Evaluation of HF band NFC/RFID antennas for smart shelf applications

A mass number of tagged items are predicted to be in use in future applications of HF RFID/NFC systems. One such application, where items such as books or other items contained on a shelf or in a cupboard, can use RFID technology to ascertain the position and logging of such items in addition to identifying their existence on the shelf hence defined as a smart shelf. In the first instance, a new theoretical approach is presented to increase bandwidth of RFID reader antennas operating at HF band to improve the reception of the backscattered RFID response. A prototype antenna is designed and evaluated by measurement for its capability in being used for smart shelf applications. The more bandwidth will support subcarrier frequencies for the all the existing HF RFID standards (ISO/IEC 15693 and ISO/IEC14443) to be detected more easily and thus leads to increased range of identification. Also, it is shown that in the presence of books, the HF RFID technology is capable of identifying the distance of a tag antenna based on the received H-field, which could be used in a smart shelf management system.