User's Manual

Stationary Reader User’s Manual  2001-2002 Matrics, Inc. Page 4
Section 2. System Description
Matrics develops and markets Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that is effective and affordable by
offering a combination of low cost, long read range, and a very high read rate unmatched by other RFID
systems. A typical Matrics RFID system consists of three components:
• Silicon-based RFID tags,
• Reader network components (readers, antennas, cables, power supplies, CAT3 cable termination
blocks, etc.), and
• Your choice of Host/PC controller with system management software.
RFID Tags
Tags can be purchased as thin, flexible smart label inlays that can be incorporated into standard laminated
paper or plastic to create inexpensive stick-on or embedded labels. Matrics smart labels can uniquely
identify items up and down the supply chain, such as products in-process, pallets, boxes, trays, and
totes.
With an innovative approach that removes the circuit complexity from the integrated circuit (IC), Matrics
UHF tags are simple and inexpensive to produce. The ultra lean chip design requires low power and
consequently produces powerful read ranges. Each chip is extremely secure and tamper-proof, because
the unique ID is programmed very early in the manufacturing process and cannot be altered.
Reader Network Components
The Matrics RFID Reader provides all of the RF and control functions required to power and
communicate with Matrics passive RFID tags. It sends digital data to the tag (through one antenna at any
given time) on a pulse width modulated On Off Keyed (OOK) transmitter signal, demodulates the
identification signal received from the tag, and then sends the data to a host control device.
The Matrics Reader system is structured to allow for flexibility in system configurations and in the
arrangement of read points to optimize coverage at a low overall cost. In its maximum configuration, a
single Reader can support a total of thirty-two (32) lower performance antennas [with eight (8) lower
performance antennas attached to each of up to four (4) multiplexers attached to a Reader], or four (4)
high performance antennas attached directly to a Reader. Any combination (up to the maximum) of high
performance antennas (directly attached to the Reader) and lower performance antennas (attached to the
Reader via multiplexers) can be implemented.
The system also employs a unique, patented reader-driven interrogation protocol that allows up to one
thousand (1,000) tags to be read each second. This powerful read rate supplies the muscle to overcome
interference in noisy environments, and to guarantee acceptable read rates at each read point when large
numbers of antennas are multiplexed together.
Readers can be powered either locally or through the network cable in the event there is not a local power
source near by, and to minimize overall network infrastructure costs.