Adaptive RFID devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An RFID reader comprising:
- a processor;
at least one antenna;
a switch controlled by the processor; and
at least two receiver channels in a radio frequency front-end section coupled to the at least one antenna and the switch, the at least two receiver channels including;
a first receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a first predetermined range in strength, the gain being substantially linear over the first predetermined range; and
a second receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a second predetermined signal range in strength, the gain being substantially linear over the second predetermined range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for RFID communication adaptive to an environment are provided. An RFID reader includes a processor and a reconfigurable hardware element. The reconfigurable hardware element is reconfigurable by the processor in response to a predetermined condition. Non-volatile memory stores configuration code for the reconfigurable hardware element. In specific embodiments, the predetermined condition can be the presence of a mixed tag population, proximity to an interferer, historical read rates, RF noise level, and reader location, as well as other factors.
105 Citations
45 Claims
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1. An RFID reader comprising:
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a processor;
at least one antenna;
a switch controlled by the processor; and
at least two receiver channels in a radio frequency front-end section coupled to the at least one antenna and the switch, the at least two receiver channels including;
a first receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a first predetermined range in strength, the gain being substantially linear over the first predetermined range; and
a second receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a second predetermined signal range in strength, the gain being substantially linear over the second predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An RFID reader comprising:
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a processor;
at least one antenna;
a switch controlled by the processor; and
at least two receiver channels coupled to the at least one antenna and the switch, the at least two receiver channels including;
a first receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a first predetermined range in strength, the gain being about linear with a root-mean-square deviation of less than 5% over the first predetermined range; and
a second receiver channel configured to provide a gain for a received signal of a second predetermined signal range in strength, the gain being about linear with a root-mean-square deviation of less than 5% over the second predetermined range. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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15. A method of operating an RFID device, the method comprising:
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transmitting an interrogation signal;
receiving a backscatter signal;
determining a signal strength of the received backscatter signal;
in response to the determining, selecting a receiver channel from a plurality of receiver channels to reduce inter-modulation distortion, each receiver channel to provide a substantially linear gain over a specified range. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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21. An RFID reader comprising:
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a processor;
a transceiver;
at least one antenna coupled to the transceiver;
at least one reconfigurable hardware element, the hardware element reconfigurable by the processor in response to a predetermined condition; and
non-volatile memory storing configuration code for the reconfigurable hardware element. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An RFID reader comprising:
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a processor;
at least one antenna;
a switch controlled by the processor; and
at least two receiver channels coupled to the at least one antenna and the switch, the at least two receiver channels including;
a first receiver channel configured to provide a first gain for a received signal of a first predetermined range in strength, the first gain being substantially linear over the first predetermined range; and
a second receiver channel configured to provide a second gain for a received signal of a second predetermined signal range in strength, the second gain being substantially linear over the second predetermined range; and
at least one baseband receiver channel providing a third gain for a received signal after demodulation to a baseband.
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43. A method of operating an RFID system, the method comprising:
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providing a tag population including first tags configured for a first communication protocol and second tags configured for a second communication protocol;
configuring a reader for communication using a first protocol;
commanding the first tags to an unresponsive state;
after the commanding, configuring the reader for communication using a second protocol; and
communicating by the reader with the second tags. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
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Specification