Motion-controlled arrangement for, and method of, locating targets with improved performance in a venue

• US 10,049,244 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2016
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Lauria, Charles, Lavery, Richard J., Calvarese, Russell E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Girma, Fekadeselassie
• Application Number:
  US15/163,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20170344773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 811 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10425 the interrogation device being arranged for interrogation of record carriers passing by the interrogation device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10475 arrangements to facilitate interaction with further interrogation devices, e.g. such that at least two interrogation devices may function and cooperate in a network of such devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Multiple sensing network units are deployed overhead in a venue. Each unit supports a motion detecting system for detecting a level of motion in a zone of the venue, and an RFID locationing system for reading RFID tags in the venue, in response to the motion level detected by the motion detecting system. The performance of the RFID locationing system is adjusted and optimized in response to the detected motion level.

Claims

1. An arrangement for locating targets in a venue having a plurality of zones, the arrangement comprising:

a housing mounted overhead in the venue;

a motion detecting system supported by the housing and including a plurality of motion detector assemblies having a corresponding plurality of fields of view looking in different directions away from the housing and extending over and covering the zones of the venue, the motion detector assemblies being operative for detecting levels of motion of the targets in the zones;

a radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) locationing system supported by the housing and operatively connected to the motion detecting system, the RFID locationing system being operative for reading the targets configured as RFID tags to locate the RFID tags in the zones in response to the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies; and

an RFID controller operatively connected to the motion detecting system,

wherein the RFID locationing system is operative for reading the RFID tags in a reading mode of operation with a set of reading parameters,

wherein the RFID controller changes at least one of the reading parameters based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies, and

wherein the reading parameters include a dwell time of an RF interrogation signal transmitted by the RFID locationing system, a transmit power at which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, a transmit direction along which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, and a firing order of a plurality of RF interrogation signals that are transmitted by the RFID locationing system.

2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the RFID controller controls the RFID locationing system to read fewer RFID tags when reduced levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies, and changes at least one of the reading parameters in which the RFID tags are read based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies.

3. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the RFID controller controls the RFID locationing system to read more RFID tags when increased levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies, and changes at least one of the reading parameters in which the RFID tags are read based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies.

4. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the housing has an outer wall bounding an upright axis;

wherein the RFID locationing system includes a plurality of RFID antenna elements arranged about the upright axis and supported by the housing; and

wherein the motion detector assemblies include a plurality of motion detector elements and a corresponding plurality of lenses, both arranged about the upright axis and supported by the housing.

5. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein each motion detector assembly includes a non-image-based, and non-image-recordable, discrete detector.

6. A motion-controlled arrangement for locating targets in a venue having a plurality of zones, the arrangement comprising:

a plurality of housings mounted overhead in the venue;

a plurality of motion detecting systems, each supported by a respective housing, each motion detecting system including a plurality of motion detector assemblies having a corresponding plurality of fields of view looking in different directions away from the respective housing and extending over and covering the zones of the venue, the motion detector assemblies being operative for detecting levels of motion of the targets in the zones; and

a plurality of radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) locationing systems, each supported by a respective housing and being operatively connected to the respective motion detecting system supported by the respective housing, each RFID locationing system being controlled by an RFID controller and being operative for reading the targets configured as RFID tags to locate the RFID tags in the zones in response to the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies,

wherein each RFID locationing system is operative for reading the RFID tags in a reading mode of operation with a set of reading parameters,

wherein the RFID controller changes at least one of the reading parameters based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies, and

wherein the reading parameters include a dwell time of an RF interrogation signal transmitted by each RFID locationing system, a transmit power at which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, a transmit direction along which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, and a firing order of a plurality of RF interrogation signals that are transmitted by each RFID locationing system.

7. The motion-controlled arrangement of claim 6, wherein each housing has an outer wall bounding an upright axis;

wherein each RFID locationing system includes a plurality of RFID antenna elements arranged about the upright axis and supported by the respective housing; and

wherein the motion detector assemblies include a plurality of motion detector elements and a corresponding plurality of lenses, both arranged about the upright axis and supported by the respective housing.

8. The motion-controlled arrangement of claim 6, wherein each motion detector assembly includes a non-image-based, and non-image-recordable, discrete detector.

9. A method of locating targets in a venue having a plurality of zones, the method comprising:

mounting a housing overhead in the venue;

detecting levels of motion of the targets in the zones by supporting on the housing a plurality of motion detector assemblies having a corresponding plurality of fields of view looking in different directions away from the housing and extending over and covering the zones of the venue;

reading the targets configured as radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) tags to locate the RFID tags in the zones in response to the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies by supporting an RFID locationing system on the housing, wherein the reading of the RFID tags is performed in a reading mode of operation with a set of reading parameters;

changing at least one of the reading parameters based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies; and

reading fewer RFID tags when reduced levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies.

10. The method of claim 9, and reading more RFID tags when increased levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies.

11. The method of claim 10, and configuring the reading parameters to include a dwell time of an RF interrogation signal transmitted by the RFID locationing system, a transmit power at which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, a transmit direction along which the RF interrogation signal is transmitted, and a firing order of a plurality of RF interrogation signals that are transmitted by the RFID locationing system.

12. The method of claim 9, and configuring the housing with an outer wall bounding an upright axis;

and configuring the RFID locationing system with a plurality of RFID antenna elements arranged about the upright axis and supported by the housing; and

configuring the motion detector assemblies with a plurality of motion detector elements and a corresponding plurality of lenses, both arranged about the upright axis and supported by the housing.

13. The method of claim 9, and configuring the each motion detector assembly with a non-image-based, and non-image-recordable, discrete detector.

14. An arrangement for locating targets in a venue having a plurality of zones, the arrangement comprising:

a housing mounted overhead in the venue;

a motion detecting system supported by the housing and including a plurality of motion detector assemblies having a corresponding plurality of fields of view looking in different directions away from the housing and extending over and covering the zones of the venue, the motion detector assemblies being operative for detecting levels of motion of the targets in the zones;

a radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) locationing system supported by the housing and operatively connected to the motion detecting system, the RFID locationing system being operative for reading the targets configured as RFID tags to locate the RFID tags in the zones in response to the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies; and

an RFID controller operatively connected to the motion detecting system,

wherein the RFID locationing system is operative for reading the RFID tags in a reading mode of operation with a set of reading parameters, and wherein the RFID controller changes at least one of the reading parameters based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies, and

wherein the RFID controller controls the RFID locationing system to read fewer RFID tags when reduced levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies, and changes at least one of the reading parameters in which the RFID tags are read based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies.

15. An arrangement for locating targets in a venue having a plurality of zones, the arrangement comprising:

a housing mounted overhead in the venue;

a motion detecting system supported by the housing and including a plurality of motion detector assemblies having a corresponding plurality of fields of view looking in different directions away from the housing and extending over and covering the zones of the venue, the motion detector assemblies being operative for detecting levels of motion of the targets in the zones;

a radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) locationing system supported by the housing and operatively connected to the motion detecting system, the RFID locationing system being operative for reading the targets configured as RFID tags to locate the RFID tags in the zones in response to the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies; and

an RFID controller operatively connected to the motion detecting system,

wherein the RFID locationing system is operative for reading the RFID tags in a reading mode of operation with a set of reading parameters, and wherein the RFID controller changes at least one of the reading parameters based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies, and

wherein the RFID controller controls the RFID locationing system to read more RFID tags when increased levels of motion are detected by the motion detector assemblies, and changes at least one of the reading parameters in which the RFID tags are read based on the motion levels detected by the motion detector assemblies.