Coverage-Based Placement in RFID Networks: An Overview

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a wireless technology that promises to facilitate many identification and tracking solutions. The placement problem, i.e. choosing the optimal locations for RFID readers, tags or both in a given RFID layout, is reviewed in this paper. Placement approaches are generally coverage-driven and vary according to the system's scopes and constraints. RFID coverage is associated with readers' interference, which requires applying redundancy elimination algorithms. In this paper, we propose a coverage-based categorization of RFID placement schemes based on the span of the readers' field. We also provide a comparative analysis of placement schemes based on their performance objectives, constraints, and potential applications. We finally discuss some open issues regarding RFID placement in terms of alternative objectives and systems' specifications.