Quality evaluation of UHF RFID antennas and passive tags on paper substrates

The effect of antenna design modification, paper substrates and relative electrical permittivity of background materials on the reflection coefficient of UHF RFID antennas was studied. Simulation software was used to modify the design and calculate the reflection coefficient of the antennas. By modifying the coupling of the dipole with the induction loop of the antennas, a reduction of the simulated reflection coefficient was achieved compared to the commercial antenna. The positive effect of antenna modification was also confirmed by measuring the reflection coefficient of antennas printed on paper by thermal transfer printing, placed on extruded polystyrene and particle board. The reflection coefficient of the modified antennas was lower when placed on extruded polystyrene, whose relative electrical permittivity was lower than particle board. After installing the memory chip to the antennas printed on paper and paperboard, the identification, reading and recording range of passive UHF RFID tags were measured after they were placed on thicker paperboard, extruded polystyrene and particle board. The positive effect of antenna modification on improving the communication quality of passive UHF RFID tags placed on background materials with a relative electrical permittivity of 2.4 to 6.7 was confirmed.