Are there any suppliers or manufacturers of ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID interrogators that operate only within that frequency range, with half a watt of maximum effective radiated power (ERP)?
—Name withheld
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To my knowledge, there are not.
Many companies—including Alien Technology, AWID, CAEN RFID, Feig Electronic, Intermec, Motorola and Sirit—offer readers that comply with regulations proposed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). These rules require that UHF RFID readers operate in the 865 to 868 MHz band, with power levels of up to 2 watts, but the requirements limit the power output to half a watt in the 867.6 to 868 MHz band.
There are no controls within the software, however, to limit a reader to using only the 867.6 to 868 MHz band. My guess is that these companies would have to write some special firmware that would restrict their interrogators to requested settings. Most firms have not made that a standard feature, though, since there isn’t much demand for it within the marketplace.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal