and Beauty Inventory

Small cosmetics, skincare products, fragrances, and other health and beauty items can be difficult to tag because of their size, shape, liquids, and metallic packaging. Gen2X helps improve the readability of smaller RFID tags used on these products.

Retail Inventory and Loss Prevention

Gen2X can help retailers complete inventory counts faster, improve fixed-reader coverage, and reduce unintended reads from nearby merchandise. These capabilities can support inventory visibility, automated checkout, returns, and loss-prevention workflows.

Impinj Gen2X Performance

Gen2X Performance includes capabilities designed to improve RFID system accuracy while supporting more items and more demanding applications.

Expand RFID Visibility

Improved reader listening range and power delivery help compatible systems read small tags, weaker tags, and tags attached to difficult products.

Improve Labor Efficiency

Faster inventory cycles give employees more time for replenishment, order fulfillment, customer service, and other higher-value work.

Automate Item Movement

Improved read-zone control helps systems determine which items actually moved through a door, tunnel, conveyor, or other defined location.

Focus on the Right Tags

Tag-selection and tag-quieting capabilities allow compatible readers to prioritize the items that matter instead of repeatedly inventorying the same tag population.

Impinj Gen2X Protection

Gen2X Protection adds features designed to protect products, tag data, and consumer privacy.

Authenticate Supported Endpoint ICs

Impinj Cryptographic Authentication helps compatible RFID systems verify that an endpoint IC is genuine during an ordinary inventory process.

Protect Consumer Privacy

Impinj Protected Mode makes a compatible tag invisible to ordinary RFID readers using a secure PIN. An authorized system can later return the tag to normal operation when needed.

Protect RFID Tag Data

Impinj Integra checks tag memory, monitors signal strength during encoding, and verifies that tag data was written correctly.

Gen2X Works with Existing RAIN RFID Systems

Gen2X does not replace the Gen2 standard. It operates alongside it.

All tags based on Impinj M800 Series endpoint ICs support Gen2X while remaining Gen2-compliant. Many newer readers and reader modules can also add Gen2X support through compatible firmware.

In environments containing both Gen2 and Gen2X tags, supported readers can dynamically alternate between the two types of inventory operations. This allows businesses to introduce Gen2X without replacing every existing RFID tag or reader at once.

Products That Support Gen2X

Impinj products supporting Gen2X include:

• Impinj M800 Series endpoint ICs
• Select Impinj M700 Series endpoint ICs
• Impinj E Family reader ICs
• Impinj R700 Series readers

Support can vary by product model, firmware version, and Gen2X capability. Confirm compatibility before selecting hardware for a deployment.

Is Gen2X Right for Your Application?

Gen2X may be valuable when your RFID system needs to read small tags, identify difficult products, inventory densely packed items, reduce stray reads, or automate high-speed item-tracking workflows.

Atlas RFID can help you compare compatible readers and tags, test your products, and determine whether Gen2X can improve performance in your environment.