Best Products to Learn RFID

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1

I’m pretty new to the RFID world but would like to learn and play with the technology in order to evaluate an idea for an application that we’d like to try and develop. I’ve seen a few dev kits around but nothing seems to be the type of components that we think we’re going to ultimately need to use so I’m wondering if anyone can give me a little direction on where to look or what to get. Here’s some loose “specs” on what we think our application is going to need to have:

  • - **Tags**
  • - Cheap stick on type
  • - Passive
  • - Serialized
  • - **Reader**
  • - Low cost
  • - Able to read tags ~6" from antenna
  • - Antenna able to cover ~10' linear boundary (maybe thin wire in an adhesive strip?)
  • - Able to store tag ID with a date/time stamp and ideally some kind of reader ID (location)
  • - Data stored and downloadable. USB okay, bluetooth or even better wifi super!
  • - Able to be powered by batteries if possible
  • - Very low physical profile

    • I realize that a “wish list” like that is a lot more than a simple learning environment but I figure if I’m going to invest and learn that I might as well get applicable components and use my training environment to test my concept eventually too.

    Any suggestions on what components I should get? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

    Paul.

    2

    suggest:

    research and learn the prevailing industry standards (ISO 18000-xxx is one). NFC’s standards are another.

    Then the several different RF technologies involved with the standards.

    Jumping in to playing with products comes after building a sound base.

    3

    Thanks, I have been reviewing a lot of info about the standards and products. That unfortunately doesn’t really answer my question though. Aside from information, I’m looking for specific products to purchase to begin playing with and looking for recommendations on that. Thanks.