The RF in RFID: Passive UHF RFID in Practice

By Daniel M. Dobkin

This book explains how UHF tags and readers communicate wirelessly. It gives an understanding of what limits the read range of a tag, how to increase it (and why that might result in breaking the law), and the practical things that need to be addressed when designing and implementing RFID technology. Avoiding heavy math but giving breadth of coverage with the right amount of detail, it is an ideal introduction to radio communications for engineers who need insight into how tags and readers work. New to this edition: - Examples of near-metal antenna techniques - Discussion of the wakeup challenge for battery-assisted tags, with a BAT architecture example - Latest development of protocols: EPC Gen 1.2.0 - Update 18000-6 discussion with battery-assisted tags, sensor tags, Manchester tags and wakeup provisions

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0123945836
• ISBN13: 9780123945839
• Release Date: December 2012
• Publisher: Newnes
• Length: 540 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.5" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

One of the better RFID books

If you are a radio guy, this is one of the better RFID books. You still need to read the EPC specs but this book helps a lot in understanding the whys. I especially like the description of near field antennas.

Wish I had similar books when starting engineering carrer

The book is an introductory text on RFID for readers with little or no background in RF engineering. It is not an easy task to introduce multiple concepts like RF electronics, antenna theory, propagation issues (including scattering and multipath) in a single book without sacrificing depth. Dobkin courageously undertakes this effort and performs a superb job in applying the above principles to the science and art of RFID. Speaking the language of engineers, the author addresses the above issues in a lucid and intuitive manner, yet maintaining the depth and information content. The book is replete with practical examples containing real life numbers (a feature often lacking in texts coming from the academic world) and therefore very helpful to the student as well as the practicing engineer. Even when dealing with complex issues, the author never loses his sense of humor and the book is never a drag. And within this informal framework, the author's brilliance is not obscured by his unique and intuitive treatment of the fundamentals of electromagnetic engineering. The animations are instructive and we would like to see more such examples in future editions. The historical facts are interesting to the curious reader. An RF design engineer during her career learns many insights from colleagues and mentors usually not discussed in traditional text books. This book is full of such "gold nuggets" - I wish I had this book when starting my career as an engineer.

The RF in RFID, Daniel M. Dobkin

Philip Karantzalis (Linear Technology, Milpitas, CA) The RF in RFID is the best book for a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental issues of UHF RFID. In this very readable book, hardware and software engineers and users of UHF RFID systems will find reliable information on the RF interaction of tags and readers and UHF RFID protocols (it promotes mental health by providing the reader with a lucid explanation of the very dense UHF RFID protocols). This is a book that must be included in a comprehensive technical library (Five Stars).

Awesome, accessible, and technical

If you have even a modest background in electrical engineering, Dobkins will take you on an entertaining but extremely informative ride into the engineering world that goes on behind RFID. Dobkins avoids the classical, boring, textbook-like approach that wants to turn everything into an abstract mathematical equation. Instead, he uses analogies, intuition, illustrations, animations, and yes, equations, to guide the reader's thought process and imagination. It's filled with fun facts and practical perspectives. It seems like every few pages I want to say out loud, "Wow, that's cool!" The author's enthusiasm for the subject clearly comes across right from the introduction. Though the sentences may ramble, it us usually punctuated by some wit, humor, or factoid. This book cuts across a lot of different topics, but primarily focuses on tags and readers. No topic goes too deep; nobody should confuse this with a PhD dissertation. But no topic is glossed over lightly, either. While this is not a "cook book" by any means, it definitely lays the foundation solidly on each topic. What I enjoy so much about this book is that it is both technically solid, but still so easy to read. It's not "dumbed down" as it addresses the real engineering challenges head on, and leaves you with both an appreciation for the subject and a solid foundation (and lots of references) to go digging for more. As inevitably happens, when trying to reduce something that is full of complexities and try to make it into something simpler, sometimes some important details get lost in the process. This is inevitable, and is not a problem per se. However, sometimes Dobkins gets carried away and forgets to remind the reader that the real world is actually a little bit more complicated than is presented. For example, the process of designing an RFID tag antenna, as outlined, doesn't quite work. Adding a matching circuit to the antenna, especially the inductive shunt, significantly changes behavior of the antenna, and means you have to go back and change the equivalent circuit of the antenna. Once you get past that, the basic process of modifying the matching circuit based on the principles outlined in the book does work. There are also a number of very minor errors within the book. Neither criticism is enough to detract from my 5-star rating. Anyone who works with passive UHF RFID and wants to learn more about how this stuff works will definitely learn a lot from this book. If you've been to all the conferences, workshops, short courses, and looking for something more, this book is for you.

Best book on UHF RFID, bar none

I'm not sure if I am typical of the target market for this book (product manager who was an engineer many years ago), but I found this book extremely informative and it did an excellent job of gradually stepping the me into the fine details of the technology - all while explaining how the protocols evolved and what the benefits and shortcomings are of the protocols as they stand. Other books barely mention the EPCglobal Gen2 specifications that have become the standard for passive UHF RFID - this book explains them fully.