Radio frequency identification systems and methods for waking up data storage devices for wireless communication
First Claim
1. A system for remotely causing operation of a particular unit of electronic circuitry among a plurality of electronic circuitry, comprising:
- a plurality of units of the electronic circuitry, each of the units of electronic circuitry having first and second states, each of the units of electronic circuitry being powered by a limited capacity power supply, a first of the states using zero power from the power supply, a second of the states being an operational power-on state using power from the power supply;
a base station for sending a wake-up signal only at a specific time at which it is desired to change the state of the particular unit of the electronic circuitry from the first state to the second state, wherein the particular unit of the electronic circuitry is caused to be operational upon the change of state at the specific time; and
a separate radio frequency identification tag electrically connected to each of the units of the electronic circuitry, only a specific one of the tags being responsive to the wake-up signal to cause the state of the respective connected particular unit of the electronic circuitry to change between the first state and the second state;
each unit of the electronic circuitry comprising a wireless local area network and a data storage device, upon operation of the particular unit the respective wireless local area network being effective to provide data communication with the respective data storage device independently of the wake-up signal from the base station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A remote system includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag specifically identified by an RF identification signal. The specific RFID tag is associated with a particular remote data transfer device. When identified, the specific RFID tag changes the state of the associated remote data transfer device from a zero power state to an operational state. Limited power-capacity of a remote power supply is used solely for data transfer between the data transfer device and an administrator. Although many RFID signals may be transmitted over time to the location of many remote systems, each of which has an RFID tag, an RFID signal is only infrequently sent to a specific one of the RFID tags. Such an RFID signal is transmitted only to request a data transfer operation with the particular remote data transfer device that is associated with that specific RFID tag. At the end of the data transfer state of that particular remote data transfer device, the state of that data storage device is returned to the zero power state. Each RFID tag may be a passive beam-powered tag. The zero power state, the specificity and periodicity of the RFID signal, the return to the zero power state, and the use of the specific selected passive beam powered RFID tag, combine so that the zero power state is the primary state from a temporal standpoint and for substantial periods of time no power is drawn from the limited power-capacity of the remote power supply. The data storage device may be provided in many different electronic units, all of which may involve data transfer.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for remotely causing operation of a particular unit of electronic circuitry among a plurality of electronic circuitry, comprising:
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a plurality of units of the electronic circuitry, each of the units of electronic circuitry having first and second states, each of the units of electronic circuitry being powered by a limited capacity power supply, a first of the states using zero power from the power supply, a second of the states being an operational power-on state using power from the power supply;
a base station for sending a wake-up signal only at a specific time at which it is desired to change the state of the particular unit of the electronic circuitry from the first state to the second state, wherein the particular unit of the electronic circuitry is caused to be operational upon the change of state at the specific time; and
a separate radio frequency identification tag electrically connected to each of the units of the electronic circuitry, only a specific one of the tags being responsive to the wake-up signal to cause the state of the respective connected particular unit of the electronic circuitry to change between the first state and the second state;
each unit of the electronic circuitry comprising a wireless local area network and a data storage device, upon operation of the particular unit the respective wireless local area network being effective to provide data communication with the respective data storage device independently of the wake-up signal from the base station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of periodically providing data to or from a remote area, the method comprising the operations of:
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providing a plurality of data storage units in the remote area, each of the data storage units normally being in an off state and having an on state for operation;
transmitting separate radio frequency identification signals to the remote area at separate specific times, the signals including at least one signal to identify a selected one of the data storage units;
in response to the at least one signal, identifying the selected one of the data storage units;
causing the selected one of the data storage units to be in the on state; and
using a wireless local area network connected to the selected data storage unit to communicate data to and from the selected data storage unit to provide the data to or from the remote area at which the selected data storage unit is located only when the selected data storage unit is in the on state. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A service provider unit for use at a location remote from a station that requests service from the service provider in the form of data-type data transfer service, the station requesting the service by transmitting to the remote location periodic radio frequency identification signals unique to the service provider unit, the service provider unit comprising:
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a radio frequency identification tag for generating a wake-up signal only in response to each of the unique signals;
a remote service provider having a data storage unit and a wireless local area network, the provider being associated with the radio frequency identification tag, the provider having an off state when no power is provided to it and having an operational state when power is supplied to it, in the operational state the data storage unit being accessible for data-type data transfer via the wireless local area network; and
a power source providing a low total amount of power capacity, the source being connected to the remote service provider and turned on by the wake-up signal from the radio frequency identification tag, the power source being capable of providing power during a first duration for first amounts of frequent polling-type data transfer and being capable of providing power during a second duration for second amounts of infrequently requested data-type data transfer, the power source being capable of providing power during a third duration for none of the polling-type data transfer and to supply power for third amounts of infrequently requested-data-type data transfers, the third duration being substantially more than the second duration;
the response of the radio frequency identification tag to only the unique signals for generating the wake-up signals being effective to cause the power source to operate only for the third duration and rendering it unnecessary to supply power for the first amounts of frequent polling-type data transfer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for transferring data from time to time to or from a remote location, comprising:
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a data transfer unit having first and second states, the unit being powered by a source having a limited power capacity, a primary one of the states being a state using zero power from the source, an operational one of the states being a power-on state using power from the source, the data transfer unit comprising a data storage device having a first data storage capacity and a wireless local area network for communicating data from or to the data storage device respectively to or from the remote location;
a radio frequency identification tag provided with a second data storage device having a second data storage capacity substantially less than the first data storage capacity, the tag being electrically connected to the data transfer unit, the tag being responsive to a radio frequency identification signal that specifically selects the data transfer unit and causing the state of the data transfer unit to change between the primary state and the operational state; and
a base station located remotely from the data transfer unit and from the radio frequency identification tag for sending the radio frequency identification signal that specifically selects the unit, the signal being sent only at a specific time at which it is desired to change the state of the data transfer unit from the primary state to the operational state, wherein the data transfer unit becomes operational upon the change of state at the specific time so that the wireless local area network communicates data from or to the data storage device respectively to or from the remote location. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification