Antenna, tag communication apparatus, tag communication system, scanning adjusting method for tag communication apparatus and computer readable medium
First Claim
1. An antenna which communicates with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave and generates a scanning beam in a space, wherein said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An RFID reader/writer performs a radio communication with an RFID tag. An antenna for tag communication used in the RFID reader/writer is a beam scanning antenna that can perform scanning with the beam of a transmitted radio wave. The beam has a high directivity in a certain scanning direction. The scanning with the beam is performed so that a plane including the certain scanning direction intersects with a floor surface as a reflecting surface on which the strongest reflected wave is generated.
49 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An antenna which communicates with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave and generates a scanning beam in a space, wherein
said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection.
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10. An apparatus for communicating with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave, said apparatus comprising:
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an antenna which communicates with the RFID tag and generates a scanning beam in a space, wherein said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection; and
a scanning control section which controls the scanning with the beam of the radio wave transmitted from the antenna to the space. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A tag communication system comprising:
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an apparatus for communicating with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave, said apparatus including;
an antenna which communicates with the RFID tag and generates a scanning beam in a space, wherein said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection; and
a scanning control section which controls the scanning with the beam of the radio wave transmitted from the antenna; and
a reflection intensity reducing member which reduces an intensity of the radio wave of a reflected wave, provided in a reflecting surface of the radio wave transmitted from the antenna.
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16. A method for adjusting a scanning beam transmitted from an antenna to a space, said antenna communicating with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave and generates the scanning beam in a space, wherein said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection, said method comprising:
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(a) performing the scanning with the scanning beam at a certain scanning range and a certain incrementing angle for a certain scanning time;
(b) counting a number of RFID tags whose radio communications with the antenna are completed during the scanning;
(c) repeating (a) and (b) for various scanning ranges, incrementing angles and scanning times; and
(d) determining the scanning range, the incrementing angle and the scanning time so that the counted number of the RFID tags is maximum.
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17. A computer readable medium comprising a program including instructions for operating an apparatus for communicating with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag through a radio wave, said apparatus having an antenna which communicates with the RFID tag and generates a scanning beam in a space, wherein said scanning beam is narrowed in at least one direction so as to cover a part of the space, and said at least one direction in which the beam is narrowed intersects with a reflecting surface that generates a relatively high intensity reflection, and a scanning control section which controls the scanning with the beam of the radio wave transmitted from the antenna, said instructions comprising:
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(a) instructing the scanning control section so as to make the antenna perform the scanning with the scanning beam at a certain scanning range and a certain incrementing angle for a certain scanning time;
(b) acquiring the number of the RFID tags counted during the scanning;
(c) repeating (a) and (b) for various scanning ranges, incrementing angles and scanning times; and
(d) determining the scanning range, incrementing angle and the scanning time so as to obtain a maximum number of counted the RFID tags.
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Specification