This course describes the various types of RFID interrogators (readers), their components and the functionality of RFID interrogators. You will also learn about interrogator antennas: their types, polarization and function. A section of this course is dedicated to interrogator operation, including air interface and data protocols, dense reader mode, anti-collision and other tag management practices. The last section of the course discusses interrogation zone configuration, as well as interference problems that can arise while optimizing the system.

This course maps to the following CompTIA objectives for Interrogation Zone Basics:

• Describe interrogator functionality
  • I/O capability
  • Handheld interrogators
  • Vehicle-mount interrogator
  • LAN/Serial communications
  • Firmware upgrades
  • Software operation (GUIs)
• Describe configuration of interrogation zones
  • Explain interrogator-to-interrogator interference
  • Optimization
  • System performance and tuning
  • Travel speed and direction
  • Bi-static / monostatic antennas
• Define anti-collision protocols (e.g., number of tags in the field/response time)
• Given a scenario, solve dense interrogator environment issues (domestic/international)
  • Understand how a dense interrogator installation will affect network traffic
  • Installation of multiple interrogators, (e.g., dock doors, synchronization of multiple interrogators and antenna footprints)