System and method for inventorying multiple remote objects

• US 20040212480A1
• Filed: 04/28/2003
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Original Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Inventors: Gilbert, Ronald W., Carrender, Curtis L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,286,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.42
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0029 the arrangement being specially adapted for wireless interrogation of grouped or bundled articles tagged with wireless record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer

Abstract

A system and method of inventorying multiple objects utilizing a multi-level or a chained radio frequency identification system. The system includes a master tag and a plurality of upper level tags and lower level tags associated with respective objects. The upper and lower level tags communicate with each other and the master tag so that reading of the master tag reveals the presence and absence of upper and lower level tags. In the chained RF system, the upper and lower level tags communicate locally with each other in a manner so that more remote tags that are out of range of some of the upper and lower level tags have their information relayed through adjacent tags to the master tag and thence to a controller.

Claims

1. A system for tracking a plurality of objects stored in a containment device, comprising:

a plurality of first radio frequency identification tags, each tag configured for association with a corresponding object in the containment device; and

a second RFID tag configured for association with the container, the second RFID tag configured to communicate with the plurality of first RFID tags, to store information regarding the plurality of first RFID tags, and to respond to an interrogation signal to relay the stored information.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote interrogator configured to communicate with the second RFID tag via the interrogation signal and to receive an output from the second RFID tag corresponding to information stored in the second RFID tag.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the containment device comprises one from among a container, a box, a jar, a room, a vehicle, a vehicle trailer, an envelope, a file, and a device.

4. A system for tracking a plurality of objects stored in a containment device, comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, each tag configured for association with a corresponding object in the containment device, each RFID tag further configured to communicate with other of the plurality of RFID tags to read and store information from the other RFID tags.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising an interrogator configured to query the plurality of RFID tags and to receive from any one of the plurality of RFID tags the information received from all of the other plurality of RFID tags that have communicated with the RFID tag queried by the reader.

6. A communication system for communicating with remote devices, comprising:

a plurality of RFID tags; and

an interrogator configured to read the plurality of RFID tags that are within a communication range of the interrogator, each tag configured to read other tags within its communication range to thereby relay information to the reader from tags outside the communication range of the reader.

7. A system for inventorying objects stored in one or more containment spaces, comprising:

a tag associated with each of the one or more containment spaces, the tag configured to store information about the contents of the associated containment space and to modify the stored information when the contents are removed from or added to the containment space, and to respond to an interrogation signal by communicating the stored information.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an interrogator configured to transmit the interrogation signal to the tag and to receive a modulated backscatter signal from the tag.

9. A method of inventorying remote objects stored in a defined area, comprising:

associating radio frequency tags configured for read and write operations with a respective object;

providing a master tag configured to store information regarding the status of the tags associated with their respective objects; and

reading the master tag to determine the contents of the defined area.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the master tag comprises writing to the master tag information regarding the objects stored in the defined area on a periodic basis to update the information in the master tag.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the master tag is configured to read the tags associated with the respective objects to determine the tags, and hence the associated objects, present in the defined area.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the defined area comprises one of either a container, a box, and a room, and further wherein the master tag is associated with the container, box, or room.