Proximity management system and method using radio-frequency identification tags

• US 20050285739A1
• Filed: 06/25/2004
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Deshpannde, Nikhil M., Velhal, Ravindra V., Deshmukh, Jeetendra G., Fowler, John D., Crawford, R. Harold
• Granted Patent: US 7,274,292 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0227 System arrangements with a plurality of child units
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0236 Threshold setting
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms

Abstract

A master controller for managing items tagged with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags includes a transceiver to transmit interrogation signals to the RFID tags and to receive response signals from the RFID tags. The master controller may also include a processor to determine the proximity of tagged items based on signal levels of the response signals, and to notify a user when certain ones of the tagged items are in a predetermine relation to a proximity threshold.

Claims

1. A system for managing items comprising:

a master controller; and

a plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, wherein each tag is associated with one of a plurality of managed items,

wherein the master controller determines the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of response signals and provides a notification when certain ones of the items are in a predetermined relation to the master controller.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the master controller determines the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of response signals and provides the notification when certain ones of the tagged items are outside a proximity threshold of the master controller.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the master controller determines the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of response signals and provides the notification when certain ones of the tagged items are inside or at a proximity threshold of the master controller.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the master controller includes a processor and transceiver to maintain a list of items nearby by regularly transmitting an interrogation signal and to further maintain a list of the items that are within a proximity threshold of the master controller.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the master controller comprises a transceiver,

wherein the items are personal, movable items,

wherein each RFID tag has a unique identification code associated therewith,

wherein the RFID tags generate a response signal in response to an interrogation signal transmitted by the transceiver, the response signal to include the unique identification code associated with the RFID tag.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the master controller comprises a processor to perform a collision avoidance algorithm to distinguish between response signals received substantially simultaneously from more than one of the RFID tags being interrogated.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the processor further determines the proximity of the tagged items and provides the notification.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein the master controller further comprises an antenna coupled to the transceiver comprising either a patch or a coil antenna, the antenna selected to have characteristics based on a frequency range of the RFID tags.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein the master controller includes a storage location to store a database, the database comprising the unique identification codes of the RFID tags, a description of the associated items, and a proximity threshold associated with each item.

10. The system of claim 5 wherein the master controller comprises a wireless transceiver and has access to a storage location to store a database, the database comprising the unique identification codes of the RFID tags, a description of the associated items, and a proximity threshold associated with each item,

wherein the wireless transceiver accesses the storage location over a wireless network connection.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the database further comprises one or more profiles associated with each item, each profile representing an activity.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the master controller further comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow a selection of one of the profiles, to receive additional item descriptions, and to assign profiles and RFID tag identification codes to the items,

the GUI to further display a description of items of the selected profile that are outside a proximity threshold of the master controller.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the profiles comprise at least one of a work profile, an at-home profile, a travel profile, and a recreation profile, and

wherein items associated with the work profile include items used for work,

wherein items associated with the at-home profile include items used at home,

wherein items associated with the travel profile include items used when traveling, and

wherein items associated with the recreation profile include items used for recreation.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the master controller is programmable to automatically select one of the profiles based on at least one of a time-of-day, a day-of-week and a geographic location of the master controller.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the master controller further comprises a processor,

wherein when one of the profiles is selected through the GUI, the processor instructs the transceiver to determine which items associated with the selected profile are not within a proximity threshold for the selected profiles, provides an alert, and instructs the GUI to display the items associated with the selected profile that are not within the proximity threshold.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the processor, based on input from the transceiver, further determines when one of the items that was not within the proximity threshold for the selected profile comes into the proximity threshold for the selected profile and provides an alert.

17. The system of claim 5 wherein the RFID tags comprise passive RFID tags, the passive RFID tags to use current induced on an antenna by the interrogation signal to generate the response signal.

18. The system of claim 5 wherein the RFID tags comprise active RFID tags, the active RFID tags to use an internal power source to generate the response signal in response to the interrogation signal.

19. The system of claim 7 wherein the processor displays a received signal strength indicator based on return signals of a selected one of the managed items.

20. A master controller for managing a plurality of managed items tagged with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, the master controller comprising:

a transceiver to transmit interrogation signals to RFID tags and to receive response signals from the RFID tags; and

a processor to determine the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of the response signals, and to provide a notification when certain ones of the managed items are in a predetermined relation to a proximity threshold of the master controller.

21. The master controller of claim 20 wherein the processor determines the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of response signals and provides the notification when certain ones of the tagged items are outside the proximity threshold.

22. The master controller of claim 20 wherein the processor determines the proximity of the managed items based on signal levels of response signals and provides the notification when certain ones of the tagged items are inside or at the proximity threshold.

23. The master controller of claim 20 wherein the master controller includes a memory to maintain a list of items nearby the master controller by the transceiver regularly transmitting an interrogation signal, the memory to further maintain a list of the items that are within the proximity threshold, and

wherein the processor displays a received signal strength indicator based on return signals of a selected one of the managed items.

24. The master controller of claim 20 wherein the items are personal, movable items,

wherein each RFID tag has a unique identification code associated therewith,

wherein the RFID tags generate a response signal in response to an interrogation signal transmitted by the transceiver, the response signal to include the unique identification code associated with the RFID tag, and

wherein the processor performs a collision avoidance algorithm to help distinguish between response signals received substantially simultaneously from more than one of the RFID tags being interrogated.

