
38 CHAPTER TWO
Selecting readers
Your selection of a reader is constrained by the tag you select. Some readers are compati-
ble with certain types of tags but not with others. Readers, as powerful radio transmitters,
must also conform to local regulations concerning frequency, power level, and duty cycles
(how often the reader is actually transmitting). When selecting a reader, also pay close
attention to the physical environment in which it will be operated. The reader must be
small enough to be out of the way of personnel and equipment and tough enough to
withstand exposure to dust, shock, humidity, or temperature extremes. Finally, an often-
overlooked consideration in selecting a reader is how well it will cooperate with your cur-
rent IT monitoring and management tools.
RFID Middleware
Choosing the right tags and readers and determining where to put the antennas is only the
first step in building a working RFID system, because identifying items is only the first step in
managing them. The capability to read millions of tags as they move through the supply
chain and the need to tie tag codes to meaningful information will generate large amounts of
data with complex interrelationships. One of the primary benefits of using RFID middleware
is that it standardizes ways of dealing with the flood of information these tiny tags produce. In
addition to event filtering, you also need a mechanism to ...