Strategies to Ensure Your UHF RFID Antenna Coverage is Sufficient

Blog post by Senior Electrical Engineer John Shipley

Are you familiar with ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID)?  UHF RFID is rapidly becoming the new standard for identification to improve efficiency, increase visibility to drive “smart” manufacturing.  Processes utilizing barcode systems, manual data systems, or even HF RFID systems can benefit from efficiency improvements by migrating to a UHF RFID system. The range and read speed can improve read reliability, allow operators to focus on other tasks instead of entering information, and reduce scrap. UHF RFID can take your identification and tracking to the next level, providing huge improvements in efficiency, traceability and inventory management.  For more information on the ROI of UHF RFID, click here.

A critical part of executing a successful UHF RFID project is ensuring adequate antenna coverage of the read point.  Generally, coverage is considered the maximum distance between the RFID reader and the RFID tag where the power intensity is great enough to activate the tag and the reader is sensitive enough to receive the signal from the activated tag.

However, in multiple tag applications, coverage is more of a maximum volume of space than a maximum distance.  Though read points are just regions of space where targeted tags are expected to be located, those regions can vary in size and other characteristics depending on a specific application.   Ensuring that a read point is fully covered requires consideration and balance of several factors.  Generally, the key decisions regarding antenna coverage are determined during the initial design.  What does one do to ensure sufficient antenna coverage once the installation has been made?

Let us help you with that question. Patti Engineering has implemented multiple UHF RFID projects delivering impressive ROI results for our customers. This month we are sharing some of our expertise in a white paper written by our Senior Electrical Engineer, John Shipley, PE, CAD. Click the link below to download Patti Engineering’s white paper on Strategies to Ensure Your UFH RFID Antenna Coverage is Sufficient.

To learn more about UHF RFID Antenna Coverage,