By Jerry Banks and Les G. Thompson, co-authors of RFID Applied

It is hard to label any component of an RFID system as being more critical than any of the others. In past articles we have discussed the RFID tag, as well as, the RFID antenna hardware. Both of these fundamental pieces are integral parts of a working and efficient RFID system. The underlying technology, manufacturing quality, and correct deployment of tags and antennas are all important links in the chain. Without any of these pieces, the entire solution will fail. The RFID reader is just as important as these other pieces and may be seen as one of the toughest components to design, manufacture, and deploy correctly. The challenge encountered with RFID readers is that a reader must implement two interfaces. The first is the interface with the RFID tags. The second is the interface with the business network.