This thesis deals with the design of cost-effective large-scale RFID networks from both software and hardware aspects. To start with, different computer-aided tools were developed to maximize performance. The first set of algorithms focused on the elimination of redundant readers to minimize the cost and interference in large-scale RFID networks. For validation, uniform reader coverage was assumed, as widely used in most available publications. Then, both omni-directional and directional commercial reader antenna data were included for more reliability. Besides redundancy, an efficient physical placement of readers was also investigated by considering both uniform and random distribution over space. For this purpose, genetic-based algorithms have been proposed to increase reader coverage using commercial reader antenna beams. Energy consumption is also a critical design parameter for dense RFID networks. Therefore, a third set of algorithms was developed to efficiently minimize the energy consumption of large-scale RFID systems. Note that all above optimization techniques were achieved without compromising the whole RFID network performance. To further optimize cost and performance of large-scale RFID networks, a hardware approach through reader antenna design has been considered. In fact, since different RFID frequency bands have been assigned worldwide, large-scale RFID networks implemented in industrial parks, airports, or international trade zones, may deal with imported merchandise using tags operating at different frequencies. Therefore, in-house single and dual-band microstrip and CPW fed monopole antennas were successfully designed and tested to improve system adaptability to various RFID standards. These antennas were designed using both electromagnetic commercial simulators (HFSS) and in-house FDTD-based techniques. Finally, to further extend dense RFID network capabilities, one may implement a substantial number of readers and antennas with small reading ranges to cover a large monitoring area, or use high gain phased array antenna system for an extended reading range of an RFID reader for a smaller number of total reader deployments. Therefore, a phased antenna array system can be an efficient alternative for dense RFID networks. Thus, a switched beam network to control the phase of the radiating elements of the array has been successfully designed and tested.