Berntsen International Inc. has received a US patent for the company’s Ultra‐High Frequency (UHF) RFID technology that is the centerpiece of its connected infrastructure locating and asset management solutions.

“We're excited about this advance in our evolution of UHF RFID marking products for underground utility management,” said Mike Klonsinski, president of Berntsen.

UHF RFID, the global standard for product tracking in retail and manufacturing, has had slower adoption for underground utility marking products because of its perceived challenges of “reading” through subsurface environments, Klonsinki explained.  Berntsen’s newly‐patented underground marker optimizes the design to boost UHF RFID performance through mediums such as soil or concrete beyond the capabilities of RFID‐enabled products on the market today.

“This is important because ultra‐high frequency RFID is a driver of an Internet of Things world overall, and our work extends the benefits of IoT to infrastructure management,” Klonsinski said. “Imagine a city where fire hydrants, water laterals, and underground gas valves are marked with RFID and connected to a cloud‐based data management system.  This ground to cloud approach means these assets can be better identified and managed, which will lower inspection and maintenance costs and improve safety.”

Berntsen has long been the dominant name in the survey world for quality marking products. This patent is just the latest of multiple innovations and awards granted for the company’s work in developing connected RFID marking products and solutions.

“We’ve been fortunate to be a leading supplier of survey marking products for the past forty‐seven years,” Klonsinski said. “We’re committed to developing and building the next generation of marking products.”