System for using RFID tags as data storage devices
First Claim
1. A radio frequency (RF) interrogation system for writing digital information onto one or more RF transponders, comprising:
- a microcontroller module, the microcontroller module comprising a microcontroller and a buffer memory space; and
a digital signal processing module providing direct control over operations of a radio module in response to commands provided by the microcontroller, the radio module providing RF communications with the transponders;
wherein the microcontroller module retrieves the digital information from the buffer memory space and breaks up the digital information into multiple data packets;
wherein the digital signal processing module directs the radio module to broadcast the data packets over a RF modulated signal to the transponders for writing thereon.
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Abstract
The invention provides systems and methods for using radio frequency (RF) transponders interrogators for storing and retrieving data files. In one embodiment, the RF interrogator comprises a microcontroller module that retrieves a data file from a buffer memory space and breaks up the data file into multiple data packets, each data packet comprising a data file identifier and a sequence number. The present invention also provides a data storage device that comprises an RF transponder and a microcontroller that is in communication with the transponder via the external memory interface. In one embodiment, the transponder receives data over an RF broadcast, assigns an address to the data, and sends the data to the microcontroller via the external memory interface for storage at the assigned address.
135 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A radio frequency (RF) interrogation system for writing digital information onto one or more RF transponders, comprising:
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a microcontroller module, the microcontroller module comprising a microcontroller and a buffer memory space; and
a digital signal processing module providing direct control over operations of a radio module in response to commands provided by the microcontroller, the radio module providing RF communications with the transponders;
wherein the microcontroller module retrieves the digital information from the buffer memory space and breaks up the digital information into multiple data packets;
wherein the digital signal processing module directs the radio module to broadcast the data packets over a RF modulated signal to the transponders for writing thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of writing digital information onto multiple radio frequency (RF) transponders, comprising the steps of:
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determining the amount of data in the digital information;
calculating the number of transponders required to hold the determined amount of data;
verifying that there are a sufficient number of transponders to hold the data in the data file;
breaking up the digital information into multiple data packets; and
broadcasting the data packets over a RF modulated signal to the transponders for writing thereon. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A radio frequency (RF) data storage device, comprising:
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an RF transponder, the transponder comprising an internal memory and an external memory interface; and
a microcontroller that is in communication with the transponder via the external memory interface, the microcontroller comprising a non-volatile memory unit;
wherein the RF transponder receives data over an RF broadcast, temporarily stores the data in the internal memory, assigns an address to the data, and sends the data to the microcontroller via the external memory interface for storage in the non-volatile memory unit at the assigned address. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A remote data sharing system, comprising:
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a first sensor that is in communication with a microcontroller, the microcontroller comprising a non-volatile memory unit and an analog-to-digital converter; and
an RF transponder that is in communication with the microcontroller, the transponder comprising an internal memory;
wherein the first sensor takes a first measurement from a first location and sends the first measurement to the converter, which converts the first measurement into a first digital data value and stores the first digital data value in the memory unit; and
wherein the RF transponder retrieves the first value from the microcontroller'"'"'s memory unit and stores the first value in the transponder'"'"'s internal memory where the first value can be read by an RF interrogator. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A radio frequency (RF) interrogation system for reading digital information from one or more RF transponders, comprising:
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a microcontroller module, the microcontroller module comprising a microcontroller and a buffer memory space; and
a digital signal processing module providing direct control over operations of a radio module in response to commands provided by the microcontroller, the radio module providing RF communications with the transponders;
wherein the radio module receives one or more data packets over a RF modulated signal from the transponders and sends the data packets to the microcontroller module, which reconstructs the data packets into the digital information. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A radio frequency (RF) interrogation system for writing configuration information for an electronic device onto one or more RF transponders, comprising:
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a microcontroller module, the microcontroller module comprising a microcontroller and a buffer memory space; and
a digital signal processing module providing direct control over operations of a radio module in response to commands provided by the microcontroller, the radio module providing RF communications with the one or more transponders;
wherein the microcontroller module retrieves the configuration information from the buffer memory space and breaks up the configuration information into multiple data packets;
wherein the digital signal processing module directs the radio module to broadcast the data packets over a RF modulated signal to the one or more transponders for writing thereon.
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43. A method of writing configuration information for an electronic device onto one or more radio frequency (RF) transponders, comprising the steps of:
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determining the amount of data in the configuration information;
calculating the number of transponders required to hold the determined amount of data;
verifying that there are a sufficient number of transponders to hold the data in the data file; and
broadcasting the configuration information over a RF modulated signal to the one or more transponders for writing thereon.
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Specification