Odin technologies releases RFID reader benchmark

The benchmark provides critical insight into how well readers actually work in the field and what criteria should be evaluated when choosing a reader. Odin claims that the RFID reader benchmark is the first scientific and objective comparison of how leading RFID readers work with various standard materials.

"Selecting an RFID reader is a tough task which can make or break your RFID programme,"​ said Patrick J. Sweeney, Odin technologies president. "Until today, end-users had to rely on manufacturers' claims and trial and error testing to select a reader. That was a painful process, which often led to bad results.​

" With today's release of the RFID reader benchmark, Wal-Mart suppliers now have an objective source for reader comparison."​

Sweeney said that Odin's​ aim is to make the complex physics involved with RFID easy by giving end-users tools to make better decisions. " The research leverages our expert team and advanced testing labs to reveal the good, the bad and the ugly of reader performance,"​ he said.

The RFID reader benchmark, the first in a series of benchmark reports, evaluates RFID readers from Alien Technologies, Matrics, SAMSys and AWID. Each of the readers underwent the same rigorous testing with multiple materials.

The report presents a side-by-side comparison of the readers based on the materials and performance criteria required by end users. Odin says that certain reader manufacturers were purposefully left out of this report based on impending new releases or sub-par performances. Details are included in the survey.

"There is a great deal of confusion about how well the leading RFID readers work in the field,"​ said Chris Fennig, director of professional services for ODIN technologies. "The RFID reader benchmark cuts through the marketing spin and gives end-users an objective, scientific analysis of how these readers work with materials most like their own.​

"It is a handbook that end-users can reference to accelerate their selection process and avoid costly risks that many early adopters faced."​

Odin technologies director of engineering Charles Schlosser said: "I have been designing and building RF systems for over 25 years. I know from experience that what works in the lab doesn't always work in the real world. And, I have seen trial and error testing that only wastes time and produces inaccurate results.​

"With the looming RFID deadlines, end-users don't have the luxury of starting over if they make an error in reader selection. Our goal was to give them a solid foundation, based on scientific testing, to make better decisions about which readers perform best given their product's material composition."​

The RFID reader benchmark includes a total cost of ownership analysis, focusing on the hidden costs of RFID programmes and how each reader stacks up for a given application. Reader performance test results are also examined, and ranked based on reader performance at a distance baseline.

The report also contains a connectivity analysis, which evaluates the various readers' ability to connect to an enterprises network in a production environment. And finally a control analysis has been carried out to determine how well a reader can be tuned to work in specific environments.

Odin says that many problems that are blamed on "technology immaturity" are in fact the result of poorly tuned readers, antennas and systems.