25. The master controller of claim 20 further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver comprising either a patch or a coil antenna, the antenna having characteristics based on a frequency range of the RFID tags.

26. The master controller of claim 25 further comprising a storage location to store a database, the database comprising the unique identification codes of the RFID tags, a description of the associated items, and a proximity threshold associated with each item.

27. The master controller of claim 25 further comprising a wireless transceiver for accessing a storage location to store a database, the database comprising the unique identification codes of the RFID tags, a description of the associated items, and a proximity threshold associated with each item,

the storage location accessible by the master controller over a wireless network connection.

28. The master controller of claim 27 wherein the database further comprises one or more profiles associated with each item, each profile representing an activity,

wherein the master controller further comprises a graphical user interface (GUI) to allow a selection of one of the profiles, to receive additional item descriptions, and to assign profiles and RFID tag identification codes to the items, and

wherein the GUI further displays a description of items of the selected profile that are outside the proximity threshold.

29. The master controller of claim 28 wherein the master controller is programmable to automatically select one of the profiles based on at least one of a time-of-day, a day-of-week and geographic location of the master controller.

30. The master controller of claim 28 wherein the GUI receives the selection of one the profiles, the processor determines which items associated with the selected profile are not within a proximity threshold for the selected profile, provides an alert and instructs the GUI to display the items associated with the selected profile that are not within the proximity threshold.

31. The master controller of claim 30 wherein the processor, based on a signal strength of return signals, further determines when one of the items that was not within the proximity threshold for the selected profile comes into the proximity threshold for the selected profile and provides an alert.

32. The master controller of claim 20 wherein the master controller is part of a wireless communication device including one of a cellular or wireless telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a handheld portable communication device.

33. A method comprising:

interrogating a plurality of the tagged items; and

providing a notification when one or more of the tagged items is in a predetermined relation to a proximity threshold.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein providing comprises providing the notification when one or more of the tagged items are outside the proximity threshold.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein providing comprises providing the notification when one or more of the tagged items are within or at the proximity threshold.

36. The method of claim 33 further comprising performing a collision avoidance algorithm to distinguish between response signals received substantially simultaneously from more than one of the tagged items.

37. The method of claim 33 further comprising determining when one or more of the tagged items associated with an activity profile is outside a proximity threshold associated with the profile;

and

providing the notification when one or more of the tagged items of the profile is outside the proximity threshold associated with the profile.

38. The method of claim 36 further comprising:

determining the proximity of the tagged items based on signal levels of response signals and providing the notification when certain ones of the tagged items are outside the proximity threshold based on the signal levels, and

wherein interrogating comprises transmitting an interrogation signal to tags associated with the tagged items and receiving the response signals, the response signals including a unique identification code of a radio frequency identification tag associated with each of the tagged items.

39. The method of claim 33 wherein prior to the interrogating and notifying, the method further comprises:

affixing radio frequency identification tags to the items;

generating a database to include a unique identification code of the radio frequency identification tags, a description of an associated item, and a proximity threshold associated with each item,

wherein the database is generated using a graphical user interface (GUI) and stored in a master controller.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

generating the database to further include one or more activity profiles associated with each item, each profile representing an activity;

receiving a selection of one of the profiles through the GUI; and

displaying, by the GUI, a description of items of the selected profile that are determined to be outside the proximity threshold.

41. The method of claim 40 further comprising automatically selecting one of the activity profiles based on at least one of a time-of-day, a day-of-week and geographic location.

42. The method of claim 33 further comprising:

displaying a received signal strength indicator for one of the tagged items on a user interface; and

providing the notification when one or more of the tagged items that were outside the proximity threshold is within the proximity threshold.

43. A computer-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising:

instructing a transceiver to interrogate a plurality of tagged items; and

providing a notification when one or more of the tagged items is outside a proximity threshold.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations further comprising:

performing a collision avoidance algorithm to distinguish between response signals received substantially simultaneously from more than one of the tagged items.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations further comprising:

storing a database to include a unique identification code of radio frequency identification tags, a description of an associated item, and a proximity threshold associated with each item,

wherein the database is generated using a graphical user interface (GUI) and stored in a master controller.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 45 wherein the instructions, when further executed by one or more of the processors cause the processors to perform operations, wherein storing the database further includes one or more activity profiles associated with each item, each profile representing an activity,

the operations to further include:

receiving a selection of one of the profiles through the GUI; and

displaying, by the GUI, a description of items of the selected profile that are determined to be outside the proximity threshold.

47. A method of locating an item comprising:

transmitting an interrogation signal;

receiving a response signal in response to the interrogation signal from a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag to determine when an item tagged with the RFID tag is nearby; and

providing a notification when the item is within a proximity threshold.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein a plurality of items are affixed with the RFID tags, each tag having a unique code associated therewith,

wherein a master controller transmits the interrogation signal and receives response signals from at least some of the RFID tags, and

wherein the method further comprises performing a collision avoidance algorithm to distinguish between response signals received substantially simultaneously by more than one of the RFID tags.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the proximity threshold is selectable.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein the plurality of items include personal items of either an elderly or an infirm person including at least some of eyeglasses, artificial teeth replacements, prescription drugs, and a hearing aid.