Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-6690 with Integrated RAIN RFID for Enterprise Handheld Devices

World’s first enterprise mobile processor with fully integrated UHF (RAIN) RFID simplifies design, cuts costs and unlocks new edge applications.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. is expanding the role of Wireless IoT in enterprise mobility. With the new Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-6690 processor, the company is introducing the world’s first enterprise mobile processor with a fully integrated UHF (RAIN) RFID reader – a move that directly targets handhelds, tablets and smart terminals for demanding industrial and retail use cases.

For OEMs and ODMs, the message is clear: no more external RFID modules, less design complexity, lower bill of materials (BOM) and faster time to market – all in a compact form factor tailored for rugged mobile devices.

Why RAIN RFID on the Processor Matters

RAIN RFID is already a key technology for asset tracking, inventory management and product authentication. Readers can detect many tags at once, even when they are out of line of sight. That enables real-time transparency in warehouses, stores, hospitals and production environments while reducing manual effort.

Until now, adding RAIN RFID to a handheld or tablet usually meant:

• A separate RFID module that increases the physical footprint

• Extra hardware engineering for power management and RF integration

• Additional software work to connect the reader module cleanly with the device platform

• Higher BOM costs and repeated compliance and certification cycles

• Longer time to market and diverted engineering resources

For many device makers, these factors turned a promising differentiator into a complex and costly project.

Dragonwing Q-6690: RAIN RFID Directly on the Chip

The Dragonwing Q-6690 is designed to solve exactly this challenge. It integrates a full UHF (RAIN) RFID reader directly into the enterprise mobile processor, so no external RFID reader hardware is required.

Key benefits called out for OEMs and ODMs:

• Compact form factor – RFID without bulky add-on modules

• Lower BOM cost – fewer components, less RF front-end complexity

• Smaller footprint on the board – more freedom in device and antenna design

• End-to-end commercial readiness – hardware and software designed as one RFID-capable platform

From an engineering perspective, the processor is built for enterprise and industrial mobile computing – from rugged handhelds for asset tracking and shipment handling to payment terminals, retail POS systems, smart kiosks and product authentication devices.

RF Coexistence, Power Efficiency and System-Level Design

By embedding the RAIN RFID reader on the processor itself, Qualcomm addresses typical RF and power challenges in multi-radio devices:

• RF coexistence
  The integrated architecture is engineered to operate alongside 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB without the need for extra RF front-end components or complicated coexistence schemes.

• Reduced complexity
  Existing RF infrastructure and components on the board can be reused, which helps simplify hardware design and certification.

• Power-efficient operation
  Eliminating external reader modules supports battery-sensitive devices like handheld computers, mobile POS terminals and smart kiosks, where every milliwatt counts.

Combined with a software-configurable, scalable platform, the Dragonwing Q-6690 is positioned as a building block for product lines that must evolve over time while staying on a single hardware base.

Standards: RAIN, ISO/IEC 18000-63 and Gen2X

On the protocol side, the processor is built to align with the existing RAIN ecosystem:

• Full support for the RAIN radio protocol, standardized as ISO/IEC 18000-63

• Gen2X-capable: Gen2X extends the RAIN protocol with features tailored to enterprise requirements such as richer data, security options and advanced tag interactions

Gen2X was introduced to accelerate RAIN adoption, and having the Dragonwing Q-6690 ready for Gen2X allows OEMs to connect to the newest generation of tags and use advanced capabilities in the field.

The processor supports reading commercial tags including Impinj M700 and M800 series as well as the NXP UCODE family, enabling item-level identification in large-scale deployments across supply chains, retail and industry.

Ideal Edge Applications for On-Chip RFID

With RAIN RFID integrated into the processor and tightly coupled to compute, connectivity and AI, the Dragonwing Q-6690 is designed for a wide range of edge applications, including:

• Retail

  • Inventory management and cycle counting

  • Retail POS and self-checkout kiosks

  • Electronic cash registers

  • Product authentication and returns handling

• Logistics & Transportation

  • Asset tracking and shipment handling

  • Dock-door operations and cross-docking

  • Yard and container management

• Healthcare

  • Patient monitoring workflows

  • Medical inventory management (medications, consumables, devices)

• Industrial & Utilities

  • Field-service handhelds

  • Smart kiosks, tool tracking and access control

  • Energy and utility inspections

In all of these scenarios, reading tags, processing data locally and acting in real time becomes possible in a single compact device.

What It Means for the Wireless IoT Ecosystem

For the Wireless IoT community, Qualcomm’s Dragonwing Q-6690 marks an important architectural shift:

• From modular add-ons to RFID on the processor

• From separate reader subsystems to tightly integrated RFID, AI and multi-radio connectivity

• From single-purpose RFID readers to multi-function edge devices that combine scanning, compute, user interface and connectivity in one design

For OEMs and ODMs, the platform aims to lower the barriers to bringing RAIN-enabled handhelds and edge devices to market – especially in verticals where form factor, total cost of ownership and product lifecycle management are critical.

Learn More About Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-6690

At Qualcomm, we are enabling a new class of enterprise and industrial handheld devices with integrated RAIN RFID. If you are an OEM or ODM looking to simplify design, reduce BOM cost and bring RFID-enabled products to market faster, we invite you to explore the Dragonwing Q-6690 in detail.

Find technical specifications, documentation and platform information on the official product page: Qualcomm Dragonwing Q-6690 – Product Site.