Distributed High-Frequency RFID Antennas for Smart Storage Racks

In this paper, novel coil antennas distributed on storage racks are designed for high frequency (HF) radiofrequency identification (RFID) reader. To enlarge the reading coverage on a large storage rack without using large current excitation, several small-sized coils are distributed on the rack floor in specific series-parallel connection, and a network is designed to match the HF RFID reader input port. The storage rack prototype is built and tested. It is demonstrated that RFID reader with the designed coil antennas can identify the labels adhered to objects placed on the storage rack successfully. The distributed coil antenna has the advantages of low cost, high efficiency and large capacity.