Material lifetime data abstraction device and method

Abstract

This invention covers improved electronic time-temperature indicators with an RFID output, and other devices and methods by which the thermal history of a complex material, which may not obey a simple exponential Arrhenius law degradation equation, may be monitored, and the subsequent fitness for use of the tracked material may be quickly ascertained. In particular, the invention discloses a rapidly reprogrammable electronic time-temperature RFID tag that may be easily customized with the thermal time-temperature stability profile of an arbitrary material, using electronic data transfer methods. Using this device, a single, low-cost, generic time-temperature tag may be mass-produced, and then subsequently programmed to mimic the stability characteristics of nearly any material of interest. By utilizing data compression to compress a material's extensive thermal history into the small user data field transmitted by modern RFID tags, a considerable amount of information relating to product status and cause of failure may be rapidly transmitted within the small memory confines of standard RFID tag protocols.