  Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are gaining momentum in various
applications of logistics, inventory, etc. A generic problem in such systems is
to ensure that the RFID readers can reliably read a set of RFID tags, such that
the probability of missing tags stays below an acceptable value. A tag may be
missing (left unread) due to errors in the communication link towards the
reader e.g. due to obstacles in the radio path. The present paper proposes
techniques that use multiple reader sessions, during which the system of
readers obtains a running estimate of the probability to have at least one tag
missing. Based on such an estimate, it is decided whether an additional reader
session is required. Two methods are proposed, they rely on the statistical
independence of the tag reading errors across different reader sessions, which
is a plausible assumption when e.g. each reader session is executed on
different readers. The first method uses statistical relationships that are
valid when the reader sessions are independent. The second method is obtained
by modifying an existing capture-recapture estimator. The results show that,
when the reader sessions are independent, the proposed mechanisms provide a
good approximation to the probability of missing tags, such that the number of
reader sessions made, meets the target specification. If the assumption of
independence is violated, the estimators are still useful, but they should be
corrected by a margin of additional reader sessions to ensure that the target
probability of missing tags is met.
