Hello Vsell,
20cm should not be an issue. It of course depends on reader and tag antenna size. The perimeter / size should be sufficient big. There are some threads about antenna tuning and how to achieve higher read range, which also contains pictures of the self made antenna.
I would recommend you to look into the ST25R3916(B). It has a better receiver than the ST25R3911B, which can be very beneficial for such long range reading tasks.
The reading duration is something different. A normal passive tag requires a contentious field on before the first command is transmitted, in order to power up. This time is called guard time and defined in various standards. It is also different for different technologies. e.g. ISO14443-A ~5.1ms.
Doing a proprietary protocol achieving a time below or within 1ms may require a powered device on the other side. (e.g. Dynamic Tag or Reader with card emulation functionality e.g. ST25R3916(B)).
If it is feasible to use a Dynamic Tag for such a task, a colleague with more knowledge about the Dynamic tags may answer.
br Travis