Can a Smartphone read RFID tags from a distance of few feet (NOT NFC)?

Question

Being a bit more specific: I would like to know whether there's a Smartphone that can detect an RFID tag from few feet away using its original HW (no external devices) and OS capabilities. Any comment/direction to reading material will be highly appreciated.

Perfectionist

Just a heads up NFC uses RFID tags, also the iPhone does not support RFID or NFC. Also most RFID tag will require the reader to be pretty close top the tag it self, a few feet will never work, unless you up the power of the reader. – Auriculate

Most tags are passive tags - they need reader's EM field to power up and send back some data. If tag was active, with it's own power, big enough antenna and sensitive-enough receiver, then it might work. Don't know if this is available off-the-shelf. – Milburt

hmm, obviously this is doable also with passive tags and powerfull/focused enough source and very sensitive receiver: darkreading.com/vulnerability-management/167901026/security/… – Milburt

Answer 1

I think the answer depends on your use of the word "RFID Tag". In the classic sense, a read-only transponder, equivalent to a bar code, the answer is not yet. There are proposals for 2.4 GHz RFID that could use existing WIFI chipsets to identify nearby objects. Nothing standard or accepted is available.

However, based on the application you describe. One potential answer may be to flip how you are thinking of setting this up. If you just need to know if a certian, unique, person is near a spot in the mall, maybe instead of their phone looking for an RFID tag you need a low cost bluetooth sniffer (connected to a low cost computing board) looking for their phone, via bluetooth MAC addresses, within say 5m. As long as the customer has bluetooth enabled, has signed up for your service and your read points are connected to the internet this approach should cover your use case.

Excelsior

Answer 2

Basically the possibility is very low.

Near field refers the the property of RF fields with very close proximity between the devices. In the case of NFC as it applies here the devices are even closer, in what is termed the "Reactive near-field". Moving further away these properties are lost.

From Wikipedia: "Theoretical working distance with compact standard antennas: up to 20 cm (practical working distance of about 4 centimeters)"

Exothermic

Hi CocoaFu and thanks for answering. I saw that on Wikipedia as well, but this explains the normal scenario of NFC. My question remains, though, if a smartphone has an installed reader on it, and assuming there are RFID tags that can transmit to greater distance than just few centimeters, so I want to know whether the NFC reader will be able to read that. Here is an example - a social game where people are walking through a shopping mall with their smartphones, looking for physical clues (RFID tags) to help them win a prize. What say you ... feasible? – Perfectionist

If you want such a game, do it using NFC a lot of phones have it. – Jointless

Answer 3

I just found this solution: http://www.ugrokit.com/

I don't have any experience with it.

Appointed

Answer 4

Any android device with NFC chip and antenna embedded is capable enough to read RFID tags.

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