Sometimes all that separates a new technology from widespread success is a good standard or two. And that may well prove to be case for real time locator systems (RTLS).

These systems use radio frequency identification to identify the location of a tagged item to within a few feet. Making this happen requires precise communication between the tags attached to items and a host information system.

Three new standards will see to that. Two ensure that communication is standardized for 2.4 GHz and 433 MHz systems. A third defines the application programming interface. All three were accepted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) after development by the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS).

"We have no doubt that this standard will encourage widespread adoption of wireless location systems as the technology has already been proven to deliver tremendous bottom line cost savings for enterprises around the world, " says Larry Graham, global manager of manufacturing technologies for GM and chairman of the INCITS committee that developed the standards.