Systems and methods for RFID-based retail management
First Claim
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1. A system for locating a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag in a volume of interest, the system comprising:
- a plurality of antennas, the plurality of antennas comprising a first antenna configured to transmit a plurality of activation signals at a first power level towards the volume of interest;
an RFID transceiver, electrically coupled to the plurality of antennas, to receive RFID response data from the RFID tag in response to the plurality of activation signals at the first power level;
a camera to obtain visual data representing a person in the volume of interest; and
a system manager, operably coupled to the RFID transceiver and the camera, to determine a probability of triggering the RFID response data from the RFID tag in response to the plurality of activation signals at the first power level, to estimate a permittivity of the person based on the visual data, and to transform the RFID response data from the RFID transceiver into RFID tag location data based on the probability of triggering the RFID response data from the RFID tag with the plurality of activation signals at the first power level and on the permittivity of the person.
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Abstract
A system for RFID-based retail management that includes a set of antennas, an RFID transceiver connected to the set of antennas; and a microprocessor-based system manager that controls the RFID transceiver and transforms RFID response data from the RFID transceiver into RFID tag location data according to read probability methods.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system for locating a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag in a volume of interest, the system comprising:
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a plurality of antennas, the plurality of antennas comprising a first antenna configured to transmit a plurality of activation signals at a first power level towards the volume of interest; an RFID transceiver, electrically coupled to the plurality of antennas, to receive RFID response data from the RFID tag in response to the plurality of activation signals at the first power level; a camera to obtain visual data representing a person in the volume of interest; and a system manager, operably coupled to the RFID transceiver and the camera, to determine a probability of triggering the RFID response data from the RFID tag in response to the plurality of activation signals at the first power level, to estimate a permittivity of the person based on the visual data, and to transform the RFID response data from the RFID transceiver into RFID tag location data based on the probability of triggering the RFID response data from the RFID tag with the plurality of activation signals at the first power level and on the permittivity of the person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for locating a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-tagged object, comprising:
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detecting a person present in a monitored region; identifying a volume of interest corresponding to the person; estimating a permittivity of the person; transmitting a plurality of RFID activation signals at a first power level from an antenna toward the volume of interest; receiving, in response to the plurality of RFID activation signals at the first power level, at least one response signal from the RFID-tagged object; determining a probability of triggering the at least one response signal from the RFID-tagged object in response to the plurality of activation signals at the first power level; locating the RFID-tagged object within the volume of interest based on the probability of triggering the at least one response signal from the RFID-tagged object and the permittivity of the person; and associating the RFID-tagged object with the person. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of locating a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, the method comprising:
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transmitting, from a first antenna, N first activation signals towards a volume of interest, each first activation signal having a first power level; receiving at least one first response signal from the RFID tag in response to the N first activation signals; determining a first probability of triggering a first response signal from the RFID tag based on the N first activation signals and the at least one first response signal; transmitting, from a second antenna, M second activation signals towards the volume of interest, each second activation signal having a second power level; receiving at least one second response signal from the RFID tag in response to the M second activation signals; determining a second probability of triggering a second response signal from the RFID tag based on the M second activation signals and the at least one second response signal; detecting, with a camera, a person within the volume of interest; estimating a permittivity associated with the person; and locating the RFID tag with respect to the volume of interest based on the first probability, the second probability, and on the permittivity associated with the person. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification