RFID Journal Staff asked 13 years ago Question: Can an antenna be used by many different kinds of RFID readers? For example, can near-field and far-field antennas connect and work properly with the same device?
—Name withheld
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To answer this question, I reached out to the experts at Impinj, a supplier of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags and readers. Impinj pioneered the concept of near-field UHF tags. Here is the company's response:
"Antennas are designed to work with readers that use the same frequency (UHF, HF, etc.). In theory, both near-field and far-field antennas can be used with the same reader. However, the performance of near-field antennas will be diminished in readers that don't have adequate carrier cancellation capability. Without carrier cancellation, reflections from the near-field antenna will saturate the receiver, reducing performance."
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal
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