The specialists of the R&D Department, together with the engineers of the RST-Invent Project Department, created the first in Russia Antenna Switch RST-CMT to build automated RFID solutions.
The RST-CMT Antenna Switch is designed to simultaneously connect up to 64 RFID antennas to a single stationary reader. Such a solution is relevant for the control of goods on interactive racks, smart shelves, in refrigerators or vending machines.
For the option of installing RFID equipment in the box, the antenna switch is made in the form of a printed circuit board, which significantly reduced the cost of the device. Microcontrol switching elements, universal antenna connectors of the SMA-F type are mounted on the board, and for the ease of installation of switches, you can use the usual patch cord of the RJ-45 type. To control a large number of antennas, it is possible to cascade up to 4 switches.
Comparative characteristics of the RST-CMT Antenna Switch with an imported analogue:
|
RST-CMT Antenna Switch |
Impinj Speedway Antenna Hub |
|
| The number of connected antennas to one switch |
✓ Up to 16 |
× Up to 8 |
| Maximum number of antennas connected to one reader |
✓ 64 |
× 32 |
| Need to use a control unit |
✓ No |
× Yes |
“We have developed a product that simplifies the deployment of large-scale RFID systems, both from an engineering and economic point of view, due to the ability to connect more antennas. The RST-CMT antenna switch allows you to significantly increase the readout area of RFID tags without the need for additional expensive reading equipment, thereby reducing the cost of building an RFID system by 3 times ”, comments Alexey Popov, Head of R&D Department of RST-Invent .
The software component of the RST-CMT Antenna Switch is the RST-MAR-MW software, which ensures its compatibility with the leading models of Impinj and Zebra stationary readers, as well as integration with all portal readers manufactured by RST-Invent for efficient operation as part of the hardware and software complex.
“The RST-MAR-MW software allows you to automatically read data from RFID tags and transfer the received information to the database. In addition, it provides the opportunity to individually configure each antenna of the switch and their automated diagnostics,” comments Alexander Komkov, Chief Project Engineer of RST-Invent.