A Modular UHF Reader Frontend for a Flexible RFID Testbed

Currently RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is pushing to the market mainly forced by industry. Passive tags in the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) region are of particular interest e.g. for supply chains, showing a tendency to become state of the art. Passive tags obtain their energy from the readers during communication. The reader has to power the tag by radiating energy at the same time as it has to receive the tag answer. Due to this so-called self-interference the reader frontend design becomes more complex than that of typical communication systems. This paper presents the implementation of a modular UHF reader frontend for a flexible RFID testbed.