What is an RFID reader or interrogator?
A reader (now more typically referred to as an RFID interrogator) is basically a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and receiver, controlled by a microprocessor or digital signal processor. The reader, using an attached antenna, captures data from tags, then passes the data to a computer for processing. As with tags, readers come in a wide range of sizes and offer different features. Readers can be affixed in a stationary position (for example, beside a conveyor belt in a factory or dock doors in a warehouse), portable (integrated into a mobile computer that also might be used for scanning bar codes), or even embedded in electronic equipment such as print-on-demand label printers.
