I want to set up an automated RFID portal and have events posted automatically on the Internet. Are there any hardware, software/middleware and database solutions available that could help me accomplish this goal?
—Name withheld
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There is no single off-the-shelf system of which I am aware. You would typically need to purchase RFID hardware and software separately, or hire a systems integrator that would choose them for you, and then implement it. However, this is not that difficult to do on your own.
Most ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) interrogators based on EPCglobal‘s standards output data in XML form. If you simply want to record that a tagged object went through a portal, it should be possible to write a simple middleware program, or to use open-source middleware to pass that information on to a database, so that it can be accessed via a secure Web site.
The Auto-ID Labs have written an open-source platform that you could utilize (see Auto-ID Lab Releases Accada RFID Prototyping Platform).
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal