Simulation and Fabrication of a Low-Cost RFID Reader

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) systems have their importance renewed due to the surge of the Internet-of-Things scenario. This article describes the design and fabrication of a low-cost RFID Reader. This research comprises the fabrication of a printed antenna of the reader, as well as generating the waveform used in the transmission as a proof of concept. The antenna is designed on ANSYS HFSS and then printed on a FR-4 substrate using microstrip lines. The waveform is designed as a set of sinusoids and then generated on Labview. The setup is validated as a proof of concept using an indoor scenario, with passive RFID printed tags placed 50 cm from the reader. The received waveforms present an adequate signal level.