iButton™

iButtons™ are an excellent way to store and transfer information locally. These simple memory units can record text or digitized photos and are equipped with a real-time clock, thermometer, and calendar and can be used over the Internet or in harsh environments. Each iButton™ is small enough to fit on key ring or I.D. badge.  iButtons™ are perfect when used for tasks like tracking the freshness of a product, or in validating credentials.

In order to withstand everyday wear and tear, iButtons™ are surrounded by a stainless steel casing that is light enough to travel on the body.  There are multiple types of buttons available and are generally grouped into three categories:

1.   Memory iButton™: These buttons can store over 64K of text or digitized photos and can feature a real-time clock, a thermometer, or a transaction counter.

2.   Java- powered cryptographic iButton™: These buttons are highly complex allowing the user to encrypt and decrypt information.  This cryptographic ability gives the Java iButton™ the opportunity to transmit data or credentials safely over the Internet.

3.   Thermochron iButton™: With a integrated thermometer and clock, this iButton™ can track the freshness of food products or medical samples.  It also has enough memory to store a shipping manifest. The newest Thermochron iButton™ allows the user to record up to 2,048 temperature readings over an adjustable interval from one to 255 minutes. Great for medical and any other temperature sensitive applications. The memory button can store personal, medical, training and other important data depending on your needs. With real-time clock and temperature measurement capabilities on select models, implementation ideas abound!

In order to access information on the iButton™, a receptor is cabled to a PC.  When the iButton™ is touched to the receptor, data is transferred up to 142K bits per second.  One key feature of the iButton™ is that it is completely portable.  It can communicate with a desktop, laptop, a handheld PC or on a hand-held reader/writer device to download later to a PC.