Though "open system" standards are in the works, vendors of RFDC systems within the AIDC marketplace currently offer proprietary networks using their own dedicated equipment. However, all radio frequency local-area networks (LANs) follow roughly the same architecture.

The most common approach to radio frequency implementation uses wireless terminals (either handheld or vehicle-mounted) that include a radio transmitter/receiver, keyboard, LCD display, and usually a barcode scanner. The terminals communicate with the master radio transceiver, a.k.a. base station or wireless gateway, which receives and routes messages from the individual terminals to the radio frequency network controller, and also routes messages such as instructions and exceptions from the host system to the terminals.

The base station receives data from the terminals by means of polling or contention protocols. With polling, each radio frequency terminal is polled or queried in a specific sequence. In a contention system, each terminal transmits on its own accord; if the channel is busy, the terminal retransmits after a randomly set delay. The polling method is preferred for systems with few terminals and approximately uniform transaction rates. Systems with many terminals and high transaction rates achieve more consistent response rates with the contention method.

The radio frequency network controller (which may be a PC) acts as the interface between the radio network and the host computer and/or data collection program. The controller/PC may interface via wire with an autonomous host, or the PC may itself be the host with the data collection program/database resident on it.

Because of the possibility of electromagnetic and other radio signal interference within a facility, the placement of the antenna and base station(s) as well as other system components is critical to system performance; a professional site survey is highly recommended. Depending upon the size and layout of a facility, repeaters and/or multiple base stations may be required to assure complete radio coverage.