How does read range pose a challenge?
As tagged cartons and pallets move through the supply chain, they interact with readers mounted in a variety of locations. They must be able to reliably broadcast all the way back to each reader. However, tags offering too much read range can cause serious operational problems if they’re seen by the wrong reader. Far-field performance rates how well a tag is read over the distance to the reader. Near-field performance rates how well the tag performs in an encoder/printer/applicator, where the reader antenna is only inches away from the tag at most. These performance rates must be balanced to tune tags to be read well both near and far.
