Patent ID: 8432258

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first antenna configured to communicate with a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader; a second antenna separate from said first antenna, wherein the second antenna comprises a far field antenna configured to communicate in the far field with at least one RFID tag, wherein the at least one RFID tag is not contained within a metal container with respect to the RFID reader; and a structure electrically coupling said first and second antennas and including an amplifier coupled to the second antenna and configured to amplify signaling received at the first antenna for transmission from the second antenna to the at least one RFID tag, wherein the signaling transmitted from the second antenna is received by the at least one RFID tag causing a response signal to be transmitted by the at least one RFID tag having sufficient signal strength to reach the RFID reader without passing back through the second antenna and the first antenna.