A radio frequency identification (RFID) controller within an RFID system includes an RFID interrogator interface configured to receive signals from RFID interrogators and configured to manage the RFID interrogators based on instructions received from an application program. The RFID interrogators are configured to receive data from an RFID tag. The controller also includes a controller core configured to process the signals received from the RFID interrogator interface and to provide the data to the application.