Reading RFID tags in defined spatial locations
First Claim
1. A radio frequency identification (“
- RFID”
) reader of a point-of-sale (POS) system, comprising;
a first radio frequency (RF) antenna configured to transmit power in a first spatial zone in order to read a first set of RFID tags disposed within the first spatial zone;
a second RF antenna configured to transmit power in a second spatial zone in order to read the first set of RFID tags, at a second time wherein the second spatial zone is upstream the first spatial zone,wherein the first set of RFID tags are attached to items to be purchased at a point of sale location of an establishment, wherein the point of sale location comprises the first spatial zone and the second spatial zone, wherein a list of identifiers of cleared RFID tags is produced listing only RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that indicate that they have been scanned, at a time between said first and second times, by a decodable indicia reading at the point of sale location, wherein the list is produced based on the first set of RFID tags being moved, from the first spatial zone to the second spatial zone based on the readings by the first and second RF antennas at the first and second times, to enable the POS system to identify read RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that are not listed on the list and trigger an alert.
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Abstract
Devices, methods, and software are disclosed for reading RFID tags located in defined spatial locations. In one illustrative embodiment, a system can comprise a processor, a memory, and an RFID reading device including at least one radio frequency (RF) antenna. The system can be configured to read a first plurality of RFID tags attached to items disposed within a first spatial zone and read a second plurality of RFID tags attached to items disposed within a second spatial zone. The system can be further configured to produce a list of identifiers of RFID tags which belong to the second plurality of RFID tags and do not belong to the first plurality of RFID tags. In some embodiments, the system can be further configured, responsive to successfully decoding decodable indicia attached to an item, to match the item to an RFID tag belonging to the list.
86 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A radio frequency identification (“
- RFID”
) reader of a point-of-sale (POS) system, comprising;a first radio frequency (RF) antenna configured to transmit power in a first spatial zone in order to read a first set of RFID tags disposed within the first spatial zone; a second RF antenna configured to transmit power in a second spatial zone in order to read the first set of RFID tags, at a second time wherein the second spatial zone is upstream the first spatial zone, wherein the first set of RFID tags are attached to items to be purchased at a point of sale location of an establishment, wherein the point of sale location comprises the first spatial zone and the second spatial zone, wherein a list of identifiers of cleared RFID tags is produced listing only RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that indicate that they have been scanned, at a time between said first and second times, by a decodable indicia reading at the point of sale location, wherein the list is produced based on the first set of RFID tags being moved, from the first spatial zone to the second spatial zone based on the readings by the first and second RF antennas at the first and second times, to enable the POS system to identify read RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that are not listed on the list and trigger an alert. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- RFID”
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10. A method of a point-of-sale (POS) system, performed using one or more processors, comprising:
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transmitting first power, using a first radio frequency (RF) antenna of a radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader, within a first spatial zone to read a first set of RFID tags disposed at a first time in the first spatial zone;transmitting second power, using a second RF antenna of the RFID reader, within a second spatial zone to read the the-first set of RFID tags disposed upstream to the first spatial zone, at a second time; wherein the first set of RFID tags are attached to items to be purchased at a point of sale location of an establishment, wherein the point of sale location comprises the first spatial zone and the second spatial zone, wherein a list of identifiers of cleared RFID tags is produced listing only RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that indicate that corresponding attached items to be purchased have been scanned, at a time between said first and second times, by a decodable indicia reading device, wherein the list is produced based on the first set of RFID tags being moved, from the first spatial zone to the second spatial zone based on the readings by the first and second RF antennas at the first and second times; matching, using at least one processor, an RFID tag of said first set of RFID tags, between a time when the first set of RFID tags is read at the first spatial zone at the first time and when the RFID tag is read at the second spatial zone at the second time, responsive to said decodable indicia reading device successfully decoding optical decodable indicia attached to an item of said items to be scanned at the point of sale location; and adding the item to the list to produce an entry into said list only in response to the matching, to enable the POS system to identify read RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that are not listed on the list and trigger an alert. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions executed by one or more processors of a point-of-sale (POS) system for:
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transmitting first power, using a first radio frequency (RF) antenna of a radio frequency identification (“
RFID”
) reader, within a first spatial zone to read a first set of RFID tags disposed at a first time in the first spatial zone;transmitting second power, using a second RF antenna of the RFID reader, within a second spatial zone to read the the-first set of RFID tags disposed upstream to the first spatial zone, at a second time; wherein the first set of RFID tags are attached to items to be purchased at a point of sale location of an establishment, wherein the point of sale location comprises the first spatial zone and the second spatial zone, wherein a list of identifiers of cleared RFID tags is produced listing only RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that indicate that corresponding attached items to be scanned at the point of sale location, at a time between said first and second times, by a decodable indicia reading device, wherein the list is produced based on the first set of RFID tags being moved, from the first spatial zone to the second spatial zone based on the readings by the first and second RF antennas at the first and second times; matching, using at least one processor, an RFID tag of said first set of RFID tags, between a time when the first set of RFID tags is read at the first spatial zone at the first time and when the RFID tag is read at the second spatial zone at the second time, responsive to said decodable indicia reading device successfully decoding optical decodable indicia attached to an item of said items to be scanned at the point of sale location; and adding the item into said list only in response to the matching, to enable the POS system to identify read RFID tags of the first set of RFID tags that are not listed on the list and trigger a notification. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification