Zebra ST5500 Transition Reader

The Zebra ST5500 Transition RFID Reader is a fixed RFID transition-point reader designed to track the movement direction of RFID-tagged inventory, assets and goods as they pass through key areas of a facility. It is built for retailers, distributors, warehouses and manufacturers that need more than simple RFID presence detection: they need to know whether items are entering or leaving a defined area. Unlike a standard fixed RFID reader that only detects whether a tag is present in the read zone, the ST5500 is designed to provide presence and direction. This gives businesses a more useful layer of operational intelligence, helping them understand where inventory is moving, whether goods are going into or out of a stockroom, and how items flow through receiving, shipping, entry / exit points and internal transition zones. The ST5500 is especially useful at facility transition points. It can be used at main building entry and exit areas, receiving docks, loading docks, retail front-room and back-room boundaries, warehouse aisles, manufacturing plant floors and other internal movement points. Its role is to automatically capture RFID events at the moment goods move from one area to another. The main value of the ST5500 is movement intelligence. In retail, it can help identify when RFID-tagged items move from the stockroom to the sales floor, supporting more accurate inventory records and faster replenishment. In warehouse and distribution environments, it can help track whether goods are moving into receiving, out through shipping or through internal process zones. In manufacturing, it can support inventory and material movement visibility across plant floor transition points. The ST5500 is delivered as a ready-to-use, preconfigured reader / antenna solution. The reader and antennas are integrated into one housing, so there is no need to design a separate reader and antenna combination for every transition point. This simplifies deployment compared with building a custom fixed RFID portal from separate components. Installation is designed to be straightforward. The unit can be suspended from the ceiling or mounted on a wall, depending on the layout of the facility and the required read zone. This makes the ST5500 suitable for locations where a conventional RFID portal would be too complex or where a more controlled transition-point read zone is needed. The ST5500 is designed for challenging areas where RFID performance can be affected by environmental factors. The source highlights backrooms, aisles, metal, fluorescent lights and other sources of interference as examples of environments where the ST5500 is intended to meet specific needs. It is also relevant in areas requiring tight read ranges, such as aisles and will-call areas. Technically, the ST5500 is based on a Linux reader platform with a Texas Instruments AM3505 600 MHz processor, 512 MB flash and 256 MB RAM. It supports web-based and remote firmware upgrades, RM 1.0.1 management protocols, RDMP, IPv4 and IPv6, and Transport Layer Security 1.2 with FIPS-140 support. The reader supports EPCglobal UHF Class 1 Gen2 and ISO 18000-6C air protocols. Frequency support includes global operation across 902–928 MHz and 865–868 MHz, with a US-only version for 902–928 MHz. Maximum receive sensitivity is listed at -82 dBm. Transmit power output is 10 dBm to +31.5 dBm with PoE+, 12–48 V external DC or universal 24 VDC power supply, and +10 dBm to +30.0 dBm with PoE. Connectivity includes 10/100 BaseT Ethernet with PoE support, USB client and USB host. General purpose I/O includes two optically isolated inputs and three optically isolated outputs, allowing the ST5500 to integrate with sensors, indicators, control systems or other infrastructure around the transition point. Power requirements are efficient for a fixed infrastructure device. The source lists 18 W maximum input power with 37–55 VDC PoE. Power options include PoE, PoE+ or +24 VDC, with 12–48 VDC operation supported. This helps simplify installation in areas where separate power cabling may be difficult or expensive. The ST5500 is a physically large integrated transition reader. The source lists dimensions of 47.0 in L x 22.0 in W x 9.0 in D / 1194 mm x 559 mm x 229 mm and a weight of 23 lb / 10.4 kg. This reflects its role as a fixed transition-point infrastructure device rather than a compact reader box or handheld product. The environmental specification supports warehouse, retail and manufacturing installations. Operating temperature is -20°C to +55°C, storage temperature is -40°C to +70°C, and humidity support is listed at 95% RH non-condensing. ESD protection is specified at ±15 kV air discharge, ±8 kV direct discharge and ±8 kV indirect discharge. Typical applications include warehouse and distribution shipping and receiving, inventory tracking, retail front-room and back-room movement, retail shipping and receiving, manufacturing shipping and receiving, and manufacturing inventory. In all of these scenarios, the key benefit is not only reading the tag, but understanding movement through the transition point. Overall, the Zebra ST5500 is a fixed transition RFID reader for businesses that need automatic RFID movement tracking at defined facility boundaries. Its strongest value lies in direction-aware RFID capture, ready-to-use reader / antenna integration, wall or ceiling mounting, PoE deployment, enterprise reader management, LLRP support, GPIO integration and suitability for receiving, shipping, stockroom, warehouse, retail and manufacturing transition points.

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