> Hopefully someone on the list can help. I'm looking for an active RFID
> tag that can be run from very low current and is sold as a discrete
> item as opposed to a prepackaged in-plastic-with-battery tag.

Not likely, due to FCC certification.  The antenna is a intergral part of
the tag, and the unit is no longer certified if you mess with it.  The
packaging holds the antenna, so it too becomes part of the overall package.

How many do you want?  Anything is possible with sufficient volume.  One of
my customers makes active RFID tags, but they are of course pre-packaged.
They run about 2 years from two coin cells, and could definitely be powered
from solar cells.  It's not hard to open the units and solder wires to the
battery holder instead of using a battery.

> The range doesn't have to be far, 20m or so would be more than
> adequate.

This is doable.  The tags I mentioned above are used for indoor location,
and can usually be picked up 60 feet away with the right receivers.

> Has anyone integrated an SPI or other type of RFID tag reader with a
> PIC?

Our receivers use several PICs internally.  They communicate received tag
information over ethernet.  The bare receiver part communicates via serial.


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