Key Terms

1.  

A. A swim diagram, or a swim lane diagram, shows how steps within a process are organized by systems, roles, locations, and business units. This diagram is used for business process mapping in the first part of the site analysis.

2.  

D. A blueprint is a bird's-eye view of a floor of the building where you will be installing an RFID network. The building is drawn to scale, and the blueprint shows where every door, loading dock, room, window, and other permanent components are located.

3.  

A, C. Blueprints should be used to lay out where the RFID network will be built. You need to determine where each RFID interrogation zone is going to be located, and after you mark out each interrogation zone you will understand the specific areas that need a closer look because of possible interference or changes in signal path contour.

4.  

C, D. You need to measure RF signal frequency and strength because other devices can use the same unlicensed ISM band such as cordless phones, long-range radios, barcode devices, alarm systems, real-time location systems, and the like. If these devices were operating on the same frequency and with certain signal strength, they would cause interference and data collisions and make your RFID network dysfunctional .

5.  

B. To measure the relative strength and specific bandwidth of communication across a given range, you need to use a spectrum analyzer. This device also can serve as the data-logging mechanism in the testing setup for your site assessment.

6.  

A. As a best practice, you should never connect an antenna to or disconnect it from a powered -up device, even if the device has fault protection. Although most of today's electronics have solid protection, connecting an antenna to a device with the power off is a good habit to get into that may protect your costly equipment.

7.  

A, B. Essential parts of the full Faraday cycle analysis are identification of the ambient electronic noise within the facility, logging all data over the course of a full business cycle, and understanding any changes that happen at different times of the day, as well as finding current or potential sources of interference.

8.  

A, C, E. For RF path loss contour mapping, you will need a spectrum analyzer to measure the relative strength and specific bandwidth of communication, and an RF signal generator to produce RF signals at preset frequencies, strengths, and durations. The signal generator is connected to a ¼-wave dipole antenna via a coax cable and will be used to transmit the generated RF field. You will also need a circularly polarized UHF antenna, two tripod stands, and a laptop computer.

9.  

B, D. Signal coverage in the interrogation zone could be asymmetrical because the signal was deflected or absorbed by an object near or in the interrogation zone.

10.  

C. To counteract the loss of signal strength on one side of the dock door, the antenna located on that side of the dock door needs to receive additional power compared to power used on the other dock doors, or interfering items may need to be moved.