A versatile, automated, cost-effective testing platform for hands-on UHF RFID measurements

Beuster N, Ihlow A, Blau K, Trabert J, Andrich C, Del Galdo G (2019)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2019

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

Conference Proceedings Title: 2019 IEEE International Conference on RFID, RFID 2019

Event location: Phoenix, AZ, USA

ISBN: 9781728112107

DOI: 10.1109/RFID.2019.8719272

Abstract

In this paper, we present cost-effective techniques to assess UHF RFID performance for real world applications. This includes a positioner, made from roof battens and stepper motors, which can position a tag in 3-D space. It can be used for a variety of measurements, e.g., tag RSSI or phase patterns or influence of distance to materials and other tags. We also present a 1-D positioner from similar materials to lift a reader antenna to show reflections from ground and perform limited motion measurements. For the measurements themselves, we use a commercial off-the-shelf R420 Impinj reader, which we control via LLRP commands, implemented in Python. To verify the communication link between reader and tag, we use a low-cost SDR based on an RTL2832U chip. We also built clamps and adapters from hardware store materials to connect a tag to RF equipment to read the communication and test external antennas. For bulk detection performance testing, we built a frame with RF neutral layers with attached tags.

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Ilmenau DE Germany (DE) MetraLabs GmbH Neue Technologien und Systeme DE Germany (DE) Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen (IIS) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Beuster, N., Ihlow, A., Blau, K., Trabert, J., Andrich, C., & Del Galdo, G. (2019). A versatile, automated, cost-effective testing platform for hands-on UHF RFID measurements. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on RFID, RFID 2019. Phoenix, AZ, USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc..

MLA:

Beuster, Niklas, et al. "A versatile, automated, cost-effective testing platform for hands-on UHF RFID measurements." Proceedings of the 13th Annual IEEE International Conference on RFID, RFID 2019, Phoenix, AZ, USA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019.

